Change & Inattentional Blindness
📋 What it is
We miss surprisingly big changes and even obvious things when our attention is elsewhere.
🗣️ Coach says
Your attention is a spotlight — and outside it, you can miss a LOT. CHANGE BLINDNESS: big changes to a scene go unnoticed if they happen during a blink or cut. INATTENTIONAL BLINDNESS: focused on one thing, you can miss something obvious (even a person in a gorilla suit). We see far less than we think we do.
🧠 Memory hook
Attention = a spotlight. Change blindness (miss changes) + inattentional blindness (miss the obvious) — we see less than we think.
😂 Giggle
Why did the rainbow apply for a job?
It wanted to work in the visible spectrum!
😲 Whoa!
In a famous experiment, people counting basketball passes completely failed to notice a person in a gorilla suit walk right through the middle of the scene.
✅ Quick check: What is "inattentional blindness"?
Say your answer out loud first — then reveal.
Failing to notice something obvious because your attention is focused elsewhere (like missing a "gorilla" while counting passes).
Focused attention can blind us to unattended things.
🧪 Try it! (2 minutes)
Have a friend change one small thing in the room while you look away — see if you spot it (change blindness).