Colloquium - Inattentional blindness in and out of the lab

Abstract: Inattentional blindness is the failure to notice unexpected objects or events when a person is focusing their attention on something else. It is a side effect of our remarkable and essential ability to focus attention and ignore distractions, but it can have real consequences. In this presentation, I will describe recent (and older) research on inattentional blindness both in and out of the lab. Our work attempts to explain why we experience inattentional blindness, when it matters, and whether there is anything we can do about it.