8) Attention III

The failure to notice a change in a visual scene, even when the change is obvious once it's pointed out. It highlights the limitations of our visual attention.

A method of testing change blindness where two slightly different images are shown in rapid succession, separated by a brief blank screen. The observer's task is to spot the change.

A type of change blindness where a change occurs slowly over time, making it harder to detect. Think of a slowly changing clock.

In this study, participants were asked to focus on a conversation between people while a door passes by. The door is then swapped for a different one. Most participants fail to notice the change, showing that our attention can be easily diverted.

A phenomenon where we fail to perceive something that is clearly visible because we are focused on another task. It's like being so caught up in a game, you don't notice the fire alarm.

The idea that the stimulus might never be perceived in change/inattentional blindness, implying that our attention operates early in the processing stage.

Suggests that the stimulus is perceived but not remembered in change/inattentional blindness. Attention, in this case, works at a later stage of processing.

A technique where a stimulus is presented briefly (usually less than 30 milliseconds) that is masked to prevent conscious perception. This is often used to study how unconscious stimuli can influence behavior.

A study where people watched a video and failed to notice a gorilla walking through the scene due to focusing on counting basketball passes.

Another study demonstrating inattentional blindness where people were less likely to notice a unicycling clown while performing a distraction task (e.g., using a cell phone or music player).

Inattentional blindness and change blindness share a common theme: Failure to notice unexpected or changing information due to focused attention. However, inattentional blindness is the inability to see unexpected things altogether, while change blindness is the inability to notice a change in a scene.

The idea that we can perceive information outside of conscious awareness. This is often tested using subliminal stimuli presented too quickly for the viewer to consciously perceive.

Measuring the effectiveness of subliminal perception is extremely difficult, as it's challenging to isolate effects of subliminal stimuli from other influences. We need to control for conscious perception to ensure the observed effect is truly subliminal.

Subliminal messages are often used in advertising, though their effectiveness is debated and not well-established. The general consensus is that subliminal messages may have limited, short-term effects, but are unlikely to create significant, long-term changes in behavior.

A common problem in subliminal perception research: Participants may report not seeing a stimulus even if they did, to avoid appearing foolish. It makes proving subliminal perception difficult.

Another challenge in subliminal perception studies: Participants might be unmotivated if the priming task is too hard, skewing results.

A publication format where a target article is followed by peer comments and a reply from the author. Offers a comprehensive discussion of subliminal perception findings, including critiques.

The theory that attention operates early in processing, meaning that an unattended stimulus may not reach conscious awareness.

The theory that attention operates at a later stage of processing, meaning that an unattended stimulus may be perceived but not remembered.

The idea that messages presented below the threshold of conscious perception can influence consumer behavior.

James Vicary's 1957 claim that subliminal messages, like "Drink Coca Cola" flashed during movies, significantly boosted Coke sales. However, this claim was later admitted to be fabricated.

A Dutch professor who was found to have manipulated and fabricated data for over 50 publications. This incident highlighted the importance of scrutiny and replication in scientific research.

The process of deliberately altering or inventing data to support a specific hypothesis or outcome.

A claim that exposing participants to the subliminal prime "Lipton Ice" for 23 milliseconds led them to choose Lipton Ice Tea over mineral water.

A process of testing the same concept with different procedures and stimuli to verify the initial findings. If a study is replicated, it strengthens the validity of the results.

Repeating a study with a different set of stimuli or tasks while maintaining the core concept of the original study. This can provide evidence for the generalizability of the findings.

Finding results that are too extreme or unlikely to be true, suggesting potential issues with the study design or data analysis.