According to Wikipedia, change blindness “is a psychological phenomenon that occurs when a change in a visual stimulus goes unnoticed by the observer.” For example, there are a few differences between the two pictures above. If you cannot spot the differences, you may have a form of change blindness. There are several reasons why significant change are not noticed by the observer including, but not limited to “obstructions in the visual field, eye movements, or a lack of attention.” Wikipedia continues by identifying regions of the brain that are active during change blindness including the “prefrontal lobe, frontal lobe, fusiform face area, pulvinar, cerebellum, inferior temporal gyrus, and parietal lobe.”
Change blindness is a highly researched topic due to its implications in eyewitness testimony, exam proctoring, and distracted driving.
Some people believe that their change blindness is due solely to a brain injury. The video in this post reveals the truth — even people who do not have a brain injury neglect to notice significant change. Watch the following video, and ask yourself if you would notice such obvious changes when they occur.
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Thanks to Wendy for sharing the program with me; ABC News for deciding to broadcast the program titled “Would You Fall for That;” Nick Watt, Scott Rogowsk, and Sasheer Zamata for making the program informative and humorous; YouTube for hosting videos of the program; and all the other people who made it possible for me to include the picture, video, and text I used in this post.