The Invisible Gorilla Experiment

The concept of inattentional blindness is powerfully illustrated through the well-known invisible gorilla experiment. Participants often focus intently on specific tasks, such as counting basketball passes, and as a result, they overlook glaringly obvious stimuli, like a person in a gorilla suit that walks through the scene. Dan Simons's research revealed that about half of viewers completely missed the gorilla, despite it being highly visible on screen. This phenomenon underscores how our attentional focus can limit our awareness of unexpected events occurring right in front of us.