University Psychology Report: Inattentional Blindness and Familiarity

This report delves into the cognitive phenomenon of inattentional blindness, exploring how focused attention can lead to the failure to perceive unexpected changes in a visual scene. The introduction defines inattentional blindness, drawing upon Hyman (2016), and provides real-world examples, highlighting its significance. It then reviews key research, including Simons & Chabris (1999) and Tovey & Herdman (2014) to establish the existing knowledge base. The report identifies a gap in the literature regarding the influence of familiarity on inattentional blindness, and proposes the study's aim to determine if familiarity with a scene affects the ability to detect unexpected changes. The study hypothesizes that inattentional blindness will differ between familiar and unfamiliar observers, considering how other stimuli like colour and size might add to the effect. The report uses the gorilla test as a foundation for understanding the concept and how it can be tested, as well as other studies to show the relationship of different stimulus on the inattentional blindness.