Change Blindness

[Robert]

This is interesting.

A special case of information-selection by the human cognitive system

 

[Spudman]

That is sooooo cool. :dude So did you just hear about this?

 

[marnold]

Actually I did a similar experiment. 75% of the people couldn't tell the difference between my guitar playing and a ham sandwich.

But seriously folks, my guess would be (and seemed to be the case from watching the video) that the people who actually looked at the guy behind the desk noticed the change. Those who didn't were mainly looking at the form or something else. One guy even said that he didn't bother to read the form. We're in too big of a hurry to pay attention. As an aside, whenever I have to sign a form, people will often express surprise that I'm actually reading it first. I can't fathom signing something I haven't read.

Which reminds me of one of my father-in-law's favorite jokes: "When I was growing up we were so poor that we couldn't even pay attention!"

It also reminds me of something that my supervising pastor said when I was a vicar (think: intern), "If you want to keep something a secret, put it in the bulletin."

 

[oldguy]

I believe I would notice. If I'm dealing directly with someone I always look at them, and will check to see if they're wearing a name badge. Makes it much easier to say "Thank you, <insert name here>" when you leave. Or remember who wasn't such nice person in some cases.

 

[markb]

More on this subject and a test you can do. I got five.

http://continuityboy.blogspot.com/2009/09/bang-part-1-eye-movements-and.html