This just freaked me out... O_O

by **Tryne, the Time Traveler** on Tue Aug 23, 2011 7:41 pm

http://viscog.beckman.illinois.edu/grafs/demos/15.html

Don't read until AFTER you've watched the video.

Spoiler:: I did end up counting 15 passes, but I was congratulating myself too soon. I totally missed seeing that gorilla, and it kind of blew my mind! That is so weird!

by **Kathryn Lacey** on Tue Aug 23, 2011 8:32 pm

hahahah

Spoiler:: I saw the gorilla this time because I was expecting it, but when I was in high school, my psych teacher showed us this video. I totally didn't see the gorilla then. XD

by **Kalon Ordona II** on Tue Aug 23, 2011 8:33 pm

Someone told me about this before, so unfortunately I was unable to experience the selective attention and miss the gorilla. Sad

But this whole thing is amazing!
I wonder if there are any other, similar tests. Very Happy

by **Gadreille** on Wed Aug 24, 2011 11:34 am

Does the fact that this didn't work on me mean that I have a horrible attention span? Or is it just my

Spoiler:: innate fear of primates

that triggered my attention? *sigh* I'll never know. I feel like I am missing out...

by **Kathryn Lacey** on Wed Aug 24, 2011 11:35 am

hahahah I think it's great that you were able to see it! Were you able to count the right number of passes at the same time?

by **Gadreille** on Wed Aug 24, 2011 11:40 am

No, I had to watch it twice to get the number of passes right. Apparently my brain is easily distracted from its task!

by **Kathryn Lacey** on Wed Aug 24, 2011 11:42 am

Ah. I see. I always count the right number of passes, but the first time, I missed the gorilla completely. However, it's well known that I have extremely selective attention. Misery always notices things that I don't. I've never seen a shooting star for this reason, too, even if I've been staring at the sky when someone else saw it. It sucks. ._.

by **Gadreille** on Wed Aug 24, 2011 11:46 am

Oh wow, I guess I can see how selective attention could have its downfalls. It defintely has its pluses as well though. I have really bad eyesight, and tend to rely on peripheral vision and movement glimpses to infer what I am seeing (when my glasses aren't on, or say, when I'm driving at night and can't see very well). It makes me great at skimming and I guess seeing shooting stars

Spoiler:: and random gorillas

but my concentration is definitely not where yours is XD

by Christoph on Fri Aug 26, 2011 12:20 am

Spoiler:: I saw the gorilla and then started laughing too much to keep counting. XD

by Dreamless Days on Fri Aug 26, 2011 2:34 am

I dunno if it's just my selective Gamer genes, but I was able to count the correct amount of passes AND see the gorilla (The MOMENT it stepped into frame, I muttered "Why is there a gorilla? *still counting*"). The reason I mention my gaming maybe helping with this is because I need to count on noticing slight movements from various unexpected places while keeping track of what I need to keep track of. For example, trying to avoid/destroy EDF Troops while noticing out of the corner of my eye that there is a small green dot that occasionally pulses on my mini map meaning one of the hidden recordings is on the cliff over the hill.

Note: This was the first time I have seen this clip, or anything else like it. Haha.

by Raspeyer on Fri Aug 26, 2011 4:31 am

Oiy, we did a section on allocation of the brain's resources in one of my psychology classes. There was a video where a man asks for directions and then a couple of men carrying a large piece of dry wall pardon themselves between them. The man asking for directions and one of the men carrying the board secretly and quickly switch places and the women subject doesn't even notice. Haha. The brain is so focused on the task it's given it's real easy to miss stuff. The mind is a wonderfully puzzling thing.

This video I've seen before. I did catch the gorilla but as for the passes, if I didn't know what to look for I probably wouldn't have counted them right.

by **Tryne, the Time Traveler** on Fri Aug 26, 2011 9:38 am

Christoph wrote:
Spoiler:
I saw the gorilla and then started laughing too much to keep counting. XD

Dreamless Days wrote:I dunno if it's just my selective Gamer genes, but I was able to count the correct amount of passes AND see the gorilla (The MOMENT it stepped into frame, I muttered "Why is there a gorilla? *still counting*"). The reason I mention my gaming maybe helping with this is because I need to count on noticing slight movements from various unexpected places while keeping track of what I need to keep track of. For example, trying to avoid/destroy EDF Troops while noticing out of the corner of my eye that there is a small green dot that occasionally pulses on my mini map meaning one of the hidden recordings is on the cliff over the hill.

Note: This was the first time I have seen this clip, or anything else like it. Haha.

It's funny you mention being a gamer, because that's something that came to my mind too. However, I looked at it from the selective attention point of view. When I'm really into a game, nothing can distract me. People will have to repeat themselves multiple times for me to hear and comprehend them. I also get really focused on the task at hand (whether it's taking down a boss, solving a puzzle, or just surviving), so I don't let other distractions in the game take my attention away from what I'm trying to accomplish.

However, I also could see how being a gamer might also alert you to all your surroundings, even while you're trying to focus. This especially might be a gamer skill acquired from multi-player games in which enemy players can come in at any moment to take you out, even if you are concentrating on taking out a member of their team.

I showed Axiom the video, and he completely missed the gorilla too. Laughing

He didn't believe it either, and I told him I had to rewind the video to verify it was actually there at all, and he had to do the same thing!

by Dreamless Days on Fri Aug 26, 2011 10:50 am

Fate Foretold wrote:It's funny you mention being a gamer, because that's something that came to my mind too. However, I looked at it from the selective attention point of view. When I'm really into a game, nothing can distract me. People will have to repeat themselves multiple times for me to hear and comprehend them. I also get really focused on the task at hand (whether it's taking down a boss, solving a puzzle, or just surviving), so I don't let other distractions in the game take my attention away from what I'm trying to accomplish.

However, I also could see how being a gamer might also alert you to all your surroundings, even while you're trying to focus. This especially might be a gamer skill acquired from multi-player games in which enemy players can come in at any moment to take you out, even if you are concentrating on taking out a member of their team.

Now that you mention it, there have been numerous times were I might be concentrating as hard as I can on a game (Mostly if I try the highest difficulties, those generally requiring constant attention), and I realize that people have been walking past me, obscuring my view of the screen for vast amounts of time, and I haven't noticed a single person once. In my eyes, I was alone in the room the entire time. So, I guess for me at least, it fluctuates on being very aware of my surroundings and having a TOTAL lack of awareness. Haha. Very Happy

Oh, btw, here's the follow up to the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGQmdoK_ZfY
Trust me, it's also worth a look. Especially if you've seen the first one already. ^_^

by Squall Reyes on Fri Aug 26, 2011 10:51 am

I'm in the group that saw the gorilla. I pretty much saw it as soon as there was movement coming into the frame. My mind was like. "6....7..Who is that coming in?...8..9...Heh. Gorilla. 10...11." Not quite sure that that means for myself. But I thought it was rather clever experiment.

Spoiler:: Just saw the second video. But I think it was maybe even more obvious. Not just the gorilla but everything else. Though my mind was still keeping count I still found myself thinking, "Where the heck is she going?" and "Blah bring back the red." Maybe since there was so much going on at once my mind was able to spot it all better. *shrugs*

by **Kathryn Lacey** on Fri Aug 26, 2011 11:28 am

hahahahah! I fail so hard, Dreamless!

Spoiler:: I caught the sixteen passes and the gorilla, but I totally missed the black team player leaving and the curtain colour change...

by **Tryne, the Time Traveler** on Fri Aug 26, 2011 11:28 am

Dreamless Days wrote:Oh, btw, here's the follow up to the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGQmdoK_ZfY
Trust me, it's also worth a look. Especially if you've seen the first one already. ^_^

Spoiler:: Nice! I definitely noticed the gorilla that time and also managed to count 16 passes, but still failed at noticing the color change (or at least didn't think it relevant enough to remember), along with anyone leaving. That was good!

by **Kalon Ordona II** on Sat Aug 27, 2011 2:35 am

Spoiler:: I, too, missed the curtain and the black player leaving. xD I think I also counted the wrong number of passes. Oh no!

This just freaked me out... O_O

This just freaked me out... O_O

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