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selective attention test

Daniel Simons · 34.2M views · 2010-03-10 · 1:22

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Overview

The original invisible gorilla awareness test by Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabris, in which viewers count basketball passes and often miss a gorilla crossing the scene. It demonstrates inattentional blindness.

On Hacker News

HN uses it constantly as the classic demonstration that attention is selective, in threads on driving, motorcycles, AI and perception.

Recommended by 3 HN people across 3 months · HN mentions 2011–2025

Topics

Psychology & human behaviorMagic, puzzles & curiositiesNeuroscience & the brain
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inattentional blindnessinvisible gorillaperceptionpsychologyattention test

What people said

chrisweekly · 2019-10 · Strong recommendation

As a motorcyclist -- and lifelong learner w/ a degree in cognitive psychology -- I really appreciate demonstrations like this one^1 from Daniel Simons. It's a short video (< 90s), but for many first-time viewers, it's an eye-opening experience. ^1. [VIDEO] Edit: just saw @elosarv's link to a longer but more relevant "motorcycle invisibility training" video ( [LINK]

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meowster · 2024-08 · Recommendation

It's called Selective Attention which explained in another comment: > Notably, people tend to see what they expect to see. > When they are looking for cars, they tend not to see motorcycles, even when they are in plain view. Watch/take this Selective Attention test (1 min 22 sec): [VIDEO]

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crispyambulance · 2018-09 · Recommendation

This is sound advice. The only time I've made contact with a moving car as a cyclist was when I was going past an off-ramp. The weird thing was that I thought the driver "saw me". It was late morning, no problem with visibility. From my POV, she was looking right at me. In fact, she was looking "through" me. She simply was expecting other cars and a person on a bike was not what she was looking for. Human attention is very much selective. Check out this shocking video: [VIDEO] After that, I ride with a bright flashing headlight at all times, even daylight. It gives some measure of protection, I think.

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Sources

Video by Daniel Simons, played through YouTube.

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