Spotting surprises while busy: the power of our peripheral vision!

Published on May 23, 2023

Imagine you’re walking down the street, headphones on, fully engrossed in the latest podcast. Suddenly, out of the corner of your eye, you catch sight of a running cat chasing its own tail! How did you notice that while your attention was focused elsewhere? A new study suggests that our peripheral vision is not to be underestimated. It turns out that when we’re preoccupied with a task, our eyes are still scanning for unexpected movements, even if we’re not consciously aware of it. This challenges the prevailing belief that our ability to perceive the unexpected is hindered by our attention being elsewhere. So, next time you think you’ve missed something because your mind was elsewhere, remember that your peripheral vision might have picked it up without you even realizing! To dive deeper into the fascinating research on inattentional blindness and the power of our peripheral vision, check out the full article.

We are quite good at spotting unexpected objects while focused on another activity if they are moving fast, reveals a new study. The findings cast doubt on a long-standing view that our ability to see the unexpected is necessarily impaired when our attention is already directed elsewhere.

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