An Eye-Tracking Approach to Inattentional Blindness

Abstract

Inattentional blindness, the act of failing to notice clearly visible, salient objects in one's environment when engaged in a task, is of great interest due to both its commonality and its overall applications. This study attempted to objectively support previous claims made about the inattentional blindness phenomenon using eye tracking data. It was found that even when a stimulus crossed the fovea, not all individuals saw it. It was also discovered that some participants managed to notice the stimulus without fixating on it, in direct opposition to a hypothesis stating that fixation was required to notice a stimulus.