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Did you see the unicycling clown? Inattentional blindness while walking and talking on a cell phone
Author(s) -
Hyman Ira E.,
Boss S. Matthew,
Wise Breanne M.,
McKenzie Kira E.,
Caggiano Jenna M.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
applied cognitive psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.719
H-Index - 100
eISSN - 1099-0720
pISSN - 0888-4080
DOI - 10.1002/acp.1638
Subject(s) - inattentional blindness , phone , psychology , active listening , notice , cognition , cognitive psychology , applied psychology , communication , perception , neuroscience , linguistics , philosophy , political science , law
Abstract We investigated the effects of divided attention during walking. Individuals were classified based on whether they were walking while talking on a cell phone, listening to an MP3 player, walking without any electronics or walking in a pair. In the first study, we found that cell phone users walked more slowly, changed directions more frequently, and were less likely to acknowledge other people than individuals in the other conditions. In the second study, we found that cell phone users were less likely to notice an unusual activity along their walking route (a unicycling clown). Cell phone usage may cause inattentional blindness even during a simple activity that should require few cognitive resources. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.