Animacy, Perceptual Load, and Inattentional Blindness

Overview

Journal Psychon Bull Rev

Specialty Psychology

Date 2013 Nov 8

PMID 24197657

Citations 19

Authors

Dustin P Calvillo

Russell E Jackson

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Inattentional blindness is the failure to notice unexpected objects in a visual scene while engaging in an attention-demanding task. We examined the effects of animacy and perceptual load on inattentional blindness. Participants searched for a category exemplar under low or high perceptual load. On the last trial, the participants were exposed to an unexpected object that was either animate or inanimate. Unexpected objects were detected more frequently when they were animate rather than inanimate, and more frequently with low than with high perceptual loads. We also measured working memory capacity and found that it predicted the detection of unexpected objects, but only with high perceptual loads. The results are consistent with the animate-monitoring hypothesis, which suggests that animate objects capture attention because of the importance of the detection of animate objects in ancestral hunter-gatherer environments.

Citing Articles

I like the way you move: how animate motion affects visual attention in early human infancy.

Lunghi M, Di Giorgio E Front Neurosci. 2024; 18:1459550.

PMID: 39193524 PMC: 11347423. DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2024.1459550.

A cautionary note on the studies using the picture-word interference paradigm: the unwelcome consequences of the random use of "in/animates".

Sa-Leite A, Comesana M, Acuna-Farina C, Fraga I Front Psychol. 2023; 14:1145884.

PMID: 37213376 PMC: 10196210. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1145884.

Animate monitoring is not uniform: implications for the animate monitoring hypothesis.

Loucks J, Reise B, Gahite R, Fleming S Front Psychol. 2023; 14:1146248.

PMID: 37179895 PMC: 10174449. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1146248.

Does animacy affect visual statistical learning? Revisiting the effects of selective attention and animacy on visual statistical learning.

Cox J, Wu Y, Aimola Davies A Q J Exp Psychol (Hove). 2023; 77(3):492-510.

PMID: 37089088 PMC: 10880413. DOI: 10.1177/17470218231173883.

Facilitating animacy perception by manipulating stimuli exposure time.

Saito T, Motoki K, Nouchi R, Sugiura M Front Psychol. 2023; 13:1017685.

PMID: 36710764 PMC: 9879210. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1017685.

References

Lavie N . Perceptual load as a necessary condition for selective attention. J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform. 1995; 21(3):451-68. DOI: 10.1037//0096-1523.21.3.451. View

Lavie N . Distracted and confused?: selective attention under load. Trends Cogn Sci. 2005; 9(2):75-82. DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2004.12.004. View

Nairne J, VanArsdall J, Pandeirada J, Cogdill M, LeBreton J . Adaptive memory: the mnemonic value of animacy. Psychol Sci. 2013; 24(10):2099-105. DOI: 10.1177/0956797613480803. View

Bredemeier K, Simons D . Working memory and inattentional blindness. Psychon Bull Rev. 2012; 19(2):239-44. DOI: 10.3758/s13423-011-0204-8. View

Rakison D . Developmental origin of the animate-inanimate distinction. Psychol Bull. 2001; 127(2):209-28. DOI: 10.1037/0033-2909.127.2.209. View

Richards A, Hannon E, Derakshan N . Predicting and manipulating the incidence of inattentional blindness. Psychol Res. 2010; 74(6):513-23. DOI: 10.1007/s00426-009-0273-8. View

VanArsdall J, Nairne J, Pandeirada J, Blunt J . Adaptive memory: animacy processing produces mnemonic advantages. Exp Psychol. 2012; 60(3):172-8. DOI: 10.1027/1618-3169/a000186. View

Cartwright-Finch U, Lavie N . The role of perceptual load in inattentional blindness. Cognition. 2006; 102(3):321-40. DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2006.01.002. View

Most S, Scholl B, Clifford E, Simons D . What you see is what you set: sustained inattentional blindness and the capture of awareness. Psychol Rev. 2005; 112(1):217-42. DOI: 10.1037/0033-295X.112.1.217. View

10.

Koivisto M, Revonsuo A . The effects of perceptual load on semantic processing under inattention. Psychon Bull Rev. 2009; 16(5):864-8. DOI: 10.3758/PBR.16.5.864. View

11.

Strayer D, Drews F, Johnston W . Cell phone-induced failures of visual attention during simulated driving. J Exp Psychol Appl. 2003; 9(1):23-32. DOI: 10.1037/1076-898x.9.1.23. View

12.

Wilson S, Darling S, Sykes J . Adaptive memory: fitness relevant stimuli show a memory advantage in a game of pelmanism. Psychon Bull Rev. 2011; 18(4):781-6. DOI: 10.3758/s13423-011-0102-0. View

13.

Bates E, DAmico S, Jacobsen T, Szekely A, Andonova E, Devescovi A . Timed picture naming in seven languages. Psychon Bull Rev. 2003; 10(2):344-80. PMC: 3392189. DOI: 10.3758/bf03196494. View

14.

Isbell L . Snakes as agents of evolutionary change in primate brains. J Hum Evol. 2006; 51(1):1-35. DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2005.12.012. View

15.

Seegmiller J, Watson J, Strayer D . Individual differences in susceptibility to inattentional blindness. J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn. 2011; 37(3):785-91. DOI: 10.1037/a0022474. View

16.

Yang J, Wang A, Yan M, Zhu Z, Chen C, Wang Y . Distinct processing for pictures of animals and objects: evidence from eye movements. Emotion. 2012; 12(3):540-51. DOI: 10.1037/a0026848. View

17.

Koivisto M, Revonsuo A . How meaning shapes seeing. Psychol Sci. 2007; 18(10):845-9. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01989.x. View

18.

Wiemer J, Gerdes A, Pauli P . The effects of an unexpected spider stimulus on skin conductance responses and eye movements: an inattentional blindness study. Psychol Res. 2012; 77(2):155-66. DOI: 10.1007/s00426-011-0407-7. View

19.

Simons D, Chabris C . Gorillas in our midst: sustained inattentional blindness for dynamic events. Perception. 2000; 28(9):1059-74. DOI: 10.1068/p281059. View

20.

Delorme A, Richard G, Fabre-Thorpe M . Key visual features for rapid categorization of animals in natural scenes. Front Psychol. 2011; 1:21. PMC: 3095379. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2010.00021. View