What is it called when you fail to 'see' something right in front of you because your attention is elsewhere?

What is it called when you fail to 'see' something right in front of you because your attention is elsewhere?

• A. Highway hypnosis
• B. Physical distraction
• C. Inattention blindness
• D. Both A and B

Answer: (C)

Inattentional blindness occurs when your attention is focused on one task or object, causing you to miss something that is clearly in your visual field. This matches the scenario described: you fail to notice something right in front of you because your attention is elsewhere. It’s different from highway hypnosis, which is a trance-like driving state where you can drive with little conscious awareness, and from physical distraction, which is any factor that diverts attention but doesn’t specify the perceptual failure. A classic example is the “invisible gorilla” study, where people concentrating on counting passes overlook a person in a gorilla suit walking through. So the best term is inattentional blindness.

Inattentional blindness occurs when your attention is focused on one task or object, causing you to miss something that is clearly in your visual field. This matches the scenario described: you fail to notice something right in front of you because your attention is elsewhere. It’s different from highway hypnosis, which is a trance-like driving state where you can drive with little conscious awareness, and from physical distraction, which is any factor that diverts attention but doesn’t specify the perceptual failure. A classic example is the “invisible gorilla” study, where people concentrating on counting passes overlook a person in a gorilla suit walking through. So the best term is inattentional blindness.