An investigation of inattentional blindness using gaze and frequency tagging

J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform. 2023 Oct;49(10):1310-1329. doi: 10.1037/xhp0001143. Epub 2023 Aug 10.

Abstract

Inattentional blindness (IB) occurs when a salient object presented in plain sight goes unnoticed when its appearance is unexpected. Across two experiments, participants completed a classic dynamic IB task while eye movements and steady-state visual evoked potential (SSVEP) responses were continually recorded. This allowed us to measure the modulation of gaze and brain-based indices of attention during IB. While an SSVEP response to all stimuli including the unexpected object was attained, only gaze measures were able to discriminate noticers from nonnoticers. Experiment 1 used a prototypical sustained IB task and found that gaze toward the unexpected object was largely unrelated to noticing that object. Experiment 2 manipulated the contrast of the target and distractor stimuli, and instead observed a tight concordance between gazing at the unexpected object and reporting its presence. This task-based variability in gaze deployment is consistent with the broader literature and cumulatively delineates the challenges faced in translating lab-based IB research from the bench to the bedside. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

MeSH terms

  • Attention / physiology
  • Blindness
  • Cognition*
  • Evoked Potentials, Visual*
  • Eye Movements
  • Humans