Wait. Did I miss something?
Part of the Psychology Playtime Series
Dr. Carla Engelbrecht is an expert in educational technology and CEO and Founder of Betweened, expertly curated, family-friendly entertainment (iOS and Android). Her writing focuses on helping caregivers connect with kids through technology.
Test your observation skills as we delve into the phenomenon of change blindness and see if you can see the difference in this classic swapping scene experiment. Doing psychology experiments with kids is a great way to create connections while learning about how our minds work, fostering curiosity, and sparking engaging discussions about our mental processes.
🎯 The Swapping Scene: A Perception Test
Watch this video together and follow the instructions
🔍 The Science Behind It
How did it go? Did any of you experience change blindness? That’s when changes in our visual field are often missed if our attention is diverted. It highlights how our perception isn't always as reliable as we think.
In this experiment, we're testing your ability to detect changes in a scene when your attention is momentarily diverted. As you watch the video, your focus will be drawn to a particular aspect of the scene, allowing subtle changes to occur without your awareness. This phenomenon reveals the limitations of our visual perception and the selective nature of our attention.
Want to try it again?
Imagine you're engrossed in a conversation or distracted by a passing car – during these moments, your brain may fail to register changes happening right in front of you. It's a humbling reminder that what we perceive isn't always an accurate representation of reality.
This Nova PBS video provides further info.
This experiment is based on the work of psychologists Daniel Simons and Daniel Levin. Their research on change blindness highlights how we often fail to notice unexpected changes in our environment. Their original Door Study video is a classic -- many people didn’t notice when the person they were speaking to changed!
💡 Talk About It
Here are some questions families can discuss after watching these videos to deepen their understanding of change blindness and perception:
How did you feel when you realized you missed the change?
How do you think this applies to real-life situations?
Can you think of other situations where being focused on one thing might make you miss something else?
By exploring these questions, you can help your child develop an awareness of their own focus and how perception works. It's a great way to introduce a bit of psychology while sharing some laughs together!
Bonus: Brainstorm how you can design your own change blindness test to do with friends and family
Through experiments like these, we get a closer look at how our perception works. It invites us to consider the reliability of our senses and demonstrates how our awareness can be shaped by things we're not even conscious of. Learning about these psychological phenomena helps us become better critical thinkers, especially in today's world where misinformation is common. Remember, being mindful of our perceptions is a key step in seeing the world more clearly.
Dr. Carla Engelbrecht is a highly-selective mom, product leader, and internationally recognized expert on children’s education and entertainment technology. As founder of Betweened, she's on a mission to transform entertainment for kids and their families. If you haven’t already, sign up for the newsletter to get more articles like this or enjoy our free 60 minute video on how to manage when technology goes sideways.
