From: ian_spedding@lineone.net (Ian H Spedding) Newsgroups: alt.out-of-body Subject: Focus of attention Date: Wed, 27 Dec 2000 23:46:59 GMT Organization: Not really Message-ID: <3a4a77c6.3638560@news.lineone.net> X-Newsreader: Forte Free Agent 1.21/32.243 X-Complaints-To: newsabuse@supernews.com Lines: 41 Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!tungurahua!news-ge.switch.ch!news.maxwell.syr.edu!newsfeed.icl.net!diablo.theplanet.net!195.224.25.10.MISMATCH!sn-uk-xit-01!sn-uk-post-01!supernews.com!corp.supernews.co.uk!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.out-of-body:60194 A little while back we discussed how the brain appears to build up a visual image of the outside world on the basis of fragmentary information from the eyes. This morning I experienced a graphic illustration of just how fragmentary. A kids TV show was explaining and demonstrating some of what is known about how the mind works and they got three volunteers from the audience to take part in a little experiment. They were all shown the same short clip - which we at home saw as well - of two teams of basketball players. One team was dressed in white and the other in black. The white team had the ball and were bouncing it and passing it to one another. The volunteers had to count both the number of times the ball was bounced and the number of times it was passed and I tried it as well. At the end of the clip the host asked for the totals of bounces and passes. We all agreed on the passes although there was a slight discrepancy on the bounces. The host then thanked the volunteers but said that the numbers weren't actually the point of the experiment and had the clip replayed. This time you could clearly see a man in a gorilla suit walk into shot from the right, stop in the middle of the group of players, turn and wave at the camera and then walk off to the left. I hadn't seen him at all. My attention was so tightly focussed on the ball that a large clear object had passed through the centre of my field of vision and simply hadn't registered in the slightest. It was rather unsettling to say the least. Funnily enough, I remember reading about this type of experiment a little while ago and finding it hard to believe that you would not see something that large and obvious. To experience it yourself is a sharp reminder of the limitations of our visual system. Ian Ian H Spedding ============== ###### From: "Trish" Newsgroups: alt.out-of-body References: <3a4a77c6.3638560@news.lineone.net> Subject: Re: Focus of attention Lines: 55 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 4.71.1712.3 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.2106.4 Message-ID: X-Trace: +4f59/ue9ICKu5Iq3jIAcStvwiOmsRvVKYG13zCDtywO8M2jZbvGHuKCcCBxuEOyGhpAMlQswFaL!SgDMoDNNipJ27simOVyaNhPpYUF/1MvcE86yMDbA6lL+tccPm5YU2/Ke4rGSkMiQ0JjnY4jXlvCU!364wwlmsdw== X-Complaints-To: abuse@gte.net X-Abuse-Info: Please be sure to forward a copy of ALL headers X-Abuse-Info: Otherwise we will be unable to process your complaint properly NNTP-Posting-Date: Thu, 28 Dec 2000 02:45:27 GMT Distribution: world Date: Thu, 28 Dec 2000 02:45:27 GMT Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!tungurahua!news-ge.switch.ch!news.maxwell.syr.edu!newsfeed.direct.ca!look.ca!paloalto-snh1.gtei.net!news.gtei.net!dfiatx1-snr1.gtei.net.POSTED!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.out-of-body:60204 Ian H Spedding wrote in message <3a4a77c6.3638560@news.lineone.net>... >A little while back we discussed how the brain appears to build up a >visual image of the outside world on the basis of fragmentary >information from the eyes. This morning I experienced a graphic >illustration of just how fragmentary. > >A kids TV show was explaining and demonstrating some of what is known >about how the mind works and they got three volunteers from the >audience to take part in a little experiment. They were all shown the >same short clip - which we at home saw as well - of two teams of >basketball players. One team was dressed in white and the other in >black. The white team had the ball and were bouncing it and passing >it to one another. The volunteers had to count both the number of >times the ball was bounced and the number of times it was passed and I >tried it as well. > >At the end of the clip the host asked for the totals of bounces and >passes. We all agreed on the passes although there was a slight >discrepancy on the bounces. > >The host then thanked the volunteers but said that the numbers weren't >actually the point of the experiment and had the clip replayed. > >This time you could clearly see a man in a gorilla suit walk into shot >from the right, stop in the middle of the group of players, turn and >wave at the camera and then walk off to the left. > >I hadn't seen him at all. My attention was so tightly focussed on the >ball that a large clear object had passed through the centre of my >field of vision and simply hadn't registered in the slightest. It was >rather unsettling to say the least. > >Funnily enough, I remember reading about this type of experiment a >little while ago and finding it hard to believe that you would not see >something that large and obvious. To experience it yourself is a >sharp reminder of the limitations of our visual system. > >Ian Interesting spotlight there Ian. I must say quite honestly though .. if there was a gorilla in there somewhere, I definitely would not have missed it. : ) It does go to show how much we do miss, and also, how much we misinterpret. For a brief instance while driving down the road I glanced at a tree. The brown spot of leaves on the tree were instantly interpreted as a hot air balloon, with several colors. Of course, the visual discrepancy was corrected immediately ... but since I have become aware of these errors, I can spot and recall them easily. -- http://www.geocities.com/fl_simian/welcome.html ###### From: Craig Shillington Newsgroups: alt.out-of-body Subject: Re: Focus of attention Date: Fri, 29 Dec 2000 07:27:39 +1100 Organization: Deja Vous Lines: 58 Message-ID: <3A4BA23B.7C64F8F2@ozemu.com> References: <3a4a77c6.3638560@news.lineone.net> NNTP-Posting-Host: ppp115.horsham.ozemu.com (203.24.252.115) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Trace: fu-berlin.de 978035479 7323400 203.24.252.115 (16 [27978]) X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.76 [en] (Win95; U) X-Accept-Language: en,ja Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!tungurahua!news-ge.switch.ch!news-fra1.dfn.de!fu-berlin.de!uni-berlin.de!ppp115.horsham.ozemu.COM!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.out-of-body:60220 Ian H Spedding wrote: > > A little while back we discussed how the brain appears to build up a > visual image of the outside world on the basis of fragmentary > information from the eyes. This morning I experienced a graphic > illustration of just how fragmentary. > > A kids TV show was explaining and demonstrating some of what is known > about how the mind works and they got three volunteers from the > audience to take part in a little experiment. They were all shown the > same short clip - which we at home saw as well - of two teams of > basketball players. One team was dressed in white and the other in > black. The white team had the ball and were bouncing it and passing > it to one another. The volunteers had to count both the number of > times the ball was bounced and the number of times it was passed and I > tried it as well. > > At the end of the clip the host asked for the totals of bounces and > passes. We all agreed on the passes although there was a slight > discrepancy on the bounces. > > The host then thanked the volunteers but said that the numbers weren't > actually the point of the experiment and had the clip replayed. > > This time you could clearly see a man in a gorilla suit walk into shot > from the right, stop in the middle of the group of players, turn and > wave at the camera and then walk off to the left. > > I hadn't seen him at all. My attention was so tightly focussed on the > ball that a large clear object had passed through the centre of my > field of vision and simply hadn't registered in the slightest. It was > rather unsettling to say the least. > > Funnily enough, I remember reading about this type of experiment a > little while ago and finding it hard to believe that you would not see > something that large and obvious. To experience it yourself is a > sharp reminder of the limitations of our visual system. > > Ian No wonder they don't like *slight of hand* magicians to play in the casino's. They use the same sort of techniques. Ever taped a person doing slight of hand and then played it back and slowed it down? It's amazing! They really do MAKE you focus somewhere else while they play games with you. Just out of interest Ian, when I was young, I remember doing a test where they put two dots on a sheet of paper and asked us to stare at one. The other simply disappeared out of our field of vision .... a blind spot. Do you think the position of the ball relative to the monkey man had anything to do with this, or was it more making you focus intently on one thing to distract you? All the best Craig ###### From: ian_spedding@lineone.net (Ian H Spedding) Newsgroups: alt.out-of-body Subject: Re: Focus of attention Date: Thu, 28 Dec 2000 23:32:29 GMT Organization: Not really Message-ID: <3a4bc3c7.9972581@news.lineone.net> References: <3a4a77c6.3638560@news.lineone.net> X-Newsreader: Forte Free Agent 1.21/32.243 X-Complaints-To: newsabuse@supernews.com Lines: 65 Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!tungurahua!news-ge.switch.ch!news.tele.dk!195.224.25.10!sn-uk-xit-01!sn-uk-post-01!supernews.com!corp.supernews.co.uk!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.out-of-body:60228 On Thu, 28 Dec 2000 02:45:27 GMT, "Trish" wrote: > >Ian H Spedding wrote in message <3a4a77c6.3638560@news.lineone.net>... >>A little while back we discussed how the brain appears to build up a >>visual image of the outside world on the basis of fragmentary >>information from the eyes. This morning I experienced a graphic >>illustration of just how fragmentary. >> >>A kids TV show was explaining and demonstrating some of what is known >>about how the mind works and they got three volunteers from the >>audience to take part in a little experiment. They were all shown the >>same short clip - which we at home saw as well - of two teams of >>basketball players. One team was dressed in white and the other in >>black. The white team had the ball and were bouncing it and passing >>it to one another. The volunteers had to count both the number of >>times the ball was bounced and the number of times it was passed and I >>tried it as well. >> >>At the end of the clip the host asked for the totals of bounces and >>passes. We all agreed on the passes although there was a slight >>discrepancy on the bounces. >> >>The host then thanked the volunteers but said that the numbers weren't >>actually the point of the experiment and had the clip replayed. >> >>This time you could clearly see a man in a gorilla suit walk into shot >>from the right, stop in the middle of the group of players, turn and >>wave at the camera and then walk off to the left. >> >>I hadn't seen him at all. My attention was so tightly focussed on the >>ball that a large clear object had passed through the centre of my >>field of vision and simply hadn't registered in the slightest. It was >>rather unsettling to say the least. >> >>Funnily enough, I remember reading about this type of experiment a >>little while ago and finding it hard to believe that you would not see >>something that large and obvious. To experience it yourself is a >>sharp reminder of the limitations of our visual system. >> >>Ian > > >Interesting spotlight there Ian. I must say quite honestly though .. if >there was a gorilla in there somewhere, I definitely would not have missed >it. : ) That's what I thought ... until it happened. >It does go to show how much we do miss, and also, how much we misinterpret. >For a brief instance while driving down the road I glanced at a tree. The >brown spot of leaves on the tree were instantly interpreted as a hot air >balloon, with several colors. Of course, the visual discrepancy was >corrected immediately ... but since I have become aware of these errors, I >can spot and recall them easily. I think these instances of visually 'jumping to the wrong conclusion' are quite common, and to be expected given the way our visual system works. Ian Ian H Spedding ============== ###### From: ian_spedding@lineone.net (Ian H Spedding) Newsgroups: alt.out-of-body Subject: Re: Focus of attention Date: Thu, 28 Dec 2000 23:32:31 GMT Organization: Not really Message-ID: <3a4bc4e3.10256661@news.lineone.net> References: <3a4a77c6.3638560@news.lineone.net> X-Newsreader: Forte Free Agent 1.21/32.243 X-Complaints-To: newsabuse@supernews.com Lines: 69 Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!tungurahua!news-ge.switch.ch!newsfeeds.belnet.be!news.belnet.be!news.tele.dk!195.224.25.10!sn-uk-xit-01!sn-uk-post-01!supernews.com!corp.supernews.co.uk!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.out-of-body:60231 On Wed, 27 Dec 2000 20:52:18 -0600, Mark Baron wrote: >in article 3a4a77c6.3638560@news.lineone.net, Ian H Spedding at >ian_spedding@lineone.net wrote on 12/27/00 5:46 PM: > >> A little while back we discussed how the brain appears to build up a >> visual image of the outside world on the basis of fragmentary >> information from the eyes. This morning I experienced a graphic >> illustration of just how fragmentary. >> >> A kids TV show was explaining and demonstrating some of what is known >> about how the mind works and they got three volunteers from the >> audience to take part in a little experiment. They were all shown the >> same short clip - which we at home saw as well - of two teams of >> basketball players. One team was dressed in white and the other in >> black. The white team had the ball and were bouncing it and passing >> it to one another. The volunteers had to count both the number of >> times the ball was bounced and the number of times it was passed and I >> tried it as well. >> >> At the end of the clip the host asked for the totals of bounces and >> passes. We all agreed on the passes although there was a slight >> discrepancy on the bounces. >> >> The host then thanked the volunteers but said that the numbers weren't >> actually the point of the experiment and had the clip replayed. >> >> This time you could clearly see a man in a gorilla suit walk into shot >> from the right, stop in the middle of the group of players, turn and >> wave at the camera and then walk off to the left. >> >> I hadn't seen him at all. My attention was so tightly focussed on the >> ball that a large clear object had passed through the centre of my >> field of vision and simply hadn't registered in the slightest. It was >> rather unsettling to say the least. >> >> Funnily enough, I remember reading about this type of experiment a >> little while ago and finding it hard to believe that you would not see >> something that large and obvious. To experience it yourself is a >> sharp reminder of the limitations of our visual system. >> >> Ian >> >> >> Ian H Spedding >> ============== > >I was riding the bus home from work several days ago. It was dark. I looked >out the window and saw two boys standing along side of the road wearing >hooded jackets. But as I continued to look at them I realized that what I >was actually looking at was two mailboxes. I had already formed an image in >my of what I "saw" before all the data was in. > >Camouflage is interesting also. When we first started to tinker with mock >airfields we would build elaborate models of airplanes and equipment. It is >now known that this amount of detail is not needed. All that needs to be >done is to paint a simple picture on the concrete. One that mimics the shape >and shadow of the equipment. That's right. Give the brain the right cues and it will tend to jump to the wrong conclusion. Ian Ian H Spedding ============== ###### From: ian_spedding@lineone.net (Ian H Spedding) Newsgroups: alt.out-of-body Subject: Re: Focus of attention Date: Thu, 28 Dec 2000 23:32:32 GMT Organization: Not really Message-ID: <3a4bc57d.10410641@news.lineone.net> References: <3a4a77c6.3638560@news.lineone.net> <3A4BA23B.7C64F8F2@ozemu.com> X-Newsreader: Forte Free Agent 1.21/32.243 X-Complaints-To: newsabuse@supernews.com Lines: 92 Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!tungurahua!news-ge.switch.ch!newsfeeds.belnet.be!news.belnet.be!news.tele.dk!195.224.25.10!sn-uk-xit-01!sn-uk-post-01!supernews.com!corp.supernews.co.uk!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.out-of-body:60230 On Fri, 29 Dec 2000 07:27:39 +1100, Craig Shillington wrote: > > >Ian H Spedding wrote: >> >> A little while back we discussed how the brain appears to build up a >> visual image of the outside world on the basis of fragmentary >> information from the eyes. This morning I experienced a graphic >> illustration of just how fragmentary. >> >> A kids TV show was explaining and demonstrating some of what is known >> about how the mind works and they got three volunteers from the >> audience to take part in a little experiment. They were all shown the >> same short clip - which we at home saw as well - of two teams of >> basketball players. One team was dressed in white and the other in >> black. The white team had the ball and were bouncing it and passing >> it to one another. The volunteers had to count both the number of >> times the ball was bounced and the number of times it was passed and I >> tried it as well. >> >> At the end of the clip the host asked for the totals of bounces and >> passes. We all agreed on the passes although there was a slight >> discrepancy on the bounces. >> >> The host then thanked the volunteers but said that the numbers weren't >> actually the point of the experiment and had the clip replayed. >> >> This time you could clearly see a man in a gorilla suit walk into shot >> from the right, stop in the middle of the group of players, turn and >> wave at the camera and then walk off to the left. >> >> I hadn't seen him at all. My attention was so tightly focussed on the >> ball that a large clear object had passed through the centre of my >> field of vision and simply hadn't registered in the slightest. It was >> rather unsettling to say the least. >> >> Funnily enough, I remember reading about this type of experiment a >> little while ago and finding it hard to believe that you would not see >> something that large and obvious. To experience it yourself is a >> sharp reminder of the limitations of our visual system. >> >> Ian > >No wonder they don't like *slight of hand* magicians to play in the >casino's. They use the same sort of techniques. Ever taped a person >doing slight of hand and then played it back and slowed it down? It's >amazing! They really do MAKE you focus somewhere else while they play >games with you. > >Just out of interest Ian, when I was young, I remember doing a test >where they put two dots on a sheet of paper and asked us to stare at >one. The other simply disappeared out of our field of vision .... a >blind spot. Do you think the position of the ball relative to the >monkey man had anything to do with this, or was it more making you >focus intently on one thing to distract you? I think it was illustrating the techniques of misdirection and distraction which, as you say, stage magicians use in sleight-of-hand tricks. As PZ once described, only a small central area of each eye's field of vision is high-resolution - formed by the fovea. We build up what appears to be a large, clear picture by a sort of scanning process. The eyes jump about seeking salient and distinctive features and those are used as cues for the brain to fill in the rest of the image from memory. The large peripheral field of vision is fairly low resolution - only picking up large objects or movement. In the experiment, we were directed to focus on the ball which occupied the central, high-resolution area of our field of vision. The ball was moving about in a rapid and irregular way which mimicked the saccadic movement of the eyes. If it had been stationary we would have been more likely to have been drawn to the movement of the man in the gorilla suit when he entered the picture. In addition, the second team of players were dressed in black - the same colour as the gorilla suit - and they were jumping around the other team. Knowing that, I think my brain ignored any black objects in the peripheral field of vision assuming that they were members of the other team, and their movements masked the movement of the man in the gorilla suit. In fact, they had a stage magician on the show doing a couple of sleight-of-hand tricks - first shown in real time and in close-up and then slowed down with the camera pulled back so that you could see quite clearly how he'd done it. Ian Ian H Spedding ============== ###### From: "Trish" Newsgroups: alt.out-of-body References: <3a4a77c6.3638560@news.lineone.net> Subject: Re: Focus of attention Lines: 65 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 4.71.1712.3 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.2106.4 Message-ID: X-Trace: +L/oBgG2IXFhnVpqOfe31UQRNkARc07WBpZpUhtvv9Uokpa1EPUuAG1GBrIkcQLsAdtdt4/Jy7KP!vYoMNt01ksyQ010uzq+mFutH+//AeYz++q+ZkD2Xk4B5IO+Qvpm2C4+4nNqYKPAoPrYG2OwKtzW7!YfjhzZBc X-Complaints-To: abuse@gte.net X-Abuse-Info: Please be sure to forward a copy of ALL headers X-Abuse-Info: Otherwise we will be unable to process your complaint properly NNTP-Posting-Date: Thu, 28 Dec 2000 23:34:51 GMT Distribution: world Date: Thu, 28 Dec 2000 23:34:52 GMT Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!tungurahua!news-ge.switch.ch!news.maxwell.syr.edu!newsfeed.direct.ca!look.ca!paloalto-snh1.gtei.net!news.gtei.net!paloalto-snr1.gtei.net.POSTED!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.out-of-body:60243 lorz wrote in message ... > >Trish wrote in message ... >: >:Ian H Spedding wrote in message <3a4a77c6.3638560@news.lineone.net>... >:>A little while back we discussed how the brain appears to build up a >:>visual image of the outside world on the basis of fragmentary >:>information from the eyes. This morning I experienced a graphic >:>illustration of just how fragmentary. >:> >:>A kids TV show was explaining and demonstrating some of what is known >:>about how the mind works and they got three volunteers from the >:>audience to take part in a little experiment. They were all shown the >:>same short clip - which we at home saw as well - of two teams of >:>basketball players. One team was dressed in white and the other in >:>black. The white team had the ball and were bouncing it and passing >:>it to one another. The volunteers had to count both the number of >:>times the ball was bounced and the number of times it was passed and I >:>tried it as well. >:> >:>At the end of the clip the host asked for the totals of bounces and >:>passes. We all agreed on the passes although there was a slight >:>discrepancy on the bounces. >:> >:>The host then thanked the volunteers but said that the numbers weren't >:>actually the point of the experiment and had the clip replayed. >:> >:>This time you could clearly see a man in a gorilla suit walk into shot >:>from the right, stop in the middle of the group of players, turn and >:>wave at the camera and then walk off to the left. >:> >:>I hadn't seen him at all. My attention was so tightly focussed on the >:>ball that a large clear object had passed through the centre of my >:>field of vision and simply hadn't registered in the slightest. It was >:>rather unsettling to say the least. >:> >:>Funnily enough, I remember reading about this type of experiment a >:>little while ago and finding it hard to believe that you would not see >:>something that large and obvious. To experience it yourself is a >:>sharp reminder of the limitations of our visual system. >:> >:>Ian >: >: >:Interesting spotlight there Ian. I must say quite honestly though .. if >:there was a gorilla in there somewhere, I definitely would not have missed >:it. : ) >: >:It does go to show how much we do miss, and also, how much we misinterpret. >:For a brief instance while driving down the road I glanced at a tree. The >:brown spot of leaves on the tree were instantly interpreted as a hot air >:balloon, with several colors. Of course, the visual discrepancy was >:corrected immediately ... but since I have become aware of these errors, I >:can spot and recall them easily. > >Maybe there was a hot air balloon in another time, another place... hehe >just thought I'd stir things up :Þ Trishy bonks Lorene in the head (gently!) with the royal dictionary. :Þ -- http://www.geocities.com/fl_simian/welcome.html ###### From: "Trish" Newsgroups: alt.out-of-body References: <3a4a77c6.3638560@news.lineone.net> Subject: Re: Focus of attention Lines: 64 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 4.71.1712.3 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.2106.4 Message-ID: X-Trace: +L6QmxAYo4zSErcBAmMS6Nkpxs3kxA6NLgTLUmpFT64uwbBoVCJ/Ie7nIVDWtxwhYKjI1AWXwdsc!NW95gjxuS9geTP8SCIYz/LEKvEA6xxBm68a2i6F+v9OKSRA/lfG76WVqSXXCyT4lU/gS+3escl3R!GxguGInY X-Complaints-To: abuse@gte.net X-Abuse-Info: Please be sure to forward a copy of ALL headers X-Abuse-Info: Otherwise we will be unable to process your complaint properly NNTP-Posting-Date: Thu, 28 Dec 2000 23:38:00 GMT Distribution: world Date: Thu, 28 Dec 2000 23:38:01 GMT Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!tungurahua!news-ge.switch.ch!news.tele.dk!4.1.16.34!cpk-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!paloalto-snh1.gtei.net!news.gtei.net!paloalto-snr1.gtei.net.POSTED!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.out-of-body:60240 Mark Baron wrote in message ... >in article 3a4a77c6.3638560@news.lineone.net, Ian H Spedding at >ian_spedding@lineone.net wrote on 12/27/00 5:46 PM: > >> A little while back we discussed how the brain appears to build up a >> visual image of the outside world on the basis of fragmentary >> information from the eyes. This morning I experienced a graphic >> illustration of just how fragmentary. >> >> A kids TV show was explaining and demonstrating some of what is known >> about how the mind works and they got three volunteers from the >> audience to take part in a little experiment. They were all shown the >> same short clip - which we at home saw as well - of two teams of >> basketball players. One team was dressed in white and the other in >> black. The white team had the ball and were bouncing it and passing >> it to one another. The volunteers had to count both the number of >> times the ball was bounced and the number of times it was passed and I >> tried it as well. >> >> At the end of the clip the host asked for the totals of bounces and >> passes. We all agreed on the passes although there was a slight >> discrepancy on the bounces. >> >> The host then thanked the volunteers but said that the numbers weren't >> actually the point of the experiment and had the clip replayed. >> >> This time you could clearly see a man in a gorilla suit walk into shot >> from the right, stop in the middle of the group of players, turn and >> wave at the camera and then walk off to the left. >> >> I hadn't seen him at all. My attention was so tightly focussed on the >> ball that a large clear object had passed through the centre of my >> field of vision and simply hadn't registered in the slightest. It was >> rather unsettling to say the least. >> >> Funnily enough, I remember reading about this type of experiment a >> little while ago and finding it hard to believe that you would not see >> something that large and obvious. To experience it yourself is a >> sharp reminder of the limitations of our visual system. >> >> Ian >> >> >> Ian H Spedding >> ============== > >I was riding the bus home from work several days ago. It was dark. I looked >out the window and saw two boys standing along side of the road wearing >hooded jackets. But as I continued to look at them I realized that what I >was actually looking at was two mailboxes. I had already formed an image in >my of what I "saw" before all the data was in. > >Camouflage is interesting also. When we first started to tinker with mock >airfields we would build elaborate models of airplanes and equipment. It is >now known that this amount of detail is not needed. All that needs to be >done is to paint a simple picture on the concrete. One that mimics the shape >and shadow of the equipment. Once these types of discrepancies become apparent, you begin to notice them more and more often. For me, it's almost become a game. : ) ###### From: "Trish" Newsgroups: alt.out-of-body References: <3a4a77c6.3638560@news.lineone.net> <3a4bc3c7.9972581@news.lineone.net> Subject: Re: Focus of attention Lines: 77 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 4.71.1712.3 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.2106.4 Message-ID: X-Trace: +SLI2jIcW86M/D6jv3ARO4blmfLCkHeInL0lgnAhpX6xCZa2BDMgNvPIrAYIt679Jh4EhJPz/GtT!S6eTodeuUFk1GqRaKfZjbqIk49AaHnpu7ytexV6TIwoevh1AloUq0n6jUS6oP5W+ePFIlvMzcN2m!ZAsVQ3UA/Kk= X-Complaints-To: abuse@gte.net X-Abuse-Info: Please be sure to forward a copy of ALL headers X-Abuse-Info: Otherwise we will be unable to process your complaint properly NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 29 Dec 2000 02:54:41 GMT Distribution: world Date: Fri, 29 Dec 2000 02:54:42 GMT Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!tungurahua!news-ge.switch.ch!news.maxwell.syr.edu!logbridge.uoregon.edu!paloalto-snh1.gtei.net!news.gtei.net!paloalto-snr1.gtei.net.POSTED!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.out-of-body:60241 Ian H Spedding wrote in message <3a4bc3c7.9972581@news.lineone.net>... >On Thu, 28 Dec 2000 02:45:27 GMT, "Trish" wrote: > >> >>Ian H Spedding wrote in message <3a4a77c6.3638560@news.lineone.net>... >>>A little while back we discussed how the brain appears to build up a >>>visual image of the outside world on the basis of fragmentary >>>information from the eyes. This morning I experienced a graphic >>>illustration of just how fragmentary. >>> >>>A kids TV show was explaining and demonstrating some of what is known >>>about how the mind works and they got three volunteers from the >>>audience to take part in a little experiment. They were all shown the >>>same short clip - which we at home saw as well - of two teams of >>>basketball players. One team was dressed in white and the other in >>>black. The white team had the ball and were bouncing it and passing >>>it to one another. The volunteers had to count both the number of >>>times the ball was bounced and the number of times it was passed and I >>>tried it as well. >>> >>>At the end of the clip the host asked for the totals of bounces and >>>passes. We all agreed on the passes although there was a slight >>>discrepancy on the bounces. >>> >>>The host then thanked the volunteers but said that the numbers weren't >>>actually the point of the experiment and had the clip replayed. >>> >>>This time you could clearly see a man in a gorilla suit walk into shot >>>from the right, stop in the middle of the group of players, turn and >>>wave at the camera and then walk off to the left. >>> >>>I hadn't seen him at all. My attention was so tightly focussed on the >>>ball that a large clear object had passed through the centre of my >>>field of vision and simply hadn't registered in the slightest. It was >>>rather unsettling to say the least. >>> >>>Funnily enough, I remember reading about this type of experiment a >>>little while ago and finding it hard to believe that you would not see >>>something that large and obvious. To experience it yourself is a >>>sharp reminder of the limitations of our visual system. >>> >>>Ian >> >> >>Interesting spotlight there Ian. I must say quite honestly though .. if >>there was a gorilla in there somewhere, I definitely would not have missed >>it. : ) > >That's what I thought ... until it happened. Well, you see ... gorillas are my "thing". I'm sure I would have dropped the entire test. That's just me though. If it were a bear, or a rabbit or something, then my response would most likely been like yours. But it would be interesting to see if I am correct. > >>It does go to show how much we do miss, and also, how much we misinterpret. >>For a brief instance while driving down the road I glanced at a tree. The >>brown spot of leaves on the tree were instantly interpreted as a hot air >>balloon, with several colors. Of course, the visual discrepancy was >>corrected immediately ... but since I have become aware of these errors, I >>can spot and recall them easily. > >I think these instances of visually 'jumping to the wrong conclusion' >are quite common, and to be expected given the way our visual system >works. > >Ian > > >Ian H Spedding >============== ###### From: not-me@not-here.net (Janice) Newsgroups: alt.out-of-body Subject: Re: Focus of attention Message-ID: <3a52e8f6.8354404@news.starlinx.com> References: <3a4a77c6.3638560@news.lineone.net> X-Newsreader: Forte Free Agent 1.21/32.243 Lines: 48 NNTP-Posting-Date: Wed, 03 Jan 2001 02:57:04 CST Organization: Giganews.Com - Premium News Outsourcing X-Trace: sv2-75U26rphLEv8+R1sW9+zsbOtttYLTPh1raIDphHoJGh8J63MPOTQEc0+1/UxOF15PD9Sn1m5yFWVJAJ!ZCfyvw3O5kEOeygubCjuserVGHQ= X-Complaints-To: abuse@GigaNews.Com X-Abuse-Info: Please be sure to forward a copy of ALL headers X-Abuse-Info: Otherwise we will be unable to process your complaint properly Date: Wed, 03 Jan 2001 08:57:06 GMT Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!newsfeed-zh.ip-plus.net!news.ip-plus.net!news.tesion.net!news.belwue.de!news-stu1.dfn.de!news-mue1.dfn.de!news-was.dfn.de!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!newsfeed.novia.net.MISMATCH!novia!nntp2.aus1.giganews.com!nntp3.aus1.giganews.com!news2.giganews.com.POSTED!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.out-of-body:60427 On Wed, 27 Dec 2000 23:46:59 GMT, ian_spedding@lineone.net (Ian H Spedding) wrote: >A little while back we discussed how the brain appears to build up a >visual image of the outside world on the basis of fragmentary >information from the eyes. This morning I experienced a graphic >illustration of just how fragmentary. > >A kids TV show was explaining and demonstrating some of what is known >about how the mind works and they got three volunteers from the >audience to take part in a little experiment. They were all shown the >same short clip - which we at home saw as well - of two teams of >basketball players. One team was dressed in white and the other in >black. The white team had the ball and were bouncing it and passing >it to one another. The volunteers had to count both the number of >times the ball was bounced and the number of times it was passed and I >tried it as well. > >At the end of the clip the host asked for the totals of bounces and >passes. We all agreed on the passes although there was a slight >discrepancy on the bounces. > >The host then thanked the volunteers but said that the numbers weren't >actually the point of the experiment and had the clip replayed. > >This time you could clearly see a man in a gorilla suit walk into shot >from the right, stop in the middle of the group of players, turn and >wave at the camera and then walk off to the left. > >I hadn't seen him at all. My attention was so tightly focussed on the >ball that a large clear object had passed through the centre of my >field of vision and simply hadn't registered in the slightest. It was >rather unsettling to say the least. > >Funnily enough, I remember reading about this type of experiment a >little while ago and finding it hard to believe that you would not see >something that large and obvious. To experience it yourself is a >sharp reminder of the limitations of our visual system. As an example of a different but equally interesting situation, I vaguely remember hearing in anthropology class about a case in which a documentary about a tribe was shown to the members of the tribe. Not a thing in the film registered with the tribespeople except a bit where a chicken wandered into the scene. -- http://sites.netscape.net/jayavogelsong ###### From: not-me@not-here.net (Janice) Newsgroups: alt.out-of-body Subject: Re: Focus of attention Message-ID: <3a52e9da.8582352@news.starlinx.com> References: <3a4a77c6.3638560@news.lineone.net> <3a4bc3c7.9972581@news.lineone.net> X-Newsreader: Forte Free Agent 1.21/32.243 Lines: 68 NNTP-Posting-Date: Wed, 03 Jan 2001 02:58:28 CST Organization: Giganews.Com - Premium News Outsourcing X-Trace: sv2-WFZqu3dMQ0j7oJu15tPhHgJyfDNjVP2HJZKnJoltmEErrxS6iaHV/Rhi2Z8YZoGhcvtUYwXUJx1a39U!LXP122//nJJwKLAHVDOsmR3TP0Q= X-Complaints-To: abuse@GigaNews.Com X-Abuse-Info: Please be sure to forward a copy of ALL headers X-Abuse-Info: Otherwise we will be unable to process your complaint properly Date: Wed, 03 Jan 2001 08:58:30 GMT Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!newsfeeds.belnet.be!news.belnet.be!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!newsfeed.direct.ca!look.ca!nntp2.aus1.giganews.com!nntp3.aus1.giganews.com!news2.giganews.com.POSTED!not-for-mail Xref: chonsp.franklin.ch alt.out-of-body:60431 On Thu, 28 Dec 2000 23:32:29 GMT, ian_spedding@lineone.net (Ian H Spedding) wrote: >On Thu, 28 Dec 2000 02:45:27 GMT, "Trish" wrote: > >> >>Ian H Spedding wrote in message <3a4a77c6.3638560@news.lineone.net>... >>>A little while back we discussed how the brain appears to build up a >>>visual image of the outside world on the basis of fragmentary >>>information from the eyes. This morning I experienced a graphic >>>illustration of just how fragmentary. >>> >>>A kids TV show was explaining and demonstrating some of what is known >>>about how the mind works and they got three volunteers from the >>>audience to take part in a little experiment. They were all shown the >>>same short clip - which we at home saw as well - of two teams of >>>basketball players. One team was dressed in white and the other in >>>black. The white team had the ball and were bouncing it and passing >>>it to one another. The volunteers had to count both the number of >>>times the ball was bounced and the number of times it was passed and I >>>tried it as well. >>> >>>At the end of the clip the host asked for the totals of bounces and >>>passes. We all agreed on the passes although there was a slight >>>discrepancy on the bounces. >>> >>>The host then thanked the volunteers but said that the numbers weren't >>>actually the point of the experiment and had the clip replayed. >>> >>>This time you could clearly see a man in a gorilla suit walk into shot >>>from the right, stop in the middle of the group of players, turn and >>>wave at the camera and then walk off to the left. >>> >>>I hadn't seen him at all. My attention was so tightly focussed on the >>>ball that a large clear object had passed through the centre of my >>>field of vision and simply hadn't registered in the slightest. It was >>>rather unsettling to say the least. >>> >>>Funnily enough, I remember reading about this type of experiment a >>>little while ago and finding it hard to believe that you would not see >>>something that large and obvious. To experience it yourself is a >>>sharp reminder of the limitations of our visual system. >>> >>>Ian >> >> >>Interesting spotlight there Ian. I must say quite honestly though .. if >>there was a gorilla in there somewhere, I definitely would not have missed >>it. : ) > >That's what I thought ... until it happened. > >>It does go to show how much we do miss, and also, how much we misinterpret. >>For a brief instance while driving down the road I glanced at a tree. The >>brown spot of leaves on the tree were instantly interpreted as a hot air >>balloon, with several colors. Of course, the visual discrepancy was >>corrected immediately ... but since I have become aware of these errors, I >>can spot and recall them easily. > >I think these instances of visually 'jumping to the wrong conclusion' >are quite common, and to be expected given the way our visual system >works. Not-snuffy's, I say! :) -- http://sites.netscape.net/jayavogelsong