The invisible gorilla experiment, a classic on perception

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The invisible gorilla experiment is one of the most surprising to people who don’t know about it. Its results tell us about how our selective attention works and the mistakes we can make with it.

The invisible gorilla experiment became a psychology classic. Although it was carried out in 1999, it continues to be cited as a typical example of the limitations of perception. Also about people’s resistance to accepting that they are often blind to the world around them.

The creators of the invisible gorilla experiment, Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons, did not imagine that this exercise would become such a curious and repeated experience. It has been replicated countless times, in different countries and with people of all ages and educational levels with a similar result.

If you want to do the experiment yourself, you just have to watch the following video and follow the instructions; Yes, before starting to read the next point.

Enough that count the number of passes that the white shirt team makes to each other. You must remain attentive and take into account both aerial passes and passes that are given by bounce. Take the test and then continue reading.

“Little observation and many theories lead to error. Much observation and few theories lead to the truth”.

-Alexis Carrel-

The invisible gorilla experiment

In the third paragraph of this article we gave you the same instructions that Chabris and Simons gave to a group of student volunteers before doing the experiment.

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When the participants finished watching the video the following questions were asked (answer them too if you saw the video):

“Did you notice anything unusual while counting the passes?” “Did you notice anything else besides the players?” “Did you notice anyone besides the players?”“Did you notice a gorilla?”

The last question is the one that surprised the volunteers in the invisible gorilla experiment the most. At least 58% of them. Whenever the experiment has been repeated, the percentage of people surprised is more or less the same. Yes: There was a gorilla in the video, but more than half of the people didn’t notice it. You saw it?

Reactions to what happened

The first time the invisible gorilla experiment was done and all subsequent times, the majority of those who participated, and who did not notice the presence of the gorilla, have been incredulous with the transparency of the practice. It seems impossible to them that they have overlooked such a “detail” in what they saw.

When asked to watch the video again, they all notice the gorilla’s presence. Some believe that they have been shown two different videos, but this is not the case. This experiment won the Ig Nobel Prize. This is an award that is granted to those scientific activities that “first they make you laugh and then you think”.

Why are so many people blind to such an obvious stimulus of such magnitude? That is the question that arises after this experiment. It is also, of course, striking that so many refuse to accept that their perception deceives them. They think they see reality as it is and yet they fail to do so.

The traps of perception

Researchers Steve Most and Robert Astur carried out an analogous experiment years later. In this case, a driving simulator was used. The volunteers were told to stop when they reached a corner if they saw a blue arrow. If, however, they saw a yellow arrow, they did not have to stop.

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However, when the volunteers were doing this activity, two motorcycles passed in front of them in the simulator. When the motorcycle was blue, the virtual drivers noticed it and braked. On the other hand, when it was yellow, almost 60% ran over the motorcyclist. In some way the results of the invisible gorilla experiment were replicated.

What happens in these cases is that people focus their attention only on the point that interests them. In the first case, in the passes of the white team; in the second case, on the blue arrow. Deep down, they focused all their attention on color. Since the gorilla was black and some of the motorcycles were yellow, the volunteers did not pick up on that stimulus.

This is all because some people can only focus on one variable at a time.. Others, however, have a broader and more flexible pattern of attention. For example, this is the reason why it is advisable not to talk on the phone while driving.