Inattentional blindness for ignored words: comparison of explicit and implicit memory tasks

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Perception

Background:

• Inattentional blindness is the failure to perceive stimuli when attention is diverted.
• Previous research suggested inattentional blindness for fixated but ignored words.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate explicit and implicit memory for fixated but ignored words.
• To determine if selective attention tasks result in perfect filtering of unattended stimuli.

Main Methods:

• Used a selective-attention task with overlapping picture/word stimuli at fixation.
• Assessed explicit memory via a recognition test.
• Assessed implicit memory via a separate task.

Main Results:

• No explicit awareness of unattended words was found on the recognition test.
• Implicit memory tasks revealed perceptual processing of unattended words.
• Selective-attention did not achieve perfect filtering as previously suggested.

Conclusions:

• Unattended words are processed perceptually, even without conscious awareness.
• Selective attention does not always lead to complete filtering of ignored information.
• Subjects retain implicit perceptual information about stimuli they do not consciously see.