Change blindness

Change blindness is a phenomenon which occurs when a person does not notice a change from one image to the next. This phenomenon is studied extensively in neurology, and is widely used in research to understand how people process visual information. The phenomenon can be explained by the fact that our brains are not actively searching for change, and our attention is only focused on a selective area of a scene. In neurology studies, change blindness is usually studied through experiments using images or videos with small changes or discrete elements that have to be detected. One such experiment conducted in 2018 included participants being shown a sequence of images with a progression from day to night. For each image change, participants were asked to identify the difference between the two images. The results revealed that the majority of images were not correctly identified even when the differences were quite large or obvious. This suggests our visual systems are not designed to detect differences between two images and therefore may be hindering our ability to remember changes between them. Change blindness does not only occur in images but also in videos or even conversations. It is believed to be caused by a number of things, including how our visual attention shifts from one item to another in our environment, the ability to remember two scenes which are similar, and our overall ability to pick up subtle changes. Recent research studies on change blindness also suggest that the problem may not be so much with our visual systems but with our overall ability to process and store information. Studies have found that as we age, our cognitive abilities tend to decline, such as in areas including short term memory and executive function. This may explain why change blindness is so common in neurology studies, as many participants have found it difficult to detect the difference between two images or even remember them both. Understanding change blindness is essential for both neurological research and our everyday lives. It can help us understand how our perception of the world shifts based on cue and our ability to remember an image or conversation. With this knowledge, scientists and clinicians can better develop treatments for those who suffer from neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, which can lead to drastic decreases in cognitive abilities.