Could you miss a gorilla in a room full of people? It sounds impossible to miss, but it happens more often than you might think, as documented in a famous psychological experiment.
In the study, participants were asked to watch a short video of people passing basketballs and to count the number of times players wearing white shirts passed the ball. This task required concentration, as players in black shirts were also passing a ball, adding to the visual
complexity.
Partway through the video (which can be viewed on YouTube – you can find it by typing ‘gorilla experiment’ or ‘selective attention test’ into the search bar), a person in a gorilla costume unexpectedly walks into the scene, stops in the middle, thumps their chest, and then walks off. The gorilla is on screen for about nine seconds – yet when participants were asked afterward whether they noticed anything unusual, about half of them reported seeing nothing out of the ordinary.
They were so focused on counting passes that they entirely missed the gorilla, a phenomenon known as inattentional blindness.
After the experiment, most participants were stunned to realise how much they missed when their attention was elsewhere. Who knew we could be so blind to the obvious?
Inattentional blindness shows how, when we’re intensely focused on a specific task or expectation, we can completely miss other information, even when it’s right in front of us. It’s different but closely tied to confirmation bias – the tendency for people to favour information that confirms their existing beliefs or values.
If we’re fixated on seeing something specific, like evidence supporting a belief, we’re more likely to overlook or dismiss contradictory information – like missing a metaphorical ‘gorilla’ that could challenge our assumptions.
Implications
The gorilla experiment offers obvious insights into how our focus and expectations can shape – and sometimes distort – our mental health. Just as participants in the study missed the gorilla while concentrating on counting passes, people can become so focused on certain thoughts or beliefs that they miss other important information – including information that could benefit their well-being.
For example, people struggling with anxiety or depression often focus on thoughts or beliefs that reinforce their negative self-perceptions or fears, much like how the study participants were fixated on counting passes. This narrow focus can make a person blind to positive experiences or evidence that contradicts their negative thoughts. For instance, an anxious person may be hypervigilant, routinely scanning their surroundings for potential threats. In a social situation, they may overlook friendly gestures or positive social cues, focusing instead on perceived dangers.
Similarly, inattentional blindness can reinforce cognitive distortions and exacerbate an unhelpful thinking style. One such cognitive distortion is selective abstraction, where a person fixates on certain aspects of a situation (often negative) and ignores others. If someone believes they’re destined to fail, they may focus only on setbacks, disregarding any success or growth. This can worsen low mood and depression, creating a self-fulfilling cycle that confirms their distorted view of reality.
This same partial blindness tends to bedevil people with low self-esteem. Someone who believes they’re inadequate may overlook evidence of their accomplishments or supportive feedback from others, thus reinforcing feelings of worthlessness.
In cognitive behavioural therapy, we often describe low self-esteem as being like a prejudice directed against the self. Prejudiced beliefs are stubbornly resistant to evidence, and are maintained by biased perceptions and biased interpretations.
Biased perceptions mean you may be quick to spot information that confirms your negative view of yourself. In contrast, evidence of your positives and strengths get screened out.
Similarly, biased interpretations refer to how experiences are distorted to maintain the negative core belief. Ambiguous information or events are interpreted negatively, and positive experiences are distorted to fit the negative narrative. For example, someone might tell you look great, but you interpret this to mean you usually look unattractive, or that the person didn’t mean it and is just trying to be nice.
Of course, you may not struggle with anxiety or low self-esteem, but everyone is prone to inattentional blindness. The next time you find yourself caught in a negative thought spiral, remember the gorilla. Don’t let your mind’s narrow focus blind you to the bigger picture.
