Over at the Mixing Memory Blog, they have a write-up of an amazing experiment in change blindness (our own tendency not to notice significant changes in a scene when they are unimportant to the meaning of what is happening) conducted at the Cornell University Campus.
What happened was this: an experimenter approached a random passer-by wth a map, asking for directions. When the subject had been explaining how to get to the Cafeteria for about 15 seconds, a person holding a large door carelessly walked between them, during which time the person asking for directions walked away and was replaced by someone else.
The result? 8 out of 15 people had no frickin' clue they were talking to someone different. And when the experimenters dressed in construction uniforms, which are common on campuses, only 4 out of 12 noticed the switch.
This is handy psychological intelligence for Wired Blogs to have for when they inevitably decide to fire me. You guys won't even know I'm gone, unless you happen to notice the exponential drop in octopus sex and Cthulhu posts.
Coolest... Experiment... Ever [Mixing Memory]
