Selective Attention Report

The other day, I stumbled across The Selective Attention Test video produced by Brain Game, a TV show on National Geographic that popularizes psychology. I have always liked the TV show, so I decided to watch. At first, I thought the video would be a little silly, but as I watched, I found myself being pulled in. In this video, Dan Simmons teaches people about selective attention. Simmons has assembled a studio audience to witness a dance performance during which a normally distracting man in a penguin suit traverses through the dancers unnoticed by the audience. I thought that the idea of selective attention was made up, and that I would have no problem seeing all the detail on the stage, but just as the audience missed the penguin, I did

The creator accomplishes the goal of educating people by having two audiences. As Dan Simmons, the stage announcer, explains the effects of selective attention, he states, “If you didn’t notice the penguin going through, don't feel bad. This says nothing about how intelligent you are, or how much effort you're engaging. It turns out that about half of the people missed these unexpected events, in the studies I have done.” The penguin maybe a random example, but driving is not as random, so Simmons goes on to say, “Do any of you happen to ride motorcycles? One of the most common kind of motorcycle collision with a car is one in which the car turns left in front of the motorcycle. A driver of the car is looking for other cars, and they literally don’t see the motorcycle even though they can direct their eyes right at it. Just as you were looking right at this 6ft penguin” (33:08-33:42). Notice how Simmons slips in facts about selective attention while keeping the audience members engaged. He uses general statistics, in two different situations, to educate the audiences, and does it in a casual manner in order to not lose the audience's focus. The use of this statistic not only informs the audience that this mistake is common, but also that it can be made in trivial events, like a dance, and more serious events, like driving. (?)The creator uses Simmons to inform the studio audience, so that the screen viewer to receive the information in an indirect way. The creator also uses a video narrator to accomplish the goal of educating the screen viewer when the narrator of the video examples(?), “For anyone who still missed it you're not alone over fifty percent of the audience did too” (32:45-32:53). Notice here how the narrator of the video uses a statistic that is occurring as the screen viewer is watching. The creator does this to educate the viewer watching that he or she isn’t alone