Group 1 (Change-Blindness)

MONDRIAAN AURA COLLEGE
BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN PSYCHOLOGY

Subic Bay Freeport Zone, Philippines
Change Blindness
An Experimental Psychology written output submitted to the

Faculty of Psychology
Doles, Ara Mae D.

Fragata, Jaline
Mangalonzo, Jan Ric Lester A.
Nool, Ma. Cozette D.
Ombao, Patrick Gabriel C.
Sevilla, Pearl Christine M.
Stroh, Judiel Y.
Ugbinada, Hasser Dave P.
Vanta, Charles Victor M.
Villanueva, Annalyn G.
Villarde, Darlene C.
Viterbo, Aljen Ellaine T.
Mondriaan Aura College, SBFZ
In Partial Fulfilment for the Requirement

For the Subject Experimental Psychology
February 13, 2019
“AURA Psychology: The Heartbeat of Society.”

1
Abstract
The students of Mondriaan Aura College, psychology department in experimental
psychology have conducted an experiment inside the school premises. An experiment
conducted by McConkie in 1970, and was called the change blindness experiment. It
measures the people’s ability to detect changes and to reflect fundamental limitations of
human attention. In the experiment, the participants were simply asked to sit and watch
a short clip of a group of guys with black and white shirt. The participants were asked to
count how many ball passes the white team can make and if they saw the moonwalking
bear pass by while the two groups were passing the ball. This extent of difficulty is what
we call the change blindness. A common explanation for the change blindness is a
phenomenon that occurs when a change in visual stimuli is introduced and the observer
does not notice it. For example, observers often fail to notice major differences when
they are too focused at something. Change blindness has become a highly researched
topic and some argued that it may have practical implications in areas such as eye
witness testimony and distractions while driving.
In this experiment the experimenter found out that there are no significant
difference in the count of ball passes between men and women. There is also a higher
percentage of women who noticed the moonwalking bear and lower percentage of men
who did not notice it.

2
Acknowledgement
The experimenters wish to extend their heartfelt gratitude to the following that
have shared their ideas and thought and have helped in the preparation of this
experiment.
To Ms. Jacqueline Lising, their Experimental Psychology Professor, for her
untiring effort to teach them in their errors, without her guidance this experiment may
not come into reality.
The participants who cooperated and entrusted their time, the experimenters are
thankful because if it is not for them, they would not be able to finish the experiment.
To their family, especially to their parents for their unending support, love and
encouragement.
Above all, our God Almighty, for the gift of life and eternal love, and for guidance.
You are the experimenters’ inner strength.

3
Table of Contents
Title Page………………………………………………………………………………………1
Abstract………………………………………………………………………………………...2
Acknowledgement…………………………………………………………………………….3
Table of Contents……………………………………………………………………………..4
Chapter 1: Introduction……………………………………………………………………….5
Paradigm of the Study………………………………………………………………...6
Statement of the Problem…………………………………………………………….6
Hypothesis……………………………………………………………………………...6
Significance of the Study……………………………………………………………...7
Chapter 2: Design and Methodology………………………………………………………..7
Population and Locale of the Study…………………………………………………7
Data Gathering Tool…………………………………………………………………..7
Data Gathering Procedure……………………………………………………………8
Summary of the Debriefing…………………………………………………………...9
Treatment of Data……………………………………………………………………..9
Chapter 3: Presentation, Analysis and Interpretation……………………………………...9
Chapter 4: Conclusion and Recommendation……………………………………………..10
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………..10
Observation…………………………………………………………………………....10
Recommendation…………………………………………………………….………..11
References…………………………………………………………………………………......13
Appendices……………………………………………………………………………………..14

4
Introduction
This study aims to explain the phenomenon of change blindness—an inability to
detect remarkable changes. Change blindness is a term used by psychologists to
describe the tendency that people have, to miss changes in their immediate visual
environment. If something in our field of view changed dramatically right before our
eyes, we would notice it immediately right? We may think that we see, or we are aware
of all the changes that happened in our environment. The reality is that there is too
much information for our brain to fully process and be aware of every single things that
happen around us. For Levin, Mommen, Drivdahl and Simons (2000) people fail to
detect surprisingly large changes to scenes and according to Rensink (2005)
researchers have shown that visual perception does not capture as much as the world
as we think. For example, a man was driving a car, he is so focused on the road that he
didn’t notice the stoplight turn red. Or a change in a movie scene or movie set that
normally you don’t notice. (Such as hair style change, surrounding change, appliances
change).
According to Rensink (2005) change blindness is the striking failure to see large
changes that normally would be noticed easily. Over the past decade this phenomenon
has greatly contributed to our understanding of attention, perception, and even
consciousness. The extent of change blindness in visual perception suggests limits on
our capacity to encode, retain, and compare visual information from one glance to the
next: our awareness of our visual surroundings is far sparser than most people
intuitively believe.

5
Research on change blindness developed from investigation in other phenomena
such as eye movements and working memory. Although individuals have a very good
memory as to whether or not they have seen an image, they are generally poor at
recalling the smaller details in that image. When we are visually stimulated with a
complex picture, it is more likely that individuals retain only a gist of an image and not
the image in its entirety.
One of the theories that explain change blindness is the inattentional blindness
(failure to notice a fully-visible, but unexpected object because attention was engaged
on another task, event on object). The experiment creates a better understanding
towards a person’s perception. We see that the more we focus on a certain object, the
more we use our perceptual capacity by providing focus on our task, we are putting
much perceptual load that is flooding information in our perceptual capacity that
produced in attentional blindness and how often it affects our daily lives. This study
could also be evolve by future researchers and experimenters in their research
concerning the effects of inattentional blindness.
Lavie’s perceptual load theory (1995; Lavie &DeForkert, 2001; lavie &tsal, 1994)
also explains the change blindness. It explain that observes can efficiently filter out task
irrelevant distractors when performing under high levels of perceptual, but fail to do so
under low levels of perceptual load. When the perceptual load is high we tend to focus
more on a task and disregard distractions. And when the perceptual load is low we tend
not to focus and see the distractions because we are not focus on the task.

6
Paradigm of the Study
Independent Variables Dependent Variables
1. Change Blindness Video 1. Participants Responses:

Clip played in laptop
Number of passes and
2. Sex
observation to the dancing bear
Extraneous Variables
1. Quality of the Video (sounds)
2. Environment of the experiment
(ceiling fan, instructor, observer,
documenter and clicker.)
Statement of the Problem
1. Is there a significant difference in the count of ball passes between men and women?
2. What are the percentages of the participants who noticed the moonwalking bear and
those who did not notice it?

7
Hypothesis
1. There is no significant difference in the count of ball passes between men and
women.
2. There are higher percentages of the participants who did not notice the
moonwalking bear compared to those who noticed it.
Significance of the Study
The significance of this study is to observe the change blindness phenomenon. It
is the failure to notice something that has been changed in the situation, it only shows
how important our attention is. The experiment proves that our attention has limited
resources. When we are paying attention to something it means that we are
concentrating on it. This experiment helps not just psychologist and the experimenters
but also to all the people who will study this. This experiment helps us to become aware
of all the unexpected changes that are happening around us. We don’t see small
changes unless we attend and concentrate to them. That is why we need to focus and
observe things to see changes and details in the picture or scenario. This study
indicates that change blindness in not only a laboratory artifact, but also occurs in real
world situation.
The experimenters reflected in the experiment and found out some benefit to
themselves. One of this is that we must not focus on the things we currently see that
causes blindness to us, to see our bright future. This is widely observed in this

8
generation. We neglect things that could affect our future. Sometimes we focus on the
bigger picture and not on the details. There are many opportunities out there that we do
not see. We need to widen our perspective to find solutions to our problems and issues
in life. Don’t let the negativity of this world destruct us in our goals. These things will
help us to be triumphant in achieving our goals and dreams. Focus on the good and
leave the bad past behind.
Design and Methodology
Population and Locale of the Study
The experimenters invited students from senior high school and different college
departments of Mondriaan Aura College to participate in the experiment. There is also
one senior high school participant from St. Joseph College. It was conducted at the
Alpha 103 room of Mondriaan Aura College on February 1, 2019. The total number of
students who participated in the experiment were 46 but the experimenter only used the
result from 40 valid participants. It is considered valid if they haven’t watched the video
clip before. The remaining 6 participants were considered invalid because 4 of them
said that they already became participants from the last year experiment. The other 2
invalid participants said that they have seen the video clip before.

9
Data Gathering Tool
The experimenters used a laptop and speaker in order to show to each
participant the video regarding the experiment. In the video clip, there are two teams of
basketball player (the white team and the black team) with the voice over asking you to
count the number of passes the white team makes. The voice over then asked how
many passes did the white team made and if they noticed the moonwalking bear then
replays the video clip. The experimenters also used yellow paper to write down the
answer of each participant. The experimenter also used cellphone camera in taking
pictures of the experiment.
Data Gathering Procedure
1. The participants were asked to stay in the waiting area while waiting for their turn
to do the experiment. The callers entertained them by talking while watching a
movie in the laptop and eating some chips and candies.
2. In the experiment room, the participants were asked to sit and be comfortable as
much as they can to focus on the video that they will watch.
3. Before playing the video, each participants was instructed to count the number of
ball passes that the white team will make.
4. The participants were asked to watch the short video clip in the laptop.
5. Shortly after pausing the video, they were asked how many passes from the
white team they have counted. They were also asked if they have noticed
something while watching the video, like a moonwalking bear.
6. The video is then continued for the participants to watch and noticed a moon
walking bear in the middle of the video.

10
7. The answers of the participant's count of ball passes and observation were
recorded by the documenter in a yellow paper.
8. Lastly, the participants were instructed to proceed to the feedback area.
Summary of the Debriefing
The 46 participants were debriefed before and after the experiment by the
“callers” (the experimenter responsible for inviting participants) and by the “de- briefers”
(the experimenters responsible in asking question about how the participant experience
the experiment).
Before the experiment, the “callers” asked each of the participant three
questions. First, if they have a class on going or is it their free time. Second, they asked
if they are willing or if they want to participate in the experiment. Lastly, if is it okay for
them to be photographed.
After the experiment, the participants were instructed to proceed in the feedback
area, wherein they were debriefed by the de-briefers to accumulate their thoughts and
experience regarding the experiment. This questioning allows the experimenters to
know whether participants will be considered as valid or invalid. The questions are as
follows:

11
1. Is this your first time to watch the video? If yes, where did you watch it?
Almost all of the participants answered that it was their first time watching the
video and some of them answered that they have already watched it from their friend,
church service and some were participants from the last year’s experiment.
2. Did you count the number of passes of the white team correctly? If no, how
many passes did you count?
There are 29 out of 40 valid participants who got the number of passes correctly
and there are 11 out of 40 valid participants who got it wrong.
3. Did you notice the moonwalking bear? What do you think is the reason why
you noticed or did not notice the moonwalking bear?
Majority of the participants did not notice the moonwalking bear and almost all of
them have the same reason why they didn’t and it is because they were just focused on
counting the number of passes the white team made. The participants who noticed the
moonwalking bear said that while counting the passes they got distracted by the bear.
4. How was your experience in the experiment?
The participants have different answers. Some said they were surprised because
they did not expect that there is a moonwalking bear in the video. Some are amazed,
confused and some even said that it was “laugh trip”. Some feel regretful because they
didn’t get the correct answer.
5. Do you have any suggestions?
Most of the participants don’t have any suggestion regarding the experiment
proper because they said that the experimenters outside are very accommodating and
friendly. If there is one suggestion it is that the experimenters inside the experiment

12
room should at least be approachable when the participants are entering to feel less
nervous and feel comfortable.
Treatment of the Data
The experimenters used Welch's t-test to determine if the count of the ball
passes between men and women are significant. The experimenters also used
percentage to measure how many of the participants have seen and did not see the
moonwalking bear.
Presentation, Analysis, and Interpretation of Data
The SPSS result of the Welch’s Unpaired T-Test
Independent Sample Test
Df t Critical value
Ball passes between men
and women 22.29 -0.43 1.717
There is no significant difference in the count of ball passes between men and
women because the computed t-value of -0.43 is less than the critical value of 1.717 at
0.05 alpha level of significance with the degrees of freedom of 22.29.

13
The percentage result of men and women who saw the moonwalking bear and
those who did not: The male participants were 14 and the female participants were 26.
The experimenters computed that 0% of the men has seen the moonwalking bear, while
92% of the women did not see it. The experimenters computed that 100% of the men
did not see the moonwalking bear while 8% of the women did.
Participants who saw the Moonwalking bear

9%
8%
7%
6%
5%
4%
3%
2%
1%
0%
Men Women
Men who saw the moonwalking bear: 0 out of 14 (Ratio) which is equivalent to
0% of the males. Women who saw the moonwalking bear: 2 out of 26 (Ratio) which is
equivalent to 8% of the women.

14
Participants who did not see the Moonwalking bear

102%
100%
98%
96%
94%
92%
90%
88%
Men Women
Men who did not see the moonwalking bear: 14 out of 14 (Ratio) 14 out of 14=1;
1*100=100, 100% of the men did not notice the moonwalking bear. Women who did not
notice the moonwalking bear 24 out of 26 (Ratio) 24 out of 26=0.92; 0.92*100=92, 92%
of the women did not notice the moonwalking bear.
Conclusion and Recommendations
Conclusion
The experimenters found out that there is no significant difference in the count of
the ball passes between men and women therefore, the experimenters accepted the
null hypothesis. The findings can be explain by the selective attention theory. It explains
the process of focusing the attention in a given time to what oneself thought that is more

15
important while ignoring the insignificant details. This theory proves that there is a limit
to how much information can be processed at a given time.
The limitation for the attention has been conceptualized as a bottleneck which
controls the information flow. The narrower the bottleneck the lower the rate of flow of
information bottleneck theory suggest that individuals have a limited attentional
resources that they can use at one time. That is why information and stimuli are
“filtered” somehow, so that only the most important information is perceived. This theory
was proposed by Broadbent in 1958.
The experimenters also found out that there is higher percentage of women who
notice the moonwalking bear and higher percentage of men who did not notice it. This
findings can explain by the theory of divided attention. It stated that the brain has the
ability to attend two different motivation or stimuli at the same time, and respond to the
multiple demands of our surroundings. Our ability to attend to multiple stimuli and do
various tasks at a time does have its limits. When you divide your attention, the
efficiency with which you do these actions is decreased, and you will almost certainly
perform poorly. As the result says most of the participants did not notice the
moonwalking bear because the participants are focus on counting the ball passes.
There are two out of 40 participants saw it, but in result to this they did not counted the
ball passes correctly.
One study of change blindness says that women were slightly quicker to detect
changes. However, men are more accurate in detecting changes over all (Harmsmen,
2016). This explains why higher percentage of women notice the moonwalking bear and
higher percentage of men who did not notice it.

16
Observations
Prior to the beginning of our conducted experiment, the experimenters prepared
themselves, especially wear proper attire or uniform, and also name tags. The
experimenters improvised all the equipments that were used for our experiment. And
also the experimenters outside provided movies, chips, candies and biscuits (token) for
entertainment, so that the participants will not feel weary.
During the experiment, the instructor explained the instructions properly and very
well to the participant and the participants listened attentively and carefully. Then the
awareness test has begun, the first instruction was simple and easy to understand for
the participants. After the instructor explained the instructions, the participant started to
focus at the video. When the video was paused, the instructor asked the participant.
"Did you see a moonwalking bear?” Mostly the participants felt confused. After the
awareness test, the instructor shared and gave them the definition and objectives of the
experiment that we did, he explains the example that the change blindness is a failure
to detect that an object has moved or disappeared and the opposite of the change
detection.
Recommendations
The experimenters have some suggestions and recommendations for the next
experimenters who will conduct the same experiment. These are the following:
1. The experimenters may put a sign board outside the experiment room that shows
that the experiment is on-going, so that the other people will know that there is an
experiment conducted.

17
2. The experimenters may be alert when a participant inside finishes the
experiment. They should immediately call the next participant to enter the room
to not waste time.
3. The experimenter may turn off the ceiling fan because it creates a shadow on the
laptop that can affect the quality of the video.
4. The experimenters may be more cheerful in smiling and in greeting every
participant that will enter the room so that the participant would not be afraid and
would feel comfortable.
5. Experimenters may recommend for the de-briefer and caller to be stricter on
instructing the participant to be silent while waiting.
6. The experimenters may lead the participant where he or she would be going to
sit.
7. The experimenters may have effective "pakulo" or strategy in inviting participants
so that participants would be interested in joining the experiment.
8. The experimenters may construct their statement of the problem before
conducting the experiment in order for them to know the statistical tools that they
can use. It may also help them in gathering raw score.

18
References
Electronic Sources
Aguilera, M. (2012). Juvenile Delinquency Theories. Retrieved from
https://juvenilejustice190.blogspot.com/2012/10/oncea-criminal-always-criminal-this-
is.html
Ackerma, C. (2018, February 7). What is Self-Regulation? Retrieved from
https://positivepsychology.com/self-regulation/
Coste, B. (2018, June 1). Diana Baumrind's 3 Parenting Styles:
Get a Full Understanding of the 3 Archetypical Parents. Retrieved from
https://www.positive-parenting-ally.com/3-parenting-styles.html
Casey, B. (2008). Peer Pressure: It’s Influence on Teens and Decision Making.
Retrieved from http://headsup.scholastic.com/students/peer-pressure-its-influence-on-
teens-and-decision-making
Cherry, K. (2019, June 25). Erik Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development.
Retrieved from https://www.verywellmind.com/erik-eriksons-stages-of-psychosocial-
development-2795740
Cherry, K. (2018, May 23). Identity Crisis: How Our Identity Forms Out of Conflict.
Retrieved from https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-an-identity-crisis-2795948

19
Cherry, K. (2018, December 21). What Is Reciprocal Determinism? Retrieved from
https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-reciprocal-determinism-2795907
Essays, UK. (November 2018). Attachment Theory and Juvenile Delinquency.
Retrieved from https://www.ukessays.com/essays/psychology/study-on-attachment-
theory-and-juvenile-delinquency-psychology-essay.php?vref=1
Elemia, C. (2019, February 16). Children in conflict with the law: On finding hope and
fighting fate. Retrieved from https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/in-depth/223176-lives-
children-conflict-law-finding-hope-fighting-fate
Greene, C. (2010). Review of the Roots of Youth Violence: Literature Reviews.
Retrieved from
http://www.children.gov.on.ca/htdocs/English/professionals/oyap/roots/volume5/chapter
08_social_learning.aspx
Little, E. (n.d). Peer pressure and influence: teenagers. Retrieved from
https://raisingchildren.net.au/teens/behaviour/peers-friends-trends/peer-influence
Li, P. (n.d). 4 Parenting Styles – Characteristics and Effects [Infographic] Retrieved from
https://www.parentingforbrain.com/4-baumrind-parenting-styles/
Moretti, M., Peled, M. (2004). Adolescent-parent attachment: Bonds that support
healthy development. Retrieved from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2724162/
McLeod, S. A. (2017, Feb 05). Attachment theory. Retrieved from
https://www.simplypsychology.org/attachment.html

20
Macaraeg, P. (2019, January 29). How Many Child Criminals Are There in the
Philippines? Retrieved from https://www.esquiremag.ph/politics/news/children-crime-
statistics-philippines-a00287-20190129
Psychological Association of the Philippines. (2019). On the Amendment to the Juvenile
Justice and Welfare Act. Retrieved from https://www.pap.org.ph/position-
paper/amendment-juvenile-justice-and-welfare-act
Pecok, S. (2012, September 4). The importance of studying juvenile delinquency.
Retrieved from https://www.scribd.com/document/112966273/Reflection-
1?fbclid=IwAR3yNFtpslQTjfyjpGGsJGopz6bUsz-6jrQYSjLgiMSwA4H8XdsaJyCopPg
Rageliene, T. (2016, May 1). Links of Adolescents Identity Development and
Relationship with Peers: A Systematic Literature Review Retrieved from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4879949/
Sanchez, J. (2018). Overview of the Philippine Juvenile Justice and Welfare. Retrieved
from https://www.unafei.or.jp/publications/pdf/RS_No101/No101_17_IP_Philippines.pdf
Appendices
Experiment Proper

21

22

23
Raw File
Participant Count of ball passes Observation of Invalid/Valid

moon walking bear
1 13 No Valid
2 13 No Valid
3 13 No Valid
4 13 No Valid
5 13 No Valid
6 24 Yes Invalid
7 16 No Valid
8 13 No Valid
9 13 No Invalid
10 13 No Valid
11 13 No Valid
12 10 No Valid
13 13 Yes Valid
14 11 No Invalid
15 15 No Valid
16 14 No Valid
17 13 No Valid
18 13 No Valid
19 13 No Valid
20 12 No Valid
21 13 No Valid
22 13 No Valid
23 13 No Valid
24 13 No Invalid
25 8 No Valid
26 8 No Valid
27 12 Yes Invalid

24
28 13 No Valid
29 15 No Valid
30 15 No Valid
31 13 No Valid
32 12 No Invalid
33 13 No Valid
34 13 No Valid
35 12 No Valid
36 13 No Valid
37 13 No Valid
38 13 No Valid
39 13 No Valid
40 13 No Valid
41 13 No Valid
42 13 No Valid
43 13 No Valid
44 13 No Valid
45 13 No Valid
46 13 No Valid
Total: 46
Valid: 40
Invalid: 6

25

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MONDRIAAN AURA COLLEGE

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN PSYCHOLOGY

An Experimental Psychology written output submitted to the

Doles, Ara Mae D.

Mondriaan Aura College, SBFZ

In Partial Fulfilment for the Requirement

February 13, 2019

“AURA Psychology: The Heartbeat of Society.”

psychology have conducted an experiment inside the school premises. An experiment

witness testimony and distractions while driving.

who did not notice it.

“AURA Psychology: The Heartbeat of Society.”

To Ms. Jacqueline Lising, their Experimental Psychology Professor, for her

not come into reality.

You are the experimenters’ inner strength.

“AURA Psychology: The Heartbeat of Society.”

“AURA Psychology: The Heartbeat of Society.”

This study aims to explain the phenomenon of change blindness—an inability to

detect remarkable changes. Change blindness is a term used by psychologists to

detect surprisingly large changes to scenes and according to Rensink (2005)

has greatly contributed to our understanding of attention, perception, and even

consciousness. The extent of change blindness in visual perception suggests limits on

“AURA Psychology: The Heartbeat of Society.”

Research on change blindness developed from investigation in other phenomena

the image in its entirety.

on another task, event on object). The experiment creates a better understanding

could also be evolve by future researchers and experimenters in their research

concerning the effects of inattentional blindness.

“AURA Psychology: The Heartbeat of Society.”

Paradigm of the Study

Independent Variables Dependent Variables

1. Change Blindness Video 1. Participants Responses:

Statement of the Problem

those who did not notice it?

“AURA Psychology: The Heartbeat of Society.”

moonwalking bear compared to those who noticed it.

Significance of the Study

The significance of this study is to observe the change blindness phenomenon. It

resources. When we are paying attention to something it means that we are

“AURA Psychology: The Heartbeat of Society.”

leave the bad past behind.

Design and Methodology

Population and Locale of the Study

departments of Mondriaan Aura College to participate in the experiment. There is also

“AURA Psychology: The Heartbeat of Society.”

The experimenters used a laptop and speaker in order to show to each

pictures of the experiment.

Data Gathering Procedure

to do the experiment. The callers entertained them by talking while watching a

movie in the laptop and eating some chips and candies.

ball passes that the white team will make.

something while watching the video, like a moonwalking bear.

walking bear in the middle of the video.

“AURA Psychology: The Heartbeat of Society.”

recorded by the documenter in a yellow paper.

8. Lastly, the participants were instructed to proceed to the feedback area.

Summary of the Debriefing

experience regarding the experiment. This questioning allows the experimenters to

“AURA Psychology: The Heartbeat of Society.”

many passes did you count?

and there are 11 out of 40 valid participants who got it wrong.

you noticed or did not notice the moonwalking bear?

4. How was your experience in the experiment?