The Case of The Missing Gorilla
Why do you immediately focus on some things and totally fail to notice others? Rutherford and Fry explore the psychology of attention. If they manage to stay focused.
DO WE HAVE YOUR ATTENTION?
Good! But how does that work!?
Our intrepid science sleuths explore why some things immediately catch your eye - or ear - while others slip by totally unnoticed. Even, on occasion, basketball bouncing gorillas.
Professor Polly Dalton, a psychologist who leads The Attention Lab at Royal Holloway University, shares her surprising research into 鈥榠nattentional blindness鈥 - when you get so absorbed in a task you can miss striking and unusual things going on right in front of you.
Dr Gemma Briggs from the Open University reveals how this can have dangerous everyday consequences: you are four times more likely to have a crash if you talk on the phone while driving - even handsfree.
Drs Rutherford and Fry also hear from stroke survivor Thomas Canning, who developed the tendency to ignore everything on the left side of space, despite his vision being totally intact. And Dr Tom Manly, from the University of Cambridge鈥檚 Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, helps our sleuths unpack the neuroscience of this fascinating condition.
Producer: Ilan Goodman
Contributors: Professor Polly Dalton, Dr Gemma Briggs, Dr Tom Manly
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- Tue 16 Aug 2022 11:0091热爆 Radio 4
- Thu 18 Aug 2022 16:0091热爆 Radio 4 FM
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