Behavioural Economics Primer: Change blindness

This article provides an overview of the behavioural economics concept of change blindness, our failure to notice a major visual change in our field of view if we are briefly distracted.

Behavioural Economics Primer: Change blindness

Crawford Hollingworth The Behavioural Architects

Behavioural economics

This article is part of Warc's Behavioural Economics Primer.

Change blindness is the failure to notice a major visual change in our field of view if we are briefly distracted. Normally, any change to a scene grabs our attention, but if that change is hidden by any sort of disruption, such as if we:

  • look momentarily away;
  • blink; or
  • cut from one view to another and back in a movie,

- we can and do miss large changes.

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