Publisher's Synopsis
Inattentional and change blindness are terms that describe when a person is unaware of significant changes in the environment, despite the salience of what has changed. More specifically, inattentional blindness refers to situations in which a person is unaware of a change that is occurring because attention is not currently focused on what is changing. Change blindness, on the other hand, occurs when a change takes place during an eye movement or blink. These phenomena pose a serious hazard in transportation, particularly when unexpected changes occur, such as a child running out into the road from between parked cars, or if an air traffic controller fails to detect an aircraft deviating from the assigned clearance. Failure to detect unexpected changes can have devastating consequences.
