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Science

Can You Pass This Fascinating Test of Your Attentiveness? We Didn’t!

Jun. 22, 2012 1:03pm Liz Klimas

This is a test of your attentiveness.

Watch this video (seriously, watch the video before reading anything below):

So, did you guess the number of passes correctly? No matter. More importantly, did you see the gorilla?

A similar vein of research like that of the “invisible gorilla” experiment conducted at Harvard University in 1999 that exhibits “selective attention” with regard to sight was also found to hold true for hearing.

When your spouse, significant other, sibling or best friend is watching TV, how hard is it to get his or her attention? Do you have to say his or her name five times getting louder each time before he or she reluctantly turns his or her head toward you? This is selective hearing.

Silent Gorilla Study Illustrates Selective Hearing

(Image: Shutterstock)

The researchers from Royal Holloway-University of London conducted a “silent gorilla” study where they asked participants to listen to two different conversations. Try it out for yourself on the researchers’ website here.

You may or may not have noticed it, but a voice in the video says “I’m a gorilla” repeatedly.

“We’re much less aware of the world around us than we tend to think” Dr. Polly Dalton with the university’s psychology department said in a statement. “This research demonstrates that we can miss even very surprising and distinctive sounds when we are paying attention to something else.”

Well, Did you hear it? Depending on whose conversation you were really focusing on, you may have been swayed to tune out the oddly out of place phrase. According to the university website, those who were listening to the two men talking were more likely to hear “I’m a gorilla,” compared to those who were listening to the two women.

The male voice saying “I’m a gorilla” goes on for about 19 seconds starting around 1:12 in the audio.

“We were surprised to find such extreme effects with a listening task, because people often think of hearing as an ‘early warning system’ that can alert us to unexpected events that occur out of sight. The fact that a lack of attention can cause people to miss even distinctive and long-lasting sounds questions this view. This has real-world implications in suggesting, for example, that talking on your mobile phone is likely to reduce your awareness of traffic noises.”

(H/T: Huffington Post)

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Comments (121)

poster
Posted on June 22, 2012 at 2:41pm
Obviously a racist video.

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- abbygirl1994
  Posted on June 22, 2012 at 3:06pm
  Oh brother!
  
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- Baddoggy
  Posted on June 22, 2012 at 3:53pm
  Was it a gorilla or a white guy playing porch monkey?
  
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- Treaty
  Posted on June 22, 2012 at 4:31pm
  I actually did see the Gorilla. The thing is I wasn’t sure if it was there when the video started or not – never saw it come in to the group.
  
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- nzkiwi
  Posted on June 22, 2012 at 7:42pm
  Same with me. I suddenly noticed it when it beat its chest, and then lost my count as my attention switched.
  
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- PaxInVeritate
  Posted on June 22, 2012 at 9:03pm
  Being extremely visual, I caught the gorilla suit entering and leaving while keeping the correct count. However, having auditory lag, and being asked to focus on the conversation of the two women, I had to hyper concentrate so I totally missed, “I’m a gorilla.” It’s one if the reasons I dislike loud social gatherings, everything blends together. Oh well, no Sherlock Holmes here. A great distraction from life for a very short period of time though. Time now to move on.
  
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- db321
  Posted on June 23, 2012 at 1:09am
  I counted 14 and I did not see the Gorilla. I could not see one of the passes because the stupid Gorilla got in the way.
  
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- lionslayer44
  Posted on June 23, 2012 at 1:29pm
  obama’s son? BE PREPARED COLLECT FOOD, WATER (FILTERS), AMMO!!!! GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!!!
  
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- prov1
  Posted on June 23, 2012 at 6:55pm
  first time I counted 14 …but 3x later I see 16 ?…
  
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- Cesium
  Posted on June 23, 2012 at 9:53pm
  And I’m to believe the “Witnesses” of Jesus gauged their perceptions correctly and accurately over 2000 years ago?? Especially when modern science shows we are so easily duped? Religion has duped so many it’s sickening…
  
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tckid17
Posted on June 22, 2012 at 2:39pm
Add your comments

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- The-Real-Enrico
  Posted on June 22, 2012 at 9:13pm
  That was funny. I counted 15 first try but did not notice the guerrilla through focusing so hard on the ball handling from the people in white. Lol. Funny how the mind works or at least my mind…
  
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Crazy Times
Posted on June 22, 2012 at 2:37pm
15 for me and gorilla…

the gorilla suit guy i noticed but didnt focus on, more of a peripheral vision type thing going on.

it was almost like guessing at the point .. “someone in a fuzzy suit is moving.. most likely gorilla suit”.. if he was wearing a sign on him, i would not of been able to read it.

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- Southpaw
  Posted on June 22, 2012 at 4:37pm
  ditto.
  
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- glassbeadlady
  Posted on June 22, 2012 at 6:01pm
  15 passes and an ape for me too!
  
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Ghandi was a Republican
Posted on June 22, 2012 at 2:32pm
I see the gorilla every time obama or 1 of his alinskycrat cohorts speaks. No matter what he/they say the gorilla int he room is overbearingly apparent..

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- Bobolinsky
  Posted on June 22, 2012 at 9:29pm
  Jackass!
  
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- beckinista
  Posted on June 23, 2012 at 8:26pm
  Check your history … Ghandi wasn’t a Republican. However, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, WAS. Take THAT , Democrats!
  
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- beckinista
  Posted on June 23, 2012 at 8:28pm
  @bobolinsky … can’t quite read your avatar. Does it say “Political Correctness is for Morons”?
  
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joarivera
Posted on June 22, 2012 at 2:27pm
I counted 13 and totally missed the gorilla.

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- Meyvn
  Posted on June 22, 2012 at 3:02pm
  Same here.
  
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- sallyredneck
  Posted on June 22, 2012 at 3:44pm
  13 for me and the gorilla
  
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- Anonymous T. Irrelevant
  Posted on June 22, 2012 at 6:30pm
  St be attentive, because I counted 14 passes AND saw the gorilla. I must have missed one pass while watching the gorilla.
  
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inferno
Posted on June 22, 2012 at 2:25pm
I completely missed the Gorilla. He didn’t look enough like a Progressive / Marxist to grab my attention !

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wordweaver
Posted on June 22, 2012 at 2:23pm
I don’t know about passes or gorillas, but somebody’s going have to clean those S’s off the wall.

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DDD
Posted on June 22, 2012 at 2:17pm
Counted 14 passes and missed the gorilla entirely! Watched the beginning of the video again sure that it was a joke. Jokes on me! Guess it proves I have a high level of attentiveness on a given task, though!

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davecoolworld
Posted on June 22, 2012 at 2:16pm
They passed the ball 16 times. They made a mistake with their own experiment, or perhaps that was the point.

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NOBALONEY
Posted on June 22, 2012 at 2:12pm
I failed, I saw Obama kissing Carney. Happy LGBT month. Obama’s going down over fast and furious.

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- blackyb
  Posted on June 22, 2012 at 2:58pm
  That mess Pelosi brought up was strange and off topic. Wonder if there is something she knows that ties in on the peripherials on this gun running, but how could it? What would voter ID have to do with the gun running? The only thing I see at this time correlating is Mexican drug cartels and our guns. Then there are Mexican illegals coming to the U.S. with no ID, perhaps some to vote? Anyway wonder if some phoney IDs were in that schizt load of guns? Wonder if there is more than guns given to the cartels? They are definitely hiding something. This could be much more serious than what we think. It also may not be the only country that is receiving guns and/or whatever else it takes to interefere with the American way of life. Something that is worth the “President” to attempt the executive order on a non-presidential issue that he is not supposed to know something about tends to make me think he does know everything about it. He lies worse than Nixon. Holder lied. They both need to be brought before Congress and tried. They have been mocking Congress and the Congressional offices like they are not even relevant. That Trey Gowdy and Issa and a few more are mad as fire. It takes this kind of passion to get to the bottom of these thugs’ plans for this country. It is not looking good. They need to get them all out now, election or no election.
  
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lukerw
Posted on June 22, 2012 at 2:11pm
If you passed… you are a Good Candidate for Hypnosis!

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- Misticbuttrain
  Posted on June 22, 2012 at 2:37pm
  I passed it and I have been in a hypnosis experiment before…while I was indeed hypnotized I remember all of it I just could not stop myself from doing the things they told me too.
  
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- lukerw
  Posted on June 23, 2012 at 8:33am
  I was once at a Demonstration… where using Self Hypnosis… a guy built Pain Toggle Switches in his Mind… turned off pain receptors… and did nasty things to himself… while being Monitored… showing No Pain nor Bleeding!
  
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deedsundone
Posted on June 22, 2012 at 1:58pm
I got 15 and I saw the Monkey.

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NSDQ
Posted on June 22, 2012 at 1:57pm
Passed easy and yeah saw gorilla … seriously that wasnt hard Im a father of 5 I didnt even have to try

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- Apple Bite
  Posted on June 22, 2012 at 2:14pm
  Father of 5? So…you’ve had training before taking this test.
  
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- NSDQ
  Posted on June 22, 2012 at 3:07pm
  Yeah watching a tribe of kids and looking out for weird things is in the job description ;)
  
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blackyb
Posted on June 22, 2012 at 1:56pm
The test was not about a gorilla. It was about how many times the white shirts passed the ball. It proves nothing, but they are flickering and telling you what to watch for and distracting to the point that you may feel you are supposed to overcome these distractions to see something you are not looking for.

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- blackyb
  Posted on June 22, 2012 at 2:45pm
  All you had to do was read ahead and see what to look for before watching the video. This is a wierd test and proves nothing but the ability to distract from issues at hand.
  
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KingCanon
Posted on June 22, 2012 at 1:50pm
Counted 15, saw the gorilla and read the tag on the costume!

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- Red Meat
  Posted on June 22, 2012 at 2:00pm
  Your like… Batman or something.
  
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- KingCanon
  Posted on June 22, 2012 at 2:27pm
  ~v~
  YES…
  That’s it… Batman!
  
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- sawbuck
  Posted on June 22, 2012 at 4:59pm
  Counted to 15 …saw the gorilla…. read the tag on the costume…
  and deciphered the flashing screen..(Morse code)…
  which coincidentally spells out.. Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are twits .
  
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LemonyFresh
Posted on June 22, 2012 at 1:47pm
13 and I saw the gorilla

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- Hugh Williams
  Posted on June 22, 2012 at 1:56pm
  I had 13 also and also saw the Gorilla.
  
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Timothy
Posted on June 22, 2012 at 1:40pm
I counted 12 so not too bad. I’ve seen this before so I was expecting the gorilla.

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afishfarted
Posted on June 22, 2012 at 1:34pm
Im sorry. Was I in the middle of a test? And who’s that fella standing in the corner?

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Conservative_T-Rex
Posted on June 22, 2012 at 1:31pm
completely missed the gorilla… kinda neat. am i a racist now for only paying attention to the people in white?

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nobull14
Posted on June 22, 2012 at 1:25pm
How dumb.

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Robert in Texas
Posted on June 22, 2012 at 1:24pm
I don’t mean to brag… but I got the number of passes right, and while trying to keep track asked myself – what’s up with the Gorilla! LOL Thought it was just there to throw off the counting… I feel strangely good about myself right now! LOL

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- cosack
  Posted on June 22, 2012 at 2:39pm
  same thing with me….but i was counting and looking for somthing strange to happen since it was a attention test
  
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Silversmith
Posted on June 22, 2012 at 1:21pm
I did fine. Question was “does the gorilla count as wearing white for his teeth and eyes” Well he didn’t pass, so I guess the question was moot.

Silversmith

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CEM
Posted on June 22, 2012 at 1:21pm
Yeah, I noticed the gorilla briefly, but it distracted me from what I was told to do — watch the white t-shirt passes, and I subsequently only counted 12 passes. So you pass this test if you allowed yourself to be distracted by looking at the character in the costume, or you pass the test by focusing on your assigned task??

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LTinUT
Posted on June 22, 2012 at 1:20pm
I counted 14 and saw the Gorilla. The hairy beast is likely the reason why I missed the 15th! My husband would never pass this one… :) Interesting test.

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Gonzo
Posted on June 22, 2012 at 1:06pm
“Can Pass This Fascinating Test of Your Attentiveness? We Didn’t!”
Why am I not surprised Blaze?

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- LIBSALWAYSLIE
  Posted on June 22, 2012 at 1:18pm
  GONZO, Because most wont pass it??
  
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- Gonzo
  Posted on June 22, 2012 at 2:29pm
  They left out the ‘You’ in “Can You’ when they first posted the story, they have since corrected it. The irony is lost.
  
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