Did You Hear That Man in a Gorilla Suit Walk Through the Room?

Researchers in the United Kingdom have demonstrated for the first time a phenomenon known as inattentional deafness. It seems when we are concentrated on a highly involved visual task, we block out auditory information around us that is unrelated to the task at hand. In other words, we may be involuntarily putting sounds “on mute” while we concentrate on activities that take a great deal of our attention visually and and this can turn us into poor listeners.

“Edith. Edith. Edith. Edith look. Edith, look. Edith, look at this.”