The Oddball Effect and Inattentional Blindness: How Unexpected Events Influence Our Perceptions Of Time

Abstract

Inattentional blindness is a phenomenon in which an unexpected event goes unnoticed (at a conscious level) during a demanding task. The oddball effect is a perceptual phenomenon whereby novel or unexpected stimuli result in longer perceived time durations. The two phenomenon – inattentional blindness and the oddball effect—seem to have no surface relationship, however they share an important commonality: both occur in the presence of unexpected events. The present research aims to connect the two bodies of work, and examine if and how the oddball effect manifests itself within an inattentional blindness paradigm. The results of this research have important implications including understanding the effect of unexpected events on conscious attention and how the conscious processing of the event influences time perception. Results may also inform the design of systems that support tasks that require keeping track of elapsed duration when unexpected events may occur.