You don’t see everything you look at.
Five short tests, each built around the same trick: give your attention a job, then place something unmissable just outside it. Most people miss it. Take one to find out if you would.
Attention is a spotlight, not a floodlight
Psychologists call it inattentional blindness: when your attention is absorbed by one task, your brain can fail to register something else in plain view, even something large, unexpected, or moving directly through your field of vision. It isn’t a problem with your eyes. It’s a limit built into how attention works.
The tests on this site put that limit on display. Each one gives you something to focus on, then places something unmissable just outside it — and shows you, directly, how selective your attention really is.
Try one for yourself
Count the passes, then find out what most viewers never see moonwalk right past them.
Scan a live scene the way drivers, security staff and pilots are trained to.
Watch a short mystery unfold and see how much of it you actually retain.
The classic 1999 study that first proved how much attention we can miss.
See how easily a cyclist can be missed by a driver who is, technically, looking right at them.
How aware are you?
Attention is only one side of awareness. Get a score and a group for yourself, your emotions, and what you know about mental health, cancer and autism. See all quizzes.
How clearly do you see your own thoughts, habits and impact on others?
How well do you notice, name and handle emotions, yours and other people's?
Myth or fact? Test what you know about mental health, and learn as you go.
Myth or fact? Test what you know about cancer, prevention and early signs.
Myth or fact? Test what you know about autism and how to be a good ally.