What does the term "change blindness" refer to in psychology?

The term "change blindness" specifically refers to the phenomenon where individuals do not notice significant changes in their visual environment. This occurs despite the changes being clear and potentially obvious, demonstrating the limitations of human attention and perception. It illustrates that our awareness of our surroundings is not as comprehensive as we might assume; we often focus on specific elements in our environment, and as a result, we can miss alterations that occur right before our eyes.

In practical settings, change blindness can be observed in various scenarios, such as when a person fails to see a new object in a familiar location or does not notice alterations in a scene during a brief disruption, such as a cut in a film. This concept highlights how our cognitive processes are influenced by selective attention, indicating that our perception is not an exhaustive recording of the environment but rather a filtered experience shaped by focus and interest.