What is an example of in-attentional blindness demonstrated in a study?

In-attentional blindness refers to the phenomenon where an individual fails to notice an unexpected stimulus that is in plain sight, primarily because their attention is occupied by another task. The correct example illustrates this concept by showing that participants did not see a limousine, which was an unexpected and significant object in their field of vision, simply because they were focused on the task of counting how many people were crossing a specific point.

This scenario underscores the role of selective attention, where the cognitive processes are directed toward one aspect of the environment while ignoring others. As a result, anything outside the scope of their immediate attention—like the limousine—can go completely unnoticed. This highlights how attention works by filtering out certain information to concentrate on what's deemed relevant.

The other options, while related to attention, do not clearly demonstrate in-attentional blindness. For instance, distractions from loud noises or difficulties in concentration in busy environments speak more to overall distractibility and attention allocation rather than the specific concept of failing to perceive an obvious stimulus due to focused attention on a different task. The mention of participants noticing the same objects reinforces the idea of shared attention, rather than the selective process that leads to in-attentional blindness.