Discussion Questions
- Discuss the implications of the different models of selective attention for everyday life. For instance, what advantages and disadvantages would be associated with being able to filter out all unwanted information at a very early stage in processing? What are the implications of processing all ignored information fully, even if you aren’t consciously aware of that information?
- Think of examples of when you feel you can successfully multitask and when you can’t. Discuss what aspects of the tasks or the situation seem to influence divided attention performance. How accurate do you think you are in judging your own multitasking ability?
- What are the public policy implications of current evidence of inattentional blindness as a result of distracted driving? Should this evidence influence traffic safety laws? What additional studies of distracted driving would you propose?