Suppose an air traffic controller is watching his screen on a heavy holiday travel day at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. There is a near miss between two planes because the controller misses both the icons representing the planes, due to numerous distractors present on the screen, and the warning signal, due to the many surrounding sounds in the air traffic control tower. The controller claims he never saw the problem. This was most likely due to __________.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Inattentional blindness occurs when an individual fails to perceive an unexpected stimulus that is in plain sight, due to the focus of attention on other aspects of the environment. In this scenario, the air traffic controller's failure to notice the near miss between two planes, despite them being displayed on the screen, can be attributed to inattentional blindness caused by the high level of distractions present.

Suppose an Air Traffic Controller Is Watching His Screen on a Heavy