by Callie Gray

Created on: May 24, 2008

Title: Change Blindness in Genders

Introduction: Change blindness is defined as "the phenomenon where a person viewing a visual scene apparently fails to detect large changes in the scene", or more simply put the inability in visual perception to recognize change in an image. Researchers have found that the change, which occurs during an eye movement, is not detected, and even changing elements that occupy even a fifth of the image can not be recognized. Typically, for change blindness to occur, there is a brief obscuration of the observed image, called a saccade (a.k.a. "mud splash technique"), or other images instigating change blindness use a "flicker" where two different images are exchanged. Our experiment tests to see whether gender influences change blindness and whether males or females appear to notice the change more.

Hypothesis: We predicted that males would have a longer average time to observe the change in the images.
Dependent Variable: Gender is the dependent variable
Independent Variables: same computer used, same web-sites used, same images used, each subject was tested in the same room tested at the same time of day (10:55-12:45) during their lunch, all on school days. Each subject was at least 14 years old but no older than 18, in the 9th through 12th grades at Manual High School.

Method:
Subjects: Our subjects were;
- high-school students
- ages (14-18)
- ten males, ten females
- volunteers in different lunches
- found in DuPont Manual High School lunches
- the subjects were in groups when approached, in lunch
- there were 10 subjects in the experimental group and 10 subjects in the control groups

Apparatus:
We used:
- The same computer for every subject as well as the same websites, http://www.usd.edu/psyc301/ChangeBlindness.htm for the experimental images and http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/G olden_Retriever_agility_teeter.jpg for the control image.
- Data sheets where we recorded our findings
- We used the same computer every time in the Manual library.

Procedure:
1) Recruit volunteers from lunches during third period (10:55-12:45).
2) Set up website in library at the same computer each time before subjects sit down at the computer or are able to see the screen, and if there is more than one person in the room that will be tested make sure they cannot see the screen our hear the current subjects point out what is changing.
3) Use a stopwatch to time how long it takes each individual to notice and point our what's gradually changing in each

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