Lately I’ve driven through several busy intersections and noticed, out of the corner of my eye, small posters adorning telephone and light poles with the words “Lost Pet” on them. Since I was driving and paying attention to the road, the only information that clearly registered in my brain were the words “Lost Pet” and nothing else. The posters were letter size and white and I believe they had pictures on them, although I’m not sure. Since I’m a pet detective, I quickly realized when when I passed by such a poster, that I had a momentary bout of inattentional blindness.
What’s inattentional blindness? Inattentional blindness is a pyschology term and is defined as a total failure of perception under conditions of inattention. So what does that mean? Basically it means that there is no perception without attention. So unless someone is paying attention to something, they will not “see” it or notice it.
We all experience inattentional blindness from time to time. One common way that it’s often depicted is when trying to remember a missing child whose photograph is on a milk carton. Think about it – if you saw a small picture of a missing child in the morning would you be able to notice the same child if you walked past him or her on a crowded street in the afternoon when other events of the day have clouded your mind and the milk carton is no longer front and center of your consciousness?
In inattentional blindness, you miss a new stimulus, often because of your own expectations. Your brain is sophisticated enough to help you register and interpret visual cues that it thinks will provide you with the most value. But, in its efforts, visual information, both important and not, can sometimes get overlooked.
So how can we make sure that our “Lost Pet” posters can overcome busy minds of people driving through intersections? First, we have to assume that people are always going to be in “inattention” mode. Second, we have to make sure our posters are impactful and are able to overcome inattentional blindness.
So make those posters big, colorful (fluorescent poster board) and attention-getting. Imagine yourself distracted with many thoughts while driving through an intersection and you only have a split-second to look at a poster. Have the message “LOST DOG” or “REWARD LOST WHITE CAT” front and center with a large, clear picture of the animal so it can quickly register in someone’s mind.
Your goal is to figuratively “smack” someone into paying attention to your message so that you can bring your pet back home.