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Why does one surprising object grab your attention?

Look through a display of similar objects and one unexpected item may draw your eye. Is it noticeable because it is new, or because it breaks a pattern you learned to expect? Explore how visual-search experiments separate noticing, looking toward, and remembering an object.

3–7 min

Questions you could explore

  • How would you tell whether something caught attention because it was new or because it violated an expectation?
  • How could changing the regularity of a sequence change the response to an unusual item?

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When a question reshapes a memory

Psychology3–7 minAfter a car crash or a crime, the way an investigator phrases a single question can change what a witness remembers seeing. Research on eyewitness reports separates what someone originally observed from information introduced afterward, making question wording a crucial part of the evidence problem.

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