The Visible Gorilla: Fast-Moving Objects Override Endogenous Attention

It is widely believed that the detection rates of unattended objects are low - even if they are moving. Here, we report the results of three high-powered experiments indicating that these detection rates are strongly modulated by the relative speed of the unattended object. Specifically, fast – but not slow – objects are readily detectable, whether they are attended or not. These results are consistent with a sentinel system that focuses on the task at hand unless overridden by the detection of a strong motion signature in the periphery.