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Psychology

How Attentional Capture by Salient Stimuli Affects Goal-Directed Behavior

Quick fact

Even a sudden, silent change in your peripheral vision—like a bird flying by—can involuntarily pull your attention away, and this can happen in under 150 milliseconds, faster than you can consciously react.

Why this is interesting

Imagine you're threading a needle, and suddenly a bright flash goes off next to you. Your eyes dart to it—even though you desperately wanted to keep your focus. Why does your brain betray your goal?