@article{ref1,
title="Out of touch? Visual load induces inattentional numbness",
journal="Journal of experimental psychology: human perception and performance",
year="2016",
author="Murphy, Sandra and Dalton, Polly",
volume="42",
number="6",
pages="761-765",
abstract="It is now well known that the absence of attention can leave people unaware of both visual and auditory stimuli (e.g., Dalton & Fraenkel, 2012; Mack & Rock, 1998). However, the possibility of similar effects within the tactile domain has received much less research. Here, we introduce a new tactile inattention paradigm and use it to test whether tactile awareness depends on the level of perceptual load in a concurrent visual task. Participants performed a visual search task of either low or high perceptual load, as well as responding to the presence or absence of a brief vibration delivered simultaneously to either the left or the right hand (50% of trials). Detection sensitivity to the clearly noticeable tactile stimulus was reduced under high (vs. low) visual perceptual load. These findings provide the first robust demonstration of &quot;inattentional numbness,&quot; as well as demonstrating that this phenomenon can be induced by concurrent visual perceptual load. (PsycINFO Database Record<br><br>(c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0096-1523",
doi="10.1037/xhp0000218",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/xhp0000218"
}