8 Mind-Blowing Social Psychology Experiments You Need To Know

#1 — Selective Attention: We are not as observant as we think we are.

This was called the Gorilla Test, and it shows us how selective our attention really is. Most people will not notice the gorilla walking through the screen the first time, as they are completely focused on something else.

We can select where our attention goes, but then we miss what else is going on around us.

If we translate this to the real world it makes it quite obvious why people stay depressed, and why happy people become even happier.

We notice whatever we pay attention to. If we pay attention to all the negativity in the world, that is what we will see. And if we pay attention to all the positive events in the world, then we will notice more positive things.

That does not mean that only one or the other exists, but rather that we just don’t see everything.

Remember that the mind has to filter out a large portion of the influences we get every day, as that would be too much for our conscious awareness to deal with.

So be careful what you select to pay attention to.