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@misc{cogprints1055, volume = {6}, number = {11}, month = {October}, author = {Erin Austen and James T. Enns}, editor = {Patrick Wilkens}, title = {Change Detection: Paying Attention To Detail Detail}, publisher = {Psyche}, year = {2000}, journal = {Psyche}, keywords = {change blindness, local perception, global perception, visual search, attention.}, url = {http://cogprints.org/1055/}, abstract = {Changes made during a brief visual interruption sometimes go undetected, even when the object undergoing the change is at the center of the observer's interest and spatial attention (Simons \& Levin, 1998). This study examined two potentially important attentional variables in change blindness: spatial distribution, manipulated via set size, and detail level, varied by having the change at either the global or local level of a compound letter. Experiment 1 revealed that both types of change were equally detectable in a single item, but that global change was detected more readily when attention was distributed among several items. Variation of target level probability in Experiment 2 showed further that observers could flexibly set the detail level in monitoring both single and multiple items. Sensitivity to change therefore depends not only on the spatial focus of attention; it depends critically on the match between the detail level of the change and the level-readiness of the observer.} }