In a daily life, the human brain is exposed to a continuous array of visual stimuli which the cognitive system simultaneously observes, processes and understands. However, when the stimuli are unlimited and cognitive resources like attention and memory are finite, completing tasks requires the cognition to tunnel resources for successful completion. Such goal-direct behaviour can limit the individual’s situational awareness leading them to overlook seemingly evident changes in their surroundings.
Digital environments, such as flight booking websites, present all necessary information required for the decision-making of the individual, but the informational density on the website could overwhelm the individual resulting in them focusing on the immediate task goals, such as, finding a cheap flight. However, a question about the individual’s attention follows, does the goal-directed nature of completing tasks influence the detection of potential changes happening in an interface that are irrelevant to the task? To answer this question, this study examined the role of task relevance in change detection in simulated flight-booking interfaces using the Change Blindness paradigm.
Participants looked at a series of flight booking website images in which they were either asked to focus on the Price (e.g., "Find a flight under €200") or focus on the Date (e.g.,"Fly between March–June"). Across six blocks, the participants were presented with altering task goals, while subtle visual changes such as, colour, font and size were occurring in the Price and Date. The findings of this study showed the role of task relevance in guiding what users see and don’t, in complex digital environments as there was a significant impact of Task Relevance on change detection. Irrespective of the Price or Date condition, if the changes were happening in a condition that was relevant for that particular block, the participants were highly likely to detect the changes. For example, if the participant was asked to focus on Price, they noticed changes happening in Price more likely than changes in Date. These results show that Task Relevance acts as a powerful cognitive filter while performing a goal-oriented task, potentially at the expensive of overlooking changes elsewhere if they are deemed irrelevant.
Keywords: Task Relevance, Category, Date, Price, Task Order, Change Blindness, Flicker Paradigm, Signal Detection Theory, Sensitivity, Response Bias, Beta, Selective Attention, Situational Awareness, Colour, Font, Font Size.