Gazing at attention

The gawking of attention describes the phenomenon that an observer can suspend his perception for a fraction of a second as a reaction to emotionally disturbing images (erotic scenes, acts of violence ...) (he “goes blind”). As long as the brain blocks the recording of further images, even if the will is there.

Depending on the person's level of anxiety , the reaction will be different. The more anxious and cautious the person is, the more susceptible they are and the longer they become blind.

The psychologist David Zald from Yale University , New Haven, researched and named this mechanism. His explanation: "When processing information, there is a bottleneck that can be blocked by stimuli, so that subsequent information can no longer get through."

Web links

• DER SPIEGEL 34/2005
• What erotic images do with the attention Wissenschaft.de about distraction through emotional representations