Thursday CBC documentary asks 'Are We Digital Dummies?'

A CBC documentary that asks "Are We Digital Dummies?" and includes a study of "inattentional blindness" by Psychology Professor Ira Hyman, airs Thursday and Friday. A Canadian film crew came to campus in January to film Hyman and to re-stage his research illustrating that people talking on their cell phones are more than twice as oblivious as those not on their phones. WWU's Joe Myers, who works in Facilities Management, rode the unicycle for the filming in Red Square. In his research, Hyman documented real-world examples of people who were so distracted by their cell phones that they failed to see the bizarre occurrence of a unicycling clown passing them as they walked. The study is published in a recent issue of the journal “Applied Cognitive Psychology.” “If people experience so much difficulty performing the task of walking when on a cell phone, just think of what this means when put into the context of driving safety,” Hyman said. “People should not drive while talking on a cell phone.” In Hyman’s study, just 25 percent of people talking on their cell phones saw the unicycling clown, whereas more than half of people walking alone, people listening to portable music players and people walking in pairs saw the clown. "Are We Digital Dummies?" is scheduled to air on CBC-TV's "Doc Zone" program at 9 p.m. Thursday. It will air again on CBC-News Network on Friday night at 10 p.m.