Final answer:
Attentional biases, such as inattentional blindness and confirmation bias, influence how quickly we can find something by focusing our attention on specific details and using cognitive shortcuts (heuristics), which can be affected by cognitive load and stress.
Step-by-step explanation:
The term attentional biases refers to the tendency of our perception to be affected by our recurring thoughts. When we are under the influence of an attentional bias, how fast we can find something, or whether we notice it at all, can be significantly altered. In the context of selective attention tests, such as the one detailed by Simons and Chabris (1999), participants were tasked with counting the number of basketball passes among players wearing a certain color. During this task, something unexpected—a person in a gorilla costume—appeared, but nearly half failed to notice it because their focused attention on the counting task induced inattentional blindness.
This form of cognitive blindness occurs when an individual fails to notice a fully visible but unexpected object because attention was engrossed in another task, object, or thought. Confirmation bias, anchoring bias, and availability heuristic are other examples of attentional biases that affect how we process information and make decisions. These biases shape our perception explicitly by focusing our attention on particular details while excluding others, thereby determining what we notice and how quickly we do so.
Furthermore, factors like cognitive fatigue, stress, and anxiety can alter our selective attention capabilities, leading to either faster recognition of familiar patterns through heuristics or, conversely, diminished awareness of surrounding stimuli.