Final answer:
The human brain can suffer from limitations such as the inability to identify a major hazard while engaged in complex tasks due to cognitive load, use of heuristics, and inattentional blindness. Research has shown that an increase in mental effort can lead to more mistakes, as seen in studies involving security breaches. The brain often relies on automatic, energy-efficient processes for routine actions, while more demanding tasks require conscious attention.
Step-by-step explanation:
When engaging in complicated visual and mental tasks, the human brain may slow down, miss a problem, or fail to identify a major hazard. This effect often happens because of cognitive load and inattentional blindness. For example, when your attention is deeply focused on a complex activity, such as driving in an unfamiliar area, the intense resources of active attention and rational calculation are required, which can make you less aware of other stimuli.
Studies in human factors psychology like the one by Bruno & Abrahão (2012) show that as cognitive effort increases, people are more likely to make mistakes, such as the misidentification of security incidents. This effect plays out in real-world scenarios, like the Target data breach incident, where signals of a breach were not interpreted correctly due to perhaps the security personnel being overloaded with information and decisions.
The human brain uses heuristics, which are mental shortcuts that are usually efficient but can lead to errors. Kahneman (2013) describes two modes of thought: fast and slow thinking. Fast thinking applies to routine tasks and is typically automatic, while slow thinking requires conscious effort and is called upon when faced with new or complex tasks. The brain prefers to conserve energy by using unconscious mechanisms to navigate routine activities while reserving conscious thought for more demanding tasks.