In a recent series of ground-breaking psychological experiments, volunteers were shown a 30-second film of some people playing basketball and told to count the number of passes made with the ball. After just a few seconds, a man dressed as a gorilla slowly walked into frame, beat his chest at the camera, and sauntered off. Unbelievably, almost none of the people watching the film noticed the gorilla. Exactly the same psychological mechanisms that cause people to miss the gorilla also make them miss unexpected but vitally important opportunities in their professional and personal lives. This book outlines the scientific evidence and thinking behind this remarkable new phenomenon, and shows you how you can spot gorillas in your life - and what to do when you see one.

Author Biography

Professor Richard Wiseman has a first-class honours degree in Psychology from University College London, a doctorate from Edinburgh University, and was awarded the prestigious Perrott-Warrick Scholarship from Trinity College Cambridge. He now heads a research unit based within the Psychology Department at the University of Herefordshire. Professor Wiseman's work is frequently featured in the national press, and he has appeared many times on Horizon, Equinox and World in Action, and co-presented BBC1's Out of this World with Carol Vorderman. He has also made regular appearances on BBC1's Tomorrow's World, on which he has carried out several large-scale experiments involving thousands of people.