| Course | EDP 818 Cognitive and Affective Principles in Psychology |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 2 |
| Paper type | Doctoral attention paper |
| Length | About 1,026 words, 6 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Aspen University |
| Program | Doctor of Education |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for EDP 818 Module 2
Gorillas on the Ward: Attention, Load and the New Nurse
Student Name
Doctor of Education Program, Aspen University
EDP 818: Cognitive and Affective Principles in Psychology
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
Gorillas on the Ward: Attention, Load and the New Nurse
On a busy evening shift at a composite Kansas City hospital, Ana, a new nurse four months into the residency, responded to five pump alarms in twenty minutes on her assigned patients. During that time, one patient's breathing rate rose steadily, visible on the monitor and in his effort to breathe. A charge nurse noticed it first. Ana said afterward, "I was looking right at him and didn't see it." Ana, the charge nurse and the hospital are invented for this course. This paper uses research on perception and attention to understand what happened.
Inattentional Blindness
Simons and Chabris (1999) showed observers a short video of players in white and black shirts passing basketballs and asked them to keep a silent tally of one side's passes. Midway, someone dressed as a gorilla crossed among the players, stopped to face the camera and left, visible for about five seconds. About half the observers failed to notice the gorilla. Failure was more common when the counting task was harder and when the unexpected event was less similar to what observers were attending to. The study showed that people can miss highly visible events when their attention is engaged elsewhere, and that they are often confident they would have noticed.
When Distractors Capture Attention
Lavie (2005) proposed load theory to explain when irrelevant information is processed. When a task places high demands on perception, such as searching a crowded display, little capacity remains for distractors, and they are ignored. When a task places high demands on working memory and cognitive control, however, people are less able to keep their attention on the task, and distractors are more likely to intrude. The theory predicts that a nurse whose working memory is full, tracking medications, orders and alarms, will be more easily captured by salient distractions and less able to maintain a planned scan of patients.
Multitasking
Ophir et al. (2009) compared people who reported heavy simultaneous use of several media with those who reported light use. Heavy media multitaskers performed worse on tasks requiring them to filter out irrelevant information and, unexpectedly, were slower at switching between tasks. The study was correlational, so it cannot show that multitasking caused the differences, but it challenges the belief that frequent multitasking builds the ability to handle distraction.
| Attention risk | Example on the ward | Research | Response |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inattentional blindness | Rising respiratory rate missed while managing alarms | Simons and Chabris (1999) | Structured scan of each patient at set intervals |
| Working memory overload | Tracking orders, medications and alarms at once | Lavie (2005) | Checklists and external memory aids |
| Alarm capture | Nonurgent alarms pull attention from patients | Lavie (2005) | Review alarm thresholds; reduce nonactionable alarms |
| Frequent switching | Interruptions during medication preparation | Ophir et al. (2009) | No-interruption zones for medication tasks |
| Confidence in noticing | "I would have seen it" | Simons and Chabris (1999) | Training on the limits of attention |
Applying the Research
Ana's experience fits the research. Her attention was engaged by alarms, each requiring a response, while she held orders and medication times in working memory. Under load theory, that working memory load made her more susceptible to capture by the alarms and less able to maintain a broader view of her patients. The rising breathing rate was an unexpected, gradual change, the kind of event inattentional blindness research shows people miss.
Changing the Environment
The research suggests changing the environment first. Many pump alarms are nonactionable; a review of alarm thresholds with the nursing informatics team can reduce them. Medication preparation will take place in marked zones where colleagues do not interrupt. External memory aids, such as a shift worksheet, reduce working memory load.
Changing Training
The residency will add a module on the limits of attention, using demonstrations like the gorilla video so that new nurses experience inattentional blindness themselves. It will teach a structured patient scan, a brief check of each patient's breathing, color and monitor at set intervals, so that attention to patients is scheduled rather than left to chance. Simulation scenarios will include unexpected changes amid distraction, with debriefing on what was noticed and why.
Limits
The laboratory studies used simple tasks and students. Experienced nurses develop expertise that may change what captures their attention. The responses here are reasonable applications, and the residency will track whether they reduce missed changes, using rapid response calls and near-miss reports.
What Expertise Changes
Experienced nurses notice things novices miss, and the research on attention helps explain why. With experience, people learn which features of a situation matter, and those features come to capture attention more readily. An experienced nurse may notice a patient's subtle change in breathing because she has learned that such changes predict deterioration, while a new nurse's attention is captured by the loudest signal, the alarm. Lavie (2005) noted that what counts as relevant depends on task goals; expertise changes those goals and what the person treats as relevant. The residency can accelerate this learning by showing new nurses, through simulation and bedside coaching, which early signs matter and why.
Measuring Change
The residency will track rapid response calls initiated by residents, near-miss reports involving missed patient changes and residents' scores on simulation scenarios with embedded unexpected changes. Comparing these across cohorts before and after the redesign will show whether the attention module and environmental changes help.
Why Confidence Misleads
Observers in the study by Simons and Chabris (1999) who missed the gorilla were often surprised, even disbelieving, when shown the video again. People tend to believe they would notice anything important, a belief that the research contradicts. This overconfidence matters in nursing, because a nurse who trusts that she would notice a deteriorating patient may not adopt the structured scan. Letting residents experience their own inattentional blindness in training can make the case for scheduled checks more persuasive than any lecture.
Conclusion
Simons and Chabris showed that people miss visible events when attention is engaged, Lavie explained when distractors capture attention and Ophir and colleagues questioned whether multitasking builds skill. For the residency, attention failures are predictable, and the best responses change the environment and train nurses to schedule their attention.
References
Lavie, N. (2005). Distracted and confused?: Selective attention under load. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 9(2), 75-82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2004.12.004
Ophir, E., Nass, C., & Wagner, A. D. (2009). Cognitive control in media multitaskers. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106(37), 15583-15587. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0903620106
Simons, D. J., & Chabris, C. F. (1999). Gorillas in our midst: Sustained inattentional blindness for dynamic events. Perception, 28(9), 1059-1074. https://doi.org/10.1068/p281059
What the EDP 818 Module 2 instructions ask for
Module 2 of EDP 818 typically asks for a paper on perception and attention. Use the Module 2 instructions in your Aspen course; Ana and her hospital are fictional. Survey research on the limits of attention, with key experiments described accurately. Explain at least one theory of selective attention. Apply the research to a demanding work environment. Propose changes to training, tasks or the environment. Use APA 7, and avoid treating attention failures as personal carelessness when the research shows they are predictable features of human cognition. Address both the environment and the individual, and say which you would change first and why. Include at least one measure of whether the changes work.
Inside the EDP 818 Module 2 example
Ana, a composite new nurse, missed a patient's rising respiratory rate while silencing pump alarms on a busy evening shift. Simons and Chabris describe sustained inattentional blindness for unexpected events in a dynamic scene. Lavie explains that high perceptual load reduces processing of distractors, while high load on working memory increases it. Ophir, Nass and Wagner compare heavy and light media multitaskers on filtering and task switching. A five-row table pairs attention risks on the ward with responses, from alarm management to structured patient scans, and a training module teaches new nurses about the limits of attention. Sections address what expertise changes about attention and how the residency will measure whether the changes reduce missed deterioration.
Where the marks sit in the EDP 818 Module 2 rubric
A strong attention paper describes experiments precisely and applies theory to explain specific failures. This example uses inattentional blindness to explain why an unexpected change was missed, load theory to explain why alarms capture attention when working memory is taxed and multitasking research to question the belief that frequent switching builds skill. Responses address the environment as well as the nurse, reflecting the research's message that attention failures are predictable. The paper considers how expertise changes attention, which keeps the application realistic for nurses who will grow more skilled. It sets measures, such as rapid response calls and near misses, so the changes can be judged. Throughout, it treats the nurse's lapse as information about the system, which fits both the research and a culture of safety.
EDP 818 Module 2 help: mistakes that cost marks
Attention papers often describe the gorilla study as a curiosity. Use it to explain real failures. Apply a theory, such as load theory, to predict when distraction is worst. Propose changes to the environment, not only to individuals. Report the multitasking findings carefully; they are correlational. Avoid blaming people for predictable limits of attention. Consider how expertise changes what captures attention, since novices and experts differ. Set measures to judge whether changes work. Change the environment before asking individuals to try harder. Report correlational findings, such as the multitasking study, with appropriate caution. Use demonstrations carefully in training; experiencing a lapse teaches more than hearing about one.
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EDP 818 Module 2 questions, answered
What does EDP 818 Module 2 usually ask for?
Aspen's EDP 818 covers perception and attention in this module, so a paper applying attention research to a demanding setting is typical. Check your Module 2 prompt for specifics.
What is inattentional blindness?
Failing to notice an unexpected object or event while attention is focused elsewhere, shown by Simons and Chabris's gorilla study.
What is load theory?
Lavie's theory that high perceptual load reduces processing of distractors, while high load on working memory and cognitive control increases distraction.
Where can I find a free EDP 818 Module 2 sample paper?
You can read the complete paper here: inattentional blindness, load theory and multitasking research applied to new nurses, with a table of responses.
Does multitasking make people better at handling distraction?
Ophir, Nass and Wagner found heavy media multitaskers were worse at filtering irrelevant information and switching tasks, though the study was correlational.