My take on this is that to eliminate distractions, the given task should be interesting enough to engage attention.
Like in the gorilla experiment, the main task was to count the number of passes of the white team and the participants did good at coming up with the right number.
In my opinion missing the gorilla actually makes sense if it's all about paying attention because the task was to count the passes and not look for a gorilla.
Had the task been about watching out for a gorilla then one could say that there was lack of attention in spotting the gorilla.
To help students learn effectively, the content and method of delivery has to be interesting enough to eliminate distractions i.e. the gorilla.
I think it depends on the situation and on what the gorilla is representing. If a teacher is trying to teach addition and the student focuses on the symbols instead of the overall concept, they're attending to the wrong task. They don't know what the gorilla is or that they're missing it.
Like in the gorilla experiment, the main task was to count the number of passes of the white team and the participants did good at coming up with the right number.
In my opinion missing the gorilla actually makes sense if it's all about paying attention because the task was to count the passes and not look for a gorilla.
Had the task been about watching out for a gorilla then one could say that there was lack of attention in spotting the gorilla.
To help students learn effectively, the content and method of delivery has to be interesting enough to eliminate distractions i.e. the gorilla.