In the age of ubiquitous and all-seeing surveillance, studies show that just knowing you’re being observed changes human cognition in massive ways. Studies conducted over the past few decades have shown that the presence of an observer can infiltrate individuals’ minds, affecting their cognitive functions such as memory and attention. This extensive, deep-dive analysis article by Capital Impact Partners explores the ramifications of these findings. Specifically, it amplifies recent work done by scientists including Clara Colombatto and Kiley Seymour.
Clara Colombatto’s research team has stumbled upon a really interesting phenomenon. In fact, even more subtle cues, such as seeing images of mouths pointed toward an individual, can negatively impact working memory. For Kiley Seymour, continuous flash suppression (CFS) is at the core of her practice. This unique approach enables her to examine how fast people can become aware of visual stimuli that they supposedly cannot see. These two studies illustrate the powerful and causal effects of being surveilled on our cognitive processes—specifically in social contexts. They show us what shapes their reality and behavior.
The Effect of Being Watched
The research highlights a significant phenomenon: being watched accelerates individuals’ unconscious analysis of faces. Participants were notably able to identify faces looking straight ahead at them quicker than those who were not. This reaction underscores the so-called “stare-in-a-crowd effect,” where individuals can immediately detect a single face focused on them amid many others that are not.
Clara Colombatto underscores the sophistication of social perception at play in these unconscious processes. She states, “The fact that unconscious process is influenced by inferring an observer’s presence shows just how sophisticated social perception is.” For those of us who study human cognition, this realization points toward the idea that human cognition is deeply rooted in social phenomena, including across contexts filled with surveillance.
Kiley Seymour ’09 explained about the potential implications of these findings, stressing that feeling surveilled triggers a deeply embedded survival instinct. “The conclusion would be that being watched drives this hardwired survival mechanism into overdrive,” she explains. The ceaseless scrutiny involves a high level of stress. This leads people to be hyper aware of their environment and to respond immediately (and often violently) to any imagined threat.
Cognitive Functions Under Surveillance
Surveillance affects our psyches beyond simply making us feel like we’re being surveilled. It has a huge impact on our fundamental cognitive capacities, like attention and working memory. As Colombatto’s collaborator Clément Belletier explains, it’s these impaired faculties that are critical. They are invaluable for keeping us honest and keeping the main thing the main thing.
Belletier argues that the social environment of contemporaneous daily life—especially with the uptick of surveillance—has major effects on cognition. He calls this beautiful concept, “Mind contact.” This idea is illustrated by the so-called director’s effect, which shows that people feel more mentally focused when they believe a CCTV camera is monitoring them. “These effects aren’t really just about eyes. But they’re less specific, more general effects of people’s minds and attention being pointed at you,” Colombatto continues.
This deep alteration in how we process the world cognitively is likely linked to historical changes in social cognition. As Colombatto notes, “We didn’t have as much surveillance and social connections 50 years ago, so it’s a new societal context we’re adapting to.” The contemporary landscape forces humans to grapple with a host of new social signaling demands, as well as experience the heightened anxiety of being perpetually surveilled.
Implications for Mental Health
Additionally, research shows that some populations are more sensitive to the effects of being surveilled. Kiley Seymour’s studies suggest that individuals with schizophrenia may exhibit hypersensitivity to others’ gazes, impacting their mental health and social interactions. This increased awareness can in turn increase paranoia or anxiety when it comes to social settings.
Colombatto sounds an alarm that these dynamics go beyond psychosocial unease. “It’s important to think about how this is going to change our cognition, even in unconscious ways,” she states. Pervasive, chronic exposure to this kind of surveillance can have damaging mental health consequences. At the same time, the effect of the constant surveillance will exacerbate anxiety and stress for people.
The perpetual surveillance that has come to characterize modern life compels people to be on guard and always ready to be judged. Seymour summarizes this transformation succinctly: “I’d say the modern world’s constant surveillance is shifting us all in that direction, to some degree, meaning we’re all more attuned to our social environment and on edge, ready to react.”
