ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Pre-attentive processing

Okay kiddo, do you know how your eyes and brain work together to help you see things around you? Well, pre-attentive processing is something your brain does without you even having to pay attention or try.

When you look at something, your brain automatically separates and identifies different characteristics of what you're seeing, like color, shape, and size. This is called pre-attentive processing because it happens before you even consciously focus on what you're looking at.

Let's use an example: Imagine a bunch of colored circles on a white piece of paper. Your brain will quickly and automatically sort the circles by color. This means that even if you're not really paying attention, you'll still notice that there are a bunch of blue circles and green circles, and so on.

Pre-attentive processing is really helpful because it lets your brain process information quickly, without you having to work hard at it. It's like a shortcut that helps you understand what you're seeing without even realizing it!