Jordan Nisbet
Jordan Nisbet
January 30, 2024 ·  3 min read

15 Spot the Difference Pictures That Will Sharpen Your Brain

“Spot the difference” games can be loads of fun, but hard on the brain! Have you ever done one that just seems absolutely impossible to solve? Those images that seem like there could be no possible difference, or odd image out? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. Our inability to spot subtle is what psychologists call change blindness.

It’s when you’re able to look at something and see major details while failing to miss (or be blind to) minor ones. According to Daniel Simons, a psychologist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, change blindness happens because if we spotted everything all the time, it would be basically impossible to focus our attention.[1]

“People fail to notice surprisingly large changes to their visual world when those changes occur during a brief moment of distraction. Under normal viewing conditions, changes to a scene produce a signal that can grab our attention,” Simons says.[2]

“However, when that change signal is hidden by any sort of disruption [as we will see in the images below], people can and do miss large changes. Critically, people are largely unaware of this limitation — most people are convinced that they will notice changes that, in reality, few people do. We are aware of far less of our visual world than we think.”

Does that sound like you? How attentive and detail-oriented are you? Do you have the ability to sweep over an image just once and successfully spot the difference? Let’s find out!

Below, we’ve compiled a bunch of images that contain one (or more) differences that you probably won’t be able to find at first glance!

Can You Spot the Difference in These 15 Pictures?

1) Spot the difference (there are 5 in this one)

Thought we’d start off with a challenge.

2) Spot the panda

This one was harder than we thought!

3) Find the four-leaf clover

Good luck!

4) Find one more, just to be sure

Still feeling lucky?

5) Which ice cream cone is different?

This one made us hungry.

6) Which cone is unlike the others? (this one’s tough!)

It’s harder than you think!

7) Find the puppy among the pandas

If you stare long enough, it’s like they’re making eye contact with you…

8) Say cheese, there are more than one!

Okay, this one has ten differences!

9) Yes, yes, find another panda!

They’re just that sneaky.

10) Can you spot the potato among the hamsters?

They’re uncannily similar…

11) Can you spot the her in the sea of dogs?

DOG BLESS THE QUEEN!

12) Spot the snake!

Who knew snakes and giraffes looked so alike?

13) Find the ‘T’

I’m definitely a “change blindness” sufferer.

14) Did you see the ‘c’ yet?

This one made us dizzy…

15) Yes, another panda one, can you spot it?

We’re not even sure the people who were there noticed the panda.

Were you able to spot the difference in all the images?

Whether or not you were able to, that’s okay! Doing exercises like this one every once in a while helps keep your eyes sharp and your brain sharper.

Sources

  1. Airhart, E. (2018, January 14). Remember those spot the difference games? Heres why your brain is so bad at them. Retrieved March 01, 2018, from https://www.popsci.com/spot-difference-between-similar-pictures
  2. Research: Inattentional Blindness. (n.d.). Retrieved March 01, 2018, from https://www.dansimons.com/research.html
  3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVAeaIafIxA