Which term refers to the amount of information a person can process and its impact on ignoring distractions?

The term that pertains to the amount of information a person can process, along with how this capacity influences the ability to ignore distractions, is processing capacity. This concept is essential in cognitive psychology as it addresses the limits of cognitive resources available for attention and information processing.

Processing capacity relates to how much information can be held and manipulated in working memory at any given time. When external distractions are present, an individual's processing capacity determines their ability to focus on relevant stimuli while disregarding irrelevant information. For instance, when processing capacity is exceeded, distractions can easily intercept attention, resulting in decreased performance or an increase in errors.

In contrast, concepts like change detection and feature integration theory focus on specific aspects of perceptual processing or attention distribution, while inattentional blindness describes a phenomenon where individuals fail to notice visible stimuli when their attention is engaged with something else, rather than the broader characteristic of processing capacity itself. Therefore, processing capacity accurately captures the relationship between information processing and attention monitoring amid distractions.