...Aaron Pomerleau Mr. Hiatt Psychology 3 April 2014 Is it true? Look at an optical illusion and you may think you're seeing things, such as a curved line that's actually straight, or a moving object that's standing still. You wonder if your eyes are playing tricks on you. But you can’t help but thinking, could it be real? It's not all in your eyes. An illusion is proof that you don't always see what you think you do because of the way your brain and your entire visual system perceive and interpret an image. Visual illusions occur due to properties of the visual areas of the brain as they receive and process information. Your perception of an illusion has more to do with how your brain works and less to do with the optics of your eye. Everything that enters the senses needs to be interpreted through the brain, and these interpretations occasionally go wrong. Illusions, may serve as a test to determine whether scientists understand vision correctly. When light hits our retina in the eye, about one-tenth of a second goes by before the brain translates that into a visual perception of the world. Our brains compensate for this neural delay and so it attempts to generate an image of what it will perceive one-tenth of a second in the future. Optical illusions occur when what our brains predict does not match the reality. A better way to think of it is in order to compensate for this massive loss of information and provide us with visual perceptions that are rich in contrast...
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...the sheer force of the rushing water carrying sand and rock, eroding everything below that happens to be in its path. Due to the fact that the water falls vertically down, and the rocks adjacent to the falls are composed of horizontal strata, if we stare at the water for a certain amount of time and then transfer our attention to the rocks, we get the impression that the rocks are moving in a wavelike pattern. Looking below the waterfall, the spray of the waterfall creates a sort of mist in the air, which then splits the light into a spectrum, creating rainbows in various places at the foot of the waterfall. This seemingly simple, majestic and powerful display of water is in fact a series of molecular bonds, laws of physics and optical illusions which interact in complex manners, creating the fascinating effect we can observe. Memo...
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...The first illusion was the Muller-Lyer Illusion. It consists of an arrow shape in which the arrowhead faces different directions. In the middle of the shape is another arrowhead that is supposed to divide the length of the arrow in half. The left-facing arrow illusion did little to affect my perception of the distance. However, I was consistently short on the right-facing arrow. The alignment of the arrow drastically affected my perception. I thought I was consistently dividing it in half, but the results showed otherwise. My average adjusted length was about 5.25% less than the correct length. The Muller-Lyer illusion works by altering our depth perception. Because most of us were brought up in square-cornered houses, the >-< shape appears closer and shorter than the shape. This is because the former looks like the edge of an exterior corner and the latter looks like the edge of an interior corner. This causes our mind to perceive the first shape as shorter than the second one, even though they are the same length. After learning about this phenomenon, my score improved from 5.25% to 3.25%. I still haven’t clearly grasped the concept and been able to perceive it correctly, but I did make a slight improvement. The Ponzo Illusion consists of a red and yellow bar whose heights must be matched. The two bars are placed in a room with the red bar much further back than the yellow bar. My perception was significantly affected by this illusion as I made the yellow bar about 49.5%...
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...The final illusion is the Checker Shadow Illusion. This illusion shows two squares that are the exact same color. You mind thinks that the squares are two different colors, but your brain thinks that because of their background. It mainly has to do with how our brain interprets the drawing. The image is described as two specific checker squares, labeled A and B, are drawn on a grid. The checker square that is labeled “B” is being cast over by a shadow from a large cylinder. We are expecting the cylinder to cast the shadow onto the checkerboard. Because we are used to making sense of shadows in real life, we become aware of the shadow, and we think that we know how to interpret it. However, the person who made this illusion, Edward H. Adelson,...
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...Color blindness or color vision deficiency is the inability or decreased ability to see color, or perceive color differences, under lighting conditions when color vision is not normally impaired. "Color blind" is a term of art; there is no actual blindness but there is a fault in the development of one or more sets of retinal cones that perceive color in light and transmit that information to the optic nerve Muscular dystrophy (MD) is a group of muscle diseasesthat weaken the musculoskeletal system and hamper locomotion.[1][2] Muscular dystrophies are characterized by progressive skeletal muscle weakness, defects in muscle proteins, and the death of muscle cells andtissue.[3] Blood disorders can lead to poor blood clotting and continuous bleeding. The disorders can result from defects in the blood vessels or from abnormalities in the blood itself, such as in blood clotting factors or in platelets. Ichthyosis (plural ichthyoses) is a heterogeneous family of at least 28,[1] generalized, mostly genetic skindisorders. All types of ichthyosis have dry, thickened, scaly or flaky skin.[1] In many types there is cracked skin,[2] which is said to resemble the scales on a fish; the word ichthyosis comes from the Ancient Greek ιχθύς (ichthys), meaning "fish. Fragile X syndrome (FXS), Martin–Bell syndrome, orEscalante's syndrome (more commonly used in South American countries), is a genetic syndrome that is the most commonly known single-gene cause of autism and the most...
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...Constancies and Illusions What are Perceptual Constancies? * Tendency for the perception of an object to stay constant despite changes in stimuli * Perceptual constancies rescue us from confusion * They allow us to identify objects with different stimuli Three types of constancies: * Size * Shape * Brightness Size Constancy * The most studied of all constancies is size constancy, the fact that an object’s size remains relatively constant no matter what its distance. As an object moves farther away from us, we generally do not see it as decreasing in size. Hold a quarter a foot in front of you and then move it out to arm’s length. Does it appear to get smaller? Not noticeably so. Yet the retinal image of the quarter when it is 24 inches away is half the size of the retinal image of the quarter when it is 12 inches away. We certainly do not perceive the quarter as becoming half its size as we move it an arm’s length. Like other constancies, however, size constancy is not perfect; very distant objects appear to be smaller than the same objects close up, as anyone knows who has looked down from a tall building or from an airplane in flight. Shape Constancy * Tendency for the perceived shape of an object to remain constant despite changes in its retinal image. Ex. A book will have the same shape regardless of the angle it is viewed from. Brightness Constancy * Tendency for the perceived brightness of an object to stay the same as long...
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...Mcman-McCline Vision Light and Color 11/1/14 Cognitive Illusions & Double Exposures Cognitive Illusions can be broken up into various groups of illusions such as, distorting illusions, ambiguous illusions, paradox illusions. I will create an ambiguous illusion using photography as my medium. The illusion will consist of a triple exposure creating three images working together as one. Each exposure setting requires an f-stop in other words the aperture. The aperture controls how much light is let into the lens before the photo is taken. Using multiple exposures f8, f5.6, and f3.5 creating variations of light. My tools consisted of an Argus C3 50mm film camera, black & white film and one light source. The exposures work together creating a beautiful perspective that works along with darks and lights. This causes the viewer to try and figure out which image was taken first and which was last. This ambiguous illusion forms a multistable perception. A multistable perception is the occurrence of an image being able to provide multiple, although stable, perceptions (Susana Martinez-Conde and Stephen L. Macknik). Visual illusions are defined by the dissociation between the physical reality and the subjective perception of an object or event. The picture is interpreted as representing a three-dimensional structure, but there...
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...Optical Illusions & How They Work, Bret 9B Truly, the brain is an extraordinary organ that not only shows you what’s in front of you, but also goes above and beyond its call of duty when it finds something it doesn’t understand. Instead of leaving it blank it tries to figure it out. Though it is really quite amazing that our mind can do this, it isn’t always correct. Optical illusions use patterns and colours to deceive our mind, so that what we see may not quite match up with the world around us. When you look at these images try to look at them and try to see the illusion before you read the explanatory paragraph. See if you can discern the differences between the deceptions and reality. The illusion shown below is known as the Ebbinghaus Illusion, made by Hermann Ebbinghaus. This deceptive illusion shows two orange circles, each of them surrounded by blue circles. Large blue circles surrounds one while the other is surrounded by small blue circles. I propose to you...
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...The Blind Leading the Blind It is a biological fact that the eyes are merely receptors for visual stimuli; the brain is where the real work is done. There are some fun experiments that prove this fact. The “vase or face” image and the “Hermann grid illusion” are two examples (Eye tricks). Did you see the vase or face first? Those dots seemingly flashing across a grid of black squares make my head spin. These simple experiments suggest that what we see is more, or less, than meets the eye. Interpretation of visual stimuli happens automatically for most. Just point your eyes in the direction of what you want to see and the image instantaneously appears. The inner, invisible, intangible characteristics require more than receptors and neurons to visualize. Thought and personal investment are required in the visualization of the intangible. In “Cathedral”, Raymond Carver suggests blindness is often an affliction of the heart and soul and not the eyes. Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral” is a short story about a husband’s journey to enlightenment. A longtime friend of the wife comes to visit after the death of his wife. The wife meets the blind man, Robert, ten years prior while looking for a summer job. She becomes his assistant. The wife reads briefs, reports, and helps organize the blind man’s office. Over the years the wife and blind man keep in touch; corresponding by sending audio tapes through the mail (Carver). The visit from the blind...
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...A case related to illusions Everyday, we hear, we sense, we see a lot of information. When our brain, our perceptual system, misinterprets the information, the perceptual illusions occur. It is a cognitive perception, because you transmit information to the brain and our brain starts to process. I came up with four examples that are either from my own experiences or from my visual observation. And I think they can be used to illustrate perceptual illusions. But I’m not sure whether two of those examples are perceptual illusions. I think they are more similar to optical illusions. Beauty & Health Care Stores As a girl, I often go to some beauty stores to purchase some cosmetics. Sometimes when I step into a beauty & health care store, I have a feeling that the store is very big and bright. But actually it’s not the case. The owner of the store usually decorate the store with full of mirrors, the mirrors may give the consumers the feelings that this store is really big. It’s often the promotion strategy that the stores used. In this case, the actual and perceived size of the store has a discrepancy. My brain misinterprets the size of the store, and then it’s perceptual illusion. The railways When I was very young, my parents were too busy to take care of me. So I spent a lot of vacations in my grandparents’ home, and I took the train to their home. Each time when I was on the train and the train was in the platform waiting to leave, I felt that our train was moving when...
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...We can never truly be sure that our visual experience tells us how things really are; optical illusions disprove our sight regularly and distort our opinions of what we believe to be true due to visual perception on a daily basis. Because of a defect in the shape of my eyes, if I were to take off my prescription lenses, the world would seem to me as if someone applied a Gaussian blur filter to everything in front of me. Without the aid of my glasses, objects blend into one another and details not immediately in front of me disappear from my perception altogether. This, however, does not mean that the object ceases to exist just because I can no longer see it. We learn this concept of object permanency at a young age. Similarly, if we take Morpheus’ claims to be true, and the world outside of the Matrix as reality, the entirety of Neo’s life experiences up to the point when he’s freed from the vat of liquid have been false. For years, the visual stimuli perceived by his mind seem to have fooled him, and this serves as a testament to our inability to objectively discern truth from falsehood, “the real world” from the fiction. All we have to rely on are our senses, but the existence of Matrix, or even more mundane illusions have proven that they can’t always be trusted. They are susceptible to manipulation. However, I posit that the ability to discern whether his perceptions were now real in that situation would not make any practical difference to him, because for all...
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...learned in childhood, which supports the role of previous experience and learning in accurate perception. While this can be criticized for being un-generalisable due to being a case study, it had a massive importance on Gregory’s theory, which still is one of the most influential theories explaining perceptual organisation today, and can be supported by experimental studies into previous knowledge. Gregory’s suggestion that we combine sensory information and previous knowledge to form a hypothesis about what we perceive has been supported by Khorasani et al (2007). In this study, the Muller Lyer illusion (which automatically adjusts the apparent size of a more distant object so the second line looks longer) had less of an impact on participants once they knew it was an illusion. This supports Gregory’s claim that previous knowledge (i.e. being told that what they are experiencing is an illusion) can change the way a person perceives something, suggesting the importance of previous knowledge in hypothesis formation. In addition, the Charlie Chaplin...
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...What is phantom limb syndrome? The phantom limb syndrome is the perception of sensations in a limb or limbs that no longer exist. Phantom limb syndrome occurs commonly in amputees; about 60 to 80 percent of individuals who have undergone amputations have reported this sensation. There are evidences showing that patients have higher likelihood of experiencing the syndrome when undergoes traumatic loss, or there has been pre-existing painful conditions in the limb. Phantom sensation can be observed in those who are born without limbs and in those who are paralyzed as well. In some cases, patient will suffer in severe, debilitating chronic pain. Normally, the pain attack will ameliorated with time. What are the symptoms of phantom limb syndrome? The sensation of the phantom limb can be divide into two groups: the non-painful sensation and the painful sensation. Non-painful sensation: -movements: patients have the feeling that they have voluntarily control of the amputated limb, or even try to pick up something using the missing limb. -external sensation: patients can feel the touch, temperature, pressure, vibration and itch on nonexistent body parts. Painful sensation: The sensations of pain range from burning and shooting pain to feeling tingling “pins & needles” What causes phantom limb syndrome? In a historical perspective, doctors once believed this post-amputation phenomenon was a psychological problem. However, the recent research involve neuroimaging, has showed the...
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...situation. Danticat illustrates the idea that victims of tragic situations find illusions to be the beauty in their suffering to distract themselves from harsh reality. The story of “Night Women” shows how suffering parents try to protect their children’s innocence from pain with illusions of beauty. The mother of a young son who works as a prostitute feels shame in her occupation. She finds her job of being intimate with men to be disgraceful, so she lies to her son about her reprehensible work: “Should my son wake up, I...
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...The first thing that I found to be interesting was that synesthesia is a condition that involves all of the senses. Prior to reading this article, I thought that it was a condition that only involved seeing colors from sounds because I met a person who was a synesthete and claimed to see colors from sounds. Another thing that I found interesting was the large gap between the year in which synesthesia was discovered and the year that it began to be seriously studied. Scientists have known about the condition since 1880, yet clear answers were not found until 1999. Ever since I first heard about synesthesia, it was such a fascinating concept to me that I found it bizarre that the notion of it would just be disregarded and not further researched...
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