Fun with Illusions!

At about halfway through the Sensation & Perception unit, we've seen a good number of visual illusions, and more will follow. I like to try to post links to sources of the ones I use in class, as well as new, interesting ones that students bring to my attention.

The one shown below is of the latter type. A student sent me the link, and I think it works by simulating stroboscopic movement (we perceive movement in a series of slightly changing static images). Seems like it would be fun to try using the links to print out your own! (Shown in the comments section if you view in YouTube.)



Also, back again this year are the holophonic illusions that exploit stereophonic hearing and the results of the Visual Illusion of the Year contest held by the Vision Sciences Society. Embedded below is the 2012 contest winner, which shows a device that creates the convincing illusion that one's hand has disappeared! Unfortunately, the video has no accompanying sound, which made me question whether my computer's speakers were working for a moment (that was probably not an intended part of the illusion).

2010 Visual Illusion Contest

By request from my students, here is the link to the Neural Correlate Society's Visual Illusion of the Year contest.

We looked at some of the 2010 finalists and winners in class, but from the site you can view finalists from previous years as well. Definitely worth a look.

For example, the image below is one of the finalist entries. By looking the dot in the colored image for about a minute, and then shifting your gaze to the dot in the white grid, you can create two different perceptions of after-images. For the full story, see the original entry.

Selective Attention Video Demos

Today in class I introduced the issue of Selective Attention - the notion that we can only attend to a limited amount of all the sensory information we are presented with, and thus sometimes fail to "see" even the most obvious stimuli. There are a number of great video demos of this, but here are my favorites.

The Office - Opening scenes from this season's "Costume Contest" Episode (entire video embedded below...all you really need is the first few minutes, though the rest is funny, too)

"Whodunnit?" from the UK's "Watch for Cyclists" ad campaign

"Do the Test" - Count the passes by the number of players in white jerseys and test your perceptual skills

The Monkey Business Illusion - Even works for those who have seen illusions like this before! A finalist for 2010 Illusion of the Year!

More Fun with Vision

Thank you to one of my students, Adam S., for alerting me to this video by the Blue Man Group. The title - Rods and Cones - is a big hint as to what sensory process the song is dedicated to.

Also, by request, here is the link to the Rotating Spiral Illusion, which is great fun due to its ability to generate a strong motion after-image.

Some Links from Class - Sensation & Perception

Today in class I shared a few links to sites that demonstrate principles of sensation and/or perception.

The Rotating Cat Illusion was a popular one. The cat appears to rotate one direction initially, but if you stare at it long enough it will seem to reverse directions. Different people have different initial perceptions of it (some see it rotating right, others left). This is a great illustration of how the exact same sensory stimulus can elicit different perceptions from people. A related illusion that you might be familiar with is the Spinning Silouette illusion, which is often INCORRECTLY described as a left/right brain personality test.

Note: if you are accessing this from school, the district's filters might block the cat website. Try Googling "spinning cat illusion" and maybe a site that you can access will be available.

For those of you interested in the backmasking and reverse speech sites, here are the links:

• Song Clips & Lyrics (forward & reverse)


• Reverse Speech (speeches and statements from public figures)

PsychSim: Visual Illusions

If you were gone last week Friday, you may have missed the instructions for the PsychSim Visual Illusions, which I collected today.

Just as a reminder, you can access the module by clicking here OR by heading over to the link for "PsychSim 4.0" found on the left hand menu bar in our "Commonly Used Course Links" widget. Choose the module "Visual Illusions" from the menu.

Here's the link for the accompanying worksheet, as well. Deer hunters and Floridians will need to get this to me when you return on Monday.

Promised Links: Visual Illusions, Change Blindness Video

I apologize for the delay in getting this posted, but (per usual) life has been getting in the way lately.

This week in class I took students to Neural Correlates site to view 2009 Finalists in their Visual Illusion Contest. We looked at the 2009 Winner, the "Break of the Curve Ball," as well as others.

Another link I promised was the YouTube video of a Change Blindness Experiment, conducted by Daniel J. Simons. This is the one where subjects fail to notice a person swap when reporting for participation in research.

"Don't Believe Your Lying Eyes"

Special thanks to former student Ben Fuller for alerting me to this great video on perceptual illusions. This lecture was delivered by R. Beau Lotto, founder of LottoLab, at the 2009 TED (Technology, Entertainment & Design) Global Conference. In it, he describes the science behind several popular visual illusions (some of which we will be viewing in class in a couple of weeks), and reveals some new ones.

The LottoLab site itself is a great source of illusions and their explanations and is worth checking out.

Here's a link to the full article describing his talk:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/OPINION/10/26/lotto.optical.illusions/index.html

2009 Visual Illusion of the Year

Wondering what to do with all of the time you have on your hands now that the AP Psychology exam is over? Why not while away the hours staring at mind-bending optical illusions? The best part? You can still call this "studying psychology." In fact, there are folks that spend their entire careers doing just that. Happily for the rest of us, they've sponsored an annual "Best Visual Illusion of the Year Contest."

The Neural Correlate Society, which sponsors the contest, calls this yearly event "a celebration of the ingenuity and creativity of the world’s premier visual illusion research community." The 2009 Winner, "The Break of the Curveball" is worth checking out, as are all the finalists from this and previous years, which are also available on the website.