I CAN Use Gestalt Psychology to explain optical illusions.

I CAN

• Use Gestalt Psychology to explain optical illusions.

Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2006

Perceptual Ambiguity and Distortion

Illusions

The incorrect interpretation of a stimulus pattern (shared by others in the same perceptual environment)

Ambiguous figures Images that are

capable of more than one interpretation

Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2006

Perceptual Illusions

Do you see or ?

The Gestalt Laws of Perceptual Grouping

• Max Wertheimer (1923)

These laws suggest how our brains prefer to group stimulus elements together to form a percept

The Gestalt

Laws of

Perceptual

Grouping

Similarity

Proximity

Continuity

Common fate

Prägnanz

Closure

Tendency to fill in gaps in figures and see incomplete figures as complete

Closure

• Similarity We tend to group similar

objects

• Proximity We tend to group objects

together when they are near each other.

• Continuity –We prefer perceptions of

connected and continuous figures over disconnected and disjointed ones

• Common Fate– We tend to group similar objects

together that share a common motion or destination

• Prägnanz• We perceive the simplest

pattern possible• This is what makes things

such as proofreading a text so difficult

Reality is reduced to its simplest form

Law of Pragnanz and the ‘face’ on Mars

• People mentally process visual information that…– is symmetrical– contains the

simplest shapes possible

– contains the fewest number of shapes

CAN I?

• Use Gestalt Psychology to explain optical illusions.

14Necker Cube

• There are only white circles at the intersections

Who is this

a picture of?

If you said Clinton you

are correct.  If you said

Clinton and Gore, you

Are wrong.  Its a picture

of Bill Clinton in the foreground and the same picture of him in the background, but with a different haircut.

.

The rows of black and white squares are all parallel.

The vertical zigzag patterns disrupt our horizontal perception.

The center circles are both the same size.

• Warped Squares?There are no curved lines in these figures. You can use a ruler to check it out.The diagonal patterns created by the tiny squares distort the perception of the pictures.

Various Illusions

http://www.michaelbach.de/ot/mot_adapt/index.html

http://www.michaelbach.de/ot/mot_silencing/index.html

http://www.michaelbach.de/ot/mot_mib/index.html

http://www.michaelbach.de/ot/mot_kaleidoscope/index.html

Expanding spiral

Moving color dots

Motion Induced Blindness

Kaleidoscope Motion

Can you find "the hidden tiger"? Not the obvious one that everyone sees. Look for words in stripes

Can you see both the frog and the horse on this visual illusion?

You probably see Albert Einstein on this picture. However, if you stand up and step 15 feet away, you will see Marilyn Monroe on the same picture.

Old and Young - Crazy Optical Illusion Painting

Can you find the man’s face in the coffee beans?

1000 20 30100010301000+ 20

______

4100

Dogs in the yard– black & white/color

http://www.illusions.org/dp/color.htm

Beach scene – color/black and white

http://www.grand-illusions.com/opticalillusions/colour_illusion/

High Society, or a Donkey?