Why Your Brain Flips Over Visual Illusions

Laurentien said:
Same thing happen with me Guardian, maybe because as we start to read our left side of the brain is switch on.

Yup, I think you're right, that's exactly what it is...but how did the ballerina know we were reading? ;D
 
Whoa, with the ballerina I still wasn't getting it when I looked at her shoulders and then feet. But then I started to look at her foot's shadow on the floor and that looked counter-clockwise. Then when I looked up at the figure, she was going counter-clockwise lol :P.

Everytime I look at the shadow she goes counter-clockwise, and when I look at her she goes back to clockwise after a few seconds. So the shadow seems to be a good trigger for me. It's kind of neat.
 
3D Student said:
Whoa, with the ballerina I still wasn't getting it when I looked at her shoulders and then feet. But then I started to look at her foot's shadow on the floor and that looked counter-clockwise. Then when I looked up at the figure, she was going counter-clockwise lol :P.

Everytime I look at the shadow she goes counter-clockwise, and when I look at her she goes back to clockwise after a few seconds. So the shadow seems to be a good trigger for me. It's kind of neat.

Try this, it's fun. Close your eyes, think about your favorite cartoon, then open your eyes and see which way she's spinning. Close your eyes again, and think about something practical... I'm working on a new lease so I used that and a couple other issues I'm working on, but I think anything that requires an actual decision will do....then open your eyes again and see which way she's spinning. Then do it back an forth real fast...cartoon, serious business, cartoon, serious business....it's FUNNY. :P
 
Guardian said:
3D Student said:
Whoa, with the ballerina I still wasn't getting it when I looked at her shoulders and then feet. But then I started to look at her foot's shadow on the floor and that looked counter-clockwise. Then when I looked up at the figure, she was going counter-clockwise lol :P.

Everytime I look at the shadow she goes counter-clockwise, and when I look at her she goes back to clockwise after a few seconds. So the shadow seems to be a good trigger for me. It's kind of neat.

Try this, it's fun. Close your eyes, think about your favorite cartoon, then open your eyes and see which way she's spinning. Close your eyes again, and think about something practical... I'm working on a new lease so I used that and a couple other issues I'm working on, but I think anything that requires an actual decision will do....then open your eyes again and see which way she's spinning. Then do it back an forth real fast...cartoon, serious business, cartoon, serious business....it's FUNNY. :P

And it doesn't give you a headache? Makes me think the world is on the rinse cycle. :lol:
 
Guardian said:
When I just look at the ballerina dancing, she 's going clockwise, but the minute I start to read the description to the left of her, she starts spinning counter clockwise.
same here,
but if I observe her for longer time she will spontaneously change direction, on average after 20 spins
 
I can't get her to change even while closing my eyes and thinking with the different hemisphere. But I still can do it by looking at the shadow like I mentioned earlier.
 
Here goes another illusion. :)

_http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-12/qu-qsd122110.php

Queen's study debunks myth about popular optical illusion

A psychology professor has found that the way people perceive the Silhouette Illusion, a popular illusion that went viral and has received substantial online attention, has little to do with the viewers' personality, or whether they are left- or right-brained, despite the fact that the illusion is often used to test these attributes in popular e-quizzes.

Niko Troje says that a reported preference for seeing the silhouette spinning clockwise rather than counter-clockwise is dependent upon the angle at which the viewer is seeing the image.

"Our visual system, if it has a choice, seems to prefer the view from above," says Dr. Troje. "It's a perceptual bias. It makes sense to assume that we are looking down onto objects that are located on the ground below us rather than floating in the air above us."

In the Silhouette Illusion, a silhouetted woman is seen spinning on one foot, her leg extended. The appeal of the illusion is in the way the woman is spinning – she can be perceived as spinning clockwise or counter-clockwise.

Dr. Troje and his team found that a view-from-above bias (VFA) is what makes the viewer prone to seeing the silhouette in a certain way, not one's personality or whether the viewer is left- or right-brained. When shown the silhouette illusion, the study's 24 participants most often reported that the woman was spinning counter-clockwise if viewed from above, and clockwise if viewed from below. Thus, the viewing angle causes the difference in perception.

Watch a video demonstrating the researchers' findings here.

The theory can also be applied to other popular illusions, including Neckar Cubes, that are often used in online personality tests.
 
Back
Top Bottom