One of my favorite hobbies as a child was to buy and look at
optical illusion books with my cousins and friends. We would spend hours examining them and
trying to figure out how it worked; needless to say we didn’t get very far in
understanding the optical illusions.
Yet, it still interested us and I believe it was these hours spent
wondering how images could change right in front of my very eyes that caused me
to take up magic and sleight of hand as a hobby. For years I performed as a magician for my
little cousins and at volunteer events around my neighborhood. During this time I never really considered
just how similar the optical illusions I examined as a child and the sleight of
hand I was performing now really were.
Yet, as I learn about the cognitive psychology concepts related to
optical illusions, I have finally figured out that they are essentially one and
the same.
Both
optical illusions and sleights of hand use many of the same tools in order to
fool people. By knowing how the people perceive information about their
surroundings, those who create optical illusions or perform sleights of hand
are able to trick the mind into perceiving whatever they want it to. For example, the mind naturally tries to turn
partial information it senses into something it recognizes; this is clearly
demonstrated by the following example.
the
mind naturally tries to turn partial information it senses into something it recognizes.
This is actually a
common method that magicians and illusionists use to perform their “magic.” It is interesting to note that if people were
to use bottom-up processing while watching optical illusions and sleights of
hand, they would not be tricked. However,
I know that it is impossible to only use
bottom-up processing, as the mind naturally uses outside information along with
what it senses from the stimulus.
As I
mentioned earlier, I used to enjoy looking through optical illusion books as a
child, amazed at how the figures seemed to magically change in my hands. It was very similar to my fascination with
magic and how I tried to learn all the secrets of how the tricks of sleight of
hand were done. Yet, what I did not
realize at that young age was that once you understand how the magic trick is
done, you lose the enjoyment of being completely amazed by it. You realize that it is not magic and your
sense of wonder leaves. I realize that
the same can be said for optical illusions.
All the optical illusions that we saw in class I had seen before and I
already knew the tricks. However, I did
not truly understand just how the mind worked to perceive the illusions, I only understood the basic concepts of why I
saw the hidden word or why I was able to see a face instead of a mouse. Learning about the cognitive psychological
concepts that are used in creating optical illusions and magic tricks has given
me a greater understanding and appreciation for them both. It taught me the reasons why the secrets used
in magic tricks and illusions work, which has given me an entirely different
perspective on the subject.
Great post! Relating the cognitive concepts to creating optical illusions is very interesting! I was always intrigued by illusions and it is great to be able to understand a little more about the processes that happens that allow us to perceive these illusions and slight of hand tricks.
ReplyDeleteI found your post on “Where’s the Magic in that” very informative. I too have been fascinated by optical illusions. I have been a fan of Chris Angel, who is a current illusionist that presents his magic in a show at Las Vegas. I would be totally amazed when watching his magic, especially when he would make large objects such as planes and buildings disappear in front your eyes. I somehow knew it was my eyes playing tricks on me. Well, now I understand it’s not your eyes. An illusion is proof that you don't always see what you think you do because of the way our brain and our entire visual system perceive and interpret an image. How does this happen, how can an audience of people all be misled into believing the same thing at the same time? So I did a little research and found that when various brain areas produce a perception of a single object it is known as the binding problem. Although the binding problem cannot be fully explained it is known what is needed for it to occur. Binding occurs if you perceive two sensations as happening at the same time and in the same place. It is also important to understand that these illusions are visual images that differ from reality. The eyes and brain see something that doesn't quite match the physical measurement of the image. They can be images that are different from the objects that make them; they can be ones that come from the effects on the eyes and brain through excessive stimulation, and others where the eye and brain make unconscious inferences. So can a point be made that our system of vision is imperfect? I am not sure that is the answer. What I do understand is that when you use your other intellectual and sensory abilities, optical illusions are really fairly fragile and vanish once you are made of aware of the tricky involved.
ReplyDeleteI found your post to be interesting. It is amazing how our minds can be tricked in such a way. I have sort of a funny story that related to optical illusions. The other day, my bf and I were driving home from spookyworld and were lost in the back woods of nh. All the sudden my bf got scared and nearly jumped out of the drivers seat. I was like what is wrong. He said that he thought that he saw a man walked in denim along the street waving his arms for help. He was like I swear I saw his face, but it turned out to just be an tree.
DeleteIt is funny how the unconscious mind can affect us in such a way.
-Chantal McGovern