Optical illusion

This article is about visual perception. For the albums,see Optical Illusion (Time Requiem album) and Optical Illusion (Splean album).An

 optical illusion

 (also called a

 visual illusion

) is an

The checker shadow illusion. Although square A appears adarkershadeofgreythansquareB,thetwoareexactlythesame.Drawing a connecting bar between the two squares breaks theillusion and shows that they are the same shade.

illusion caused by the eye and characterized by visuallyperceived images that differ from objective reality. The information gathered by the eye is processed in the brainto give a perception that does not tally with a physicalmeasurement of the stimulus source. There are threemain types: literal optical illusions that create images thatare different from the objects that make them, physi-ological illusions that are the effects of excessive stim-ulation of a specific type (brightness, colour, size, po-sition, tilt, movement), and cognitive illusions, the re-sult of unconscious inferences. Pathological visual illu-sions arise from a pathological exaggeration in physio-logical visual perception mechanisms causing the afore-mentioned types of illusions.Optical illusions are often classified into categories in-cluding the physical and the cognitive or perceptual,

[1]

and contrasted with optical hallucinations.

In this animation, Mach bands  exaggerate the contrast  between edgesoftheslightlydifferingshadesofgray,assoonastheycomein contact with one-another.

Physiological illusions

, such as the afterimages

[2]

fol-lowing bright lights, or adapting stimuli of excessivelylonger alternating patterns (contingent perceptual after-effect), are presumed to be the effects on the eyes or brainof excessive stimulation or interaction with contextual orcompeting stimuli of a specific type—brightness, color,position, tile, size, movement, etc. The theory is that astimulus follows its individual dedicated neural path inthe early stages of visual processing, and that intense orrepetitive activity in that or interaction with active adjoin-ing channels cause a physiological imbalance that altersperception.The Hermann grid illusion and Mach bands are two illusions that are best explained using a biological ap-proach. Lateral inhibition, where in the receptive field of the retina light and dark receptors compete with oneanother to become active, has been used to explain whyweseebandsofincreasedbrightnessattheedgeofacolordifference when viewing Mach bands. Once a receptor isactive, it inhibits adjacent receptors. This inhibition cre-ates contrast, highlighting edges. In the Hermann grid il-lusion the gray spots appear at the intersection because ofthe inhibitory response which occurs as a result of the in-creased dark surround.

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Lateral inhibition has also beenused to explain the Hermann grid illusion, but this has 1

 

2

 3 EXPLANATION OF COGNITIVE ILLUSIONS 

been disproved. Morerecent empirical approaches to op- tical illusions have had some success in explaining opticalphenomena with which theories based on lateral inhibi-tion have struggled (e.g. Howe et al. 2005).

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1 Pathological visual illusions

A pathological visual illusion is a distortion of a realexternal stimulus

[5]

and are often diffuse and persis-tent. Pathological visual illusions usually occur through-out the visual field, suggesting global excitability or sen-sitivity alterations.

[6]

Alternatively visual hallucination isthe perception of an external visual stimulus where noneexists.

[5]

Visual hallucinations are often from focal dys-function and are usually transient.Types of visual illusions include oscillopsia, halos around objects, illusory palinopsia (visual trailing, light streaking, prolonged indistinct afterimages), akinetopsia, visual snow, micropsia, macropsia, teleopsia, pelopsia, Alice in Wonderland syndrome, metamorphopsia, dyschromatopsia, intense glare, blue field entoptic phenomenon, and purkinje trees. Thesesymptomsmayindicateanunderlyingdiseasestateand necessitate seeing a medical practitioner. Etiologiesassociated with pathological visual illusions include mul-tipletypesofoculardisease, migraines, hallucinogenper- sistingperceptiondisorder,headtrauma,andprescription drugs. Ifamedicalwork-updoesnotrevealacauseofthepathological visual illusions, the idiopathic visual distur-bances could be analogous to the altered excitability stateseen in visual aura with no migraine headache. If the vi-sual illusions are diffuse and persistent, they often affectthe patient’s quality of life. These symptoms are oftenrefractory to treatment and may be caused by any of theaforementioned etiologes, but are often idiopathic. Thereis no standard treatment for these visual disturbances.

2 Cognitive illusions

Cognitive illusions are assumed to arise by interactionwith assumptions about the world, leading to “uncon-scious inferences”, an idea first suggested in the 19thcentury by the German physicist and physician Hermann Helmholtz.

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Cognitive illusions are commonly dividedinto ambiguous illusions, distorting illusions, paradox il-lusions, or fiction illusions.1.

 Ambiguous illusions

 are pictures or objects thatelicit a perceptual “switch” between the alternativeinterpretations. The Necker cube is a well-knownexample; another instance is the Rubin vase.2.

 Distorting

orgeometrical-opticalillusionsarechar-acterized by distortions of size, length, position orcurvature. A striking example is the Café wall illu-sion. Other examples are the famous Müller-Lyerillusion and Ponzo illusion. 3.

 Paradox illusions

 are generated by objects thatare paradoxical or impossible, such as the Penrosetriangle or impossible staircase seen, for example, in M.C. Escher's

 Ascending and Descending

 and

Waterfall 

. The triangle is an illusion dependent ona cognitive misunderstanding that adjacent edgesmust join.4.

 Fictions

 are when a figure is perceived even thoughit is not in the stimulus.

3 Explanationofcognitiveillusions

3.1 Perceptual organization

Reversible figures and vase, or the figure-ground  illusionRabbit–duck illusion

To make sense of the world it is necessary to organizeincoming sensations into information which is meaning-ful. Gestalt psychologists believe one way this is doneis by perceiving individual sensory stimuli as a meaning-ful whole.

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Gestalt organization can be used to explainmany illusions including the rabbit–duck illusion wherethe image as a whole switches back and forth from being

 

3.2 Depth and motion perception

 3a duck then being a rabbit and why in the figure–groundillusion the figure and ground are reversible.

Kanizsa’s Triangle

In addition, Gestalt theory can be used to explain theillusory contours in the Kanizsa’s Triangle. A floating whitetriangle,whichdoesnotexist,isseen. Thebrainhasa need to see familiar simple objects and has a tendencyto create a “whole” image from individual elements.

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Gestalt means “form” or “shape” in German. However,another explanation of the Kanizsa’s Triangle is based inevolutionary psychology and the fact that in order to sur-vive it was important to see form and edges. The use ofperceptual organization to create meaning out of stimuliis the principle behind other well-known illusions includ-ing impossible objects. Our brain makes sense of shapesand symbols putting them together like a jigsaw puzzle,formulating that which isn't there to that which is believ-able.The Gestalt principles of perception govern the way wegroup different objects. Good form is where the percep-tual system tries to fill in the blanks in order to see sim-ple objects rather than complex objects. Continuity iswhere the perceptual system tries to disambiguate whichsegments fit together into continuous lines. Proximity iswhere objects that are close together are associated. Sim-ilarity is where objects that are similar are seen as asso-ciated. Some of these elements have been successfullyincorporated into quantitative models involving optimalestimation or Bayesian inference.

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Thedouble-anchoringtheory, apopularbutrecenttheoryof cognitive illusions, states that any region belongs to aframework of Gestalt principles and within each frame-work, is independently anchored a highest surroundingbrightness and highest brightness. A spot’s lightness isdetermined by using the average of values of brightnessin each framework.

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3.2 Depth and motion perception

The vertical–horizontal illusion where the vertical line is thought to be longer than the horizontal Ponzo illusion

Illusions can be based on an individual’s ability to seein three dimensions even though the image hitting theretina is only two dimensional. The Ponzo illusion isan example of an illusion which uses monocular cuesof depth perception to fool the eye. But even with twodimensional images, the brain exaggerates vertical dis-tanceswhencomparedwithhorizontaldistances,asinthevertical-horizontalillusionwherethetwolinesareexactlythe same length.In the Ponzo illusion the converging parallel lines tell thebrain that the image higher in the visual field is fartheraway therefore the brain perceives the image to be larger,although the two images hitting the retina are the samesize. The optical illusion seen in a diorama/false perspec- tive also exploits assumptions based on monocular cuesof depth perception. The M.C. Escher painting

 Waterfall 

exploitsrulesofdepthandproximityandourunderstand-ing of the physical world to create an illusion. Like depthperception, motion perception is responsible for a num- ber of sensory illusions. Film animation is based on theillusion that the brain perceives a series of slightly variedimages produced in rapid succession as a moving picture.Likewise, whenwearemoving, aswewouldbewhilerid-ing in a vehicle, stable surrounding objects may appear tomove. We may also perceive a large object, like an air-plane, to move more slowly than smaller objects, like acar, although the larger object is actually moving faster.