Perception and Reality Things Are Not Always As They Seem... Is Seeing Always Believing?

Is Seeing Always Believing? Overview Still Visual Illusion Slideshow Forced-choice Worksheet Answer the questions on the handout as we move through the slideshow There are no right or wrong answers right now; just answer what the pictures look like to YOU Discussion of Answers As we go through the illusions a second time: How could we double-check (verify) whether what you (or anyone else) are seeing is what is actually there?

Do you see any black dots (circles)? Hermann Grid Do you see any black dots (circles)?

Are the Two Vertical Lines Straight or Curved? Hering Illusion Are the Two Vertical Lines Straight or Curved?

Café Wall Illusion Are the Gray Lines Below All Parallel? Are the blocks all the same size? Are the blocks moving? (b) Are the Gray Lines Below All Parallel (or slanted)? Are the Blocks Rectangles?

Checker-Shadow Which Square is Darker, A or B?

Neon Color Spreading Do you see a Red ball when there are no Black lines? Do you see a Red ball when the Black lines appear?

Retinex Color How many colors do you see? List the colors.

One More Look… As we go through the illusions again, for each example discuss the following as a class: What did you see? What did everyone else see? How can we double-check (verify) whether what you (and everyone else) are seeing is what is actually there?

Do you see any black dots (circles)? Hermann Grid How Can We Test It? Do you see any black dots (circles)?

Are the Two Vertical Lines Straight or Curved? Hering Illusion Are the Two Vertical Lines Straight or Curved? How Can We Test It?

Café Wall Illusion How Can We Test It? Are the Gray Lines Below All Parallel? Are the blocks all the same size? Are the blocks moving? (b) Are the Gray Lines Below All Parallel? Are the Blocks Rectangles? How Can We Test It?

Checker-Shadow Which Square is Darker, A or B? How Can We Test It? Do you agree this bar is the same Luminance (shade of gray) from top to bottom?

Neon Color Spreading Do you see a Red ball when there are no Black lines? Do you see a Red ball when the Black lines appear? We Can Already See That the Black Lines Cause Us to See Something That Is Not There

Retinex Color How many colors do you see? List the colors. How Can We Test It?

Retinex Theory of Color The Cheeseburger is Really Just a Combination of:

Don’t Believe It? Take a Closer Look… Retinex Color Don’t Believe It? Take a Closer Look…

Conclusions Perception is: Our personal view of the way the world is; how it seems to each of us. Reality is the way the world actually is. Sometimes what we think is going on (perception) is incorrect (different than reality). How do we know? (a) other people can have different perceptions and show us how ours is incorrect, (b) our other senses can give different information, (c) we can compare it to perceptions of other things in the world we are more certain of (like a ruler). * By understanding why we sometimes make mistakes, we might be able to avoid mistakes in the future…