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TOWARDS A NEW EXPLANATION FOR THE GEOMETRICAL ILLUSIONS
Author(s) -
FISHER GERALD H.
Publication year - 1969
Publication title -
british journal of psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.536
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 2044-8295
pISSN - 0007-1269
DOI - 10.1111/j.2044-8295.1969.tb01190.x
Subject(s) - illusion , distortion (music) , optical illusion , psychology , illusory contours , bounded function , set (abstract data type) , contrast (vision) , geometry , cognitive psychology , optics , mathematical analysis , mathematics , physics , computer science , amplifier , optoelectronics , cmos , programming language
This is the first of a series of papers describing the development of a new theoretical account of illusions. The theory invokes the distorting influence exerted by one set of spatial contours upon another. A general case of this effect gives rise to a gradient of apparent distortion in a column of horizontal lines bounded by sets of vertical bars. The magnitude of this gradient is measured in three conditions. The results show that the extent of distortion is influenced directly by inter‐contour distance, by the dimensions of the contours which induce the illusion and by their contrast with the background display. It is suggested that failure to control these properties of the patterns used to study illusions may be responsible for considerable variation obtained in the results of previous experiments.