Perception and Modelling

Illusions can often reveal or provide an insight into perception and our ability to construct models - even incorrect ones - to explain our world

Part of this process requires us to ignore information unimportant to the situation, and resolve conflicting channels of information

Dalmation?

Contexts

Margaret Thatcher illusion

The "Margaret Thatcher Illusion" (Thompson, Perception, Volume 9, pp. 483-484), illustrates that modelling is not necessarily robust to rotation, look at the picture up-side-down (http://www.wesleyan.edu/psyc/scheibe.htm)

Margaret Thatcher illusion

Margaret Thatcher illusion

Margaret Thatcher illusion inversion

Checkerboard illusion (colours)

Same colour?

Checkerboard illusion

Same colour proof

Visual perception of biological motion

Perception of motion via Muybridge sequences

point lights and biological motion (G. Johansson 1973)

Visual perception of biological motion

Change blindness

• Wikipedia
• USD boarding aircraft
• examples from UBC

Information disposal

Watch this short video on Daniel Simons page and count the number of times the ball is passed. When you have finished check your answer here.

Clearly

Prediction in humans has a consequence, the abililty to ignore information not relevant to the prediction.

For an example, run this video.