Mishaps, errors, and cognitive experiences: on the conceptualization of perceptual illusions

Zavagno, Daniele; Daneyko, Olga; Actis-Grosso, Rossana

doi:10.3389/fnhum.2015.00190

Cited by 19 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 17 publications

(18 reference statements)

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“…It is well established that lightness perception is greatly influenced by field factors—including local and global luminance ratios, and perceptual grouping—rather than by the luminance of an achromatic surface itself (Gilchrist, 1994, 2006). In general, this is desirable because luminance (i.e., the amount of light reflected away from a surface) is a variable source of visual information, whereas it is reasonable to assume that the goal of the visual system is to generate a model of the world in which an object’s structural features stay more or less constant despite changes over time in the retinal image (Zavagno, Daneyko, & Actis-Grosso, 2015). This is the phenomenon that goes by the name perceptual constancy .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Influence of Physical Illumination on Lightness Perception in Simultaneous Contrast Displays

2018

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Three experiments investigated the role of physical illumination on lightness perception in simultaneous lightness contrast (SLC). Four configurations were employed: the classic textbook version of the illusion and three configurations that produced either enhanced or reduced SLC. Experiment 1 tested the effect of ambient illumination on lightness perception. It simulated very dark environmental conditions that nevertheless still allowed perception of different shades of gray. Experiment 2 tested the effect of the intensity of Gelb lighting on lightness perception. Experiment 3 presented two conditions that integrated illumination conditions from Experiments 1 and 2. Our results demonstrated an illumination effect on both lightness matching and perceived SLC contrast: As the intensity of illumination increased, the target on the black background appeared lighter, while the target on the white background was little affected. We hypothesize the existence of two illumination ranges that affect lightness perception differently: low and normal. In the low range, the SLC contrast was reduced and targets appeared darker. In the normal range, the SLC contrast and lightness matchings for each background were little changed across illumination intensities.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Influence of Physical Illumination on Lightness Perception in Simultaneous Contrast Displays

2018

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“…Hoffman & Richards, 1984). Instead they reveal how the perceptual system works (well) in the presence of incomplete, degraded, or ambiguous input information (Koenderink, 2012;Zavagno et al, 2015). Visual illusions reveal that multiple responses, or ways of seeing, are equally rational and plausible, as highlighted in our discussion of the Ponzo illusion (see Fig.…”

Section: Perception and Rationality: So What?mentioning

confidence: 86%

Rationality, Perception, and the All-Seeing Eye

Felin¹

2017

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Seeing-perception and vision-is implicitly the fundamental building block of the literature on rationality and cognition. Herbert Simon and Daniel Kahneman's arguments against the omniscience of economic agents-and the concept of bounded rationality-depend critically on a particular view of the nature of perception and vision. We propose that this framework of rationality merely replaces economic omniscience with perceptual omniscience. We show how the cognitive and social sciences feature a pervasive but problematic meta-assumption that is characterized by an Ball-seeing eye.^We raise concerns about this assumption and discuss different ways in which the all-seeing eye manifests itself in existing research on (bounded) rationality. We first consider the centrality of vision and perception in Simon's pioneering work. We then point to Kahneman's work-particularly his article BMaps of Bounded Rationality^-to illustrate the pervasiveness of an all-seeing view of perception, as manifested in the extensive use of visual examples and illusions. Similar assumptions about perception can be found across a large literature in the cognitive sciences. The central problem is the present emphasis on inverse optics-the objective nature of objects and environments, e.g., size, contrast, and color. This framework ignores the nature of the organism and perceiver. We argue instead that reality is constructed and expressed, and we discuss the species-specificity of perception, as well as perception as a user interface. We draw on vision science as well as the arts to develop an alternative understanding of rationality in the cognitive and social sciences. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of our arguments for the rationality and decision-making literature in cognitive psychology and behavioral economics, along with suggesting some ways forward.

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“…In a more general view, the possibility to extend those concepts to other artistic expressions might also show that synaesthesia-like experiences may in some cases be accounted for in terms of structural similarities -in gestalt terms -between stimuli pertaining to different sensory domains or continua, which would also account for crossmodal similarities between percepts pertaining to different sensory systems. Such hypothesis finds its logic in the goal of the visual systems, which is to generate a coherent model of the world (Zavagno, Daneyko, & Actis-Grosso, 2015), such that percepts from different sensory domains do not result in conflicting information, in particular if they must refer to a same perceptual object or event.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can music be figurative? Exploring the possibility of crossmodal similarities between music and visual arts

et al. 2017

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According to both experimental research and common sense, classical music is a better fit for figurative art than jazz. We hypothesize that similar fits may reflect underlying crossmodal structural similarities between music and painting genres. We present two preliminary studies aimed at addressing our hypothesis. Experiment 1 tested the goodness of the fit between two music genres (classical and jazz) and two painting genres (figurative and abstract). Participants were presented with twenty sets of six paintings (three figurative, three abstract) viewed in combination with three sound conditions: 1) silence, 2) classical music, or 3) jazz. While figurative paintings scored higher aesthetic appreciation than abstract ones, a gender effect was also found: the aesthetic appreciation of paintings in male participants was modulated by music genre, whilst music genre did not affect the aesthetic appreciation in female participants. Our results support only in part the notion that classical music enhances the aesthetic appreciation of figurative art. Experiment 2 aimed at testing whether the conceptual categories 'figurative' and 'abstract' can be extended also to music. In session 1, participants were first asked to classify 30 paintings (10 abstract, 10 figurative, 10 ambiguous that could fit either category) as abstract or figurative and then to rate them for pleasantness; in session 2 participants were asked to classify 40 excerpts of music (20 classical, 20 jazz) as abstract or figurative and to rate them for pleasantness. Paintings which were clearly abstract or figurative were all classified accordingly, while the majority of ambiguous paintings were classified as abstract. Results also show a gender effect for painting's pleasantness: female participants rated higher ambiguous and abstract paintings. More interestingly, results show an effect of music genre on classification, showing that it is possible to classify music as figurative or abstract, thus supporting the hypothesis of cross-modal similarities between the two sensory-different artistic expressions.

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Mishaps, errors, and cognitive experiences: on the conceptualization of perceptual illusions

Cited by 19 publications

References 17 publications

The Influence of Physical Illumination on Lightness Perception in Simultaneous Contrast Displays

The Influence of Physical Illumination on Lightness Perception in Simultaneous Contrast Displays

Rationality, Perception, and the All-Seeing Eye

Can music be figurative? Exploring the possibility of crossmodal similarities between music and visual arts

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