Object constancy: The illusion of being seen.

Recent theoretical advances in the concept of object constancy have placed it in the context of the child's establishing a separate identity. Although these advances were partly the result of examining the child's growing abilities to evoke a mental image of the absent mother, constancy cannot be well understood as a type of mental representation. It more resembles an illusion, specifically the illusion that the mother is constantly available in her mirroring function. The child's sense of his or her own reality is born in the mother's affectively attuned mirroring, as nothing about the child is real for the child until first seen by the mother. The illusion of the constant object allows the child to construct a sense of his or her own separate reality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Depth cues and constancy scaling in the horizontal-vertical illusion: The bisection error.

Analysis of the horizontal-vertical illusion in terms of possible depth cues allows the prediction of a bisection illusion in which the length of the lower portion of the vertical is underestimated relative to the length of the upper segment. Significant variations in illusion magnitude as a function of line length and angle of inclination indicates that height in the plane is the depth cue which is evoking inappropriate size constancy scaling. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Islands of health: Implications of academic psychology for psychotherapy technique and integration.

Recent research in academic psychology, particularly in areas pertaining to healthy illusion, has significant relevance to integrative psychotherapy, on both a technical and a conceptual level. The concept of healthy illusion can help us conceptually integrate--find common threads between--apparently disparate schools of psychotherapy. The cognitive-behavioral techniques of collaborative empiricism, manageable goal setting, and changes in self-talk; many of the dialectical-behavioral techniques used to balance acceptance and change, and to embrace paradox; the psychoanalytic concepts, and related techniques, of sublimation, self-object, internalization, transitional phenomena, and idealization have important links to the nourishing of positive illusion in therapy. The concept of healthy illusion also lends us some new integrative techniques, such as searching out, broadening, and even creating idealized figures and internalized objects, aside from the therapist. This research, in fact, challenges some of our most fixed and favorite beliefs about the process of therapy--particularly about the paramount importance of facing and accepting reality. Finally, the positive illusion research sheds some light on the difficulties of defining psychological health, hope, and resiliency. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Assimilation theory and the Ponzo illusion: Quantitative predictions.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 26(2) of Canadian Journal of Psychology Revue Canadienne de Psychologie (see record 2007-04524-001). A corrected formula is provided.] Predicted that the ponzo illusion would increase, and then decrease as angle of the oblique arms increased, on the basis of assimilation theory. A reversed illusion was predicted when the angle was very obtuse. 4 orientations of the ponzo illusion were employed. In these the apex pointed to the top, bottom, left, and right. A different orientation was used on each of 4 sessions separated by a minimum of 1 day. The order was randomized for each of 9 men and 6 women ss. Both predictions were verified. Data suggest a change in the attentive field postulate of assimilation theory, and a general formula was derived to obtain a numerical estimate of illusion. (french summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Railgun Space Launcher

A method and facilities for delivering payload and people into outer space are presented. This method uses, in general, engines located on a planetary surface. The installation consists of a space apparatus, power drive stations, which include a fly-wheel accumulator (for storage) of energy, a variable reducer, a powerful homopolar electric generator, and electric rails. The drive stations accelerate the apparatus up to hypersonic speed. The estimations and computations show the possibility of making this project a reality in a short period of time (for payloads that can tolerate high g forces). The launch will be very cheap at a projected cost of $3–$5/lb. The authors developed a theory of this type of the launcher.     

"Assimilation Theory and the Ponzo Illusion: Quantitative Predictions": Erratum.

Reports an error in "Assimilation theory and the Ponzo illusion: Quantitative predictions" by A. W. Pressey, N. Butchard and L. Scrivner (Canadian Journal of Psychology Revue Canadienne de Psychologie, 1971[Dec], Vol 25[6], 486-497). A corrected formula is provided. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 1972-10045-001.) Predicted that the ponzo illusion would increase, and then decrease as angle of the oblique arms increased, on the basis of assimilation theory. A reversed illusion was predicted when the angle was very obtuse. 4 orientations of the ponzo illusion were employed. In these the apex pointed to the top, bottom, left, and right. A different orientation was used on each of 4 sessions separated by a minimum of 1 day. The order was randomized for each of 9 men and 6 women ss. Both predictions were verified. Data suggest a change in the attentive field postulate of assimilation theory, and a general formula was derived to obtain a numerical estimate of illusion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The unmasking of consciousness by means of criticism of illusion and ideology

The author contends that the constitution of Psychology as a Science requires the elucidation of the conceptual instruments to be used in the approach of its specific theoretical object. In order to meet that requirement, three main methodological subjects are considered: I. The image, conceived as embodiment of the illusory and the deceptive, vs. the image as "the imaginary". Images are defined as representations determined a priori as the sole possibility of understanding reality. The distinction is made between two modes of this gnoseological process: the one, apparent, the other real. The first one, image as a representation having no correspondence whatsoever with reality, conveys only deceptive features: illusion at the individual level, and ideology at the broader scale of the socioeconomical class. Illusion and ideology are subject to parallel in that both mask reality, uncovering a part of it in order to hide the whole; and they imply each other in that to each illusion of individual consciousness corresponds a single socio-economical ideology. The unmasking must be performed both at the individual (illusion) and the collective (ideology) levels, through a conceptual work under a clear conception of knowledge and its methods, leading to an actually objectivating neutral act-Husserl. II. The imaginary as a project of irreality. Accepting that the image has a double function: a) an essential (gnoseological) one, and b) an unesential, supplementary one, as the support of illusion and ideology, there is yet a double manner for the concealment: a) subjective or belonging to the psychological level, and b) objective-intersubjective level, or actual social level. The image provides the object for the "belief", being thus the basis for the creation of a super-reality, an invention over another invention, with the goal of fulfilling desire. This goal implies failure in itself, as desire is always beyond the reality that seeks its fulfillment. The process of illusion can be explained by the triple link: desire-imagination-illusion, leading to belief. In desire there is a double work: a) a positive one, or trend towards the appropriation of the object; and b) a negative one, or the all-present frustration leading, precisely, to illusion. III. Desire and discourse: dialectics of possibility. Reality provides a limit-border to desire: it sets the frontiers of impossibility. Only the discourse provides a program, a planification of the being-desire. But desire exceeds the limits of possibility, and sets the underlying framework on which the impossibility of desire is expressed. Two different answers have been attempted from a logical-gnoseological-methodological stand point, consisting of reductionisms or pseudo-answers. Firstly, intellectualism, professing to reduce everything to rational cathegories and their logico-formal methods; and secondly, naturalism, professing to reduce everything to a factic-empirical scheme and to its experimental method...     

Ontogenetic changes in two forms of the Muller-Lyer illusion in normal and retarded subjects.

Forms A (arrowheads pointing out) and B (arrowheads pointing in) of the Muller-Lyer illusion were administered to normal and retarded Ss to study possible changes in illusion strength in either or both forms. It was found that only Form A changed in strength when (a) age was varied from 8-18 yrs in normal children and (b) when the illusion was presented repeatedly over 8 trials for normal and retarded children. These findings conflict with perceptual theories which assume that both forms of the illusion change with these manipulations. A control condition was also presented and its utility is discussed. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The octave illusion revisited: Suppression or fusion between ears?

The octave illusion occurs when each ear receives a sequence of tones alternating by 1 octave but with the high and low tones in different ears. Most listeners perceive these stimuli as a high pitch in one ear alternating with a low pitch in the other ear. D. Deutsch and P. L. Roll (1976) interpreted this phenomenon as evidence for a what-where division of auditory processing caused by sequential interactions between the tones. They argued that the pitch follows the frequency presented to the dominant ear but is lateralized toward the higher frequency component. This model was examined in 4 experiments. Results indicate that the perceived pitch approximates the fundamental frequency and that the illusion does not depend on sequential interactions. The octave illusion may arise from an interaction between dichotic fusion and binaural diplacusis rather than from suppression as proposed by Deutsch. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The distorted room illusion, equivalent configurations, and the specificity of static optic arrays.

The distorted room illusion (DRI) and the attendant argument for perceptual ambiguity is critically analyzed from a Gibsonian/ecological point of view. The notions of multiple specification, conflicting information, and perceptual skill are invoked in showing how the ecological approach can accommodate illusion effects that may remain under mobile binocular viewing conditions. Static optic arrays are shown not to be ambiguous. So-called equivalent configurations are found to be analytic artifacts, appearing when the problem of information is treated in geometrical terms without regard for constraints due to physical and ecological regularities. The relative importance of motion-based and motion-independent information is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The bicycle illusion: Sidewalk science informs the integration of motion and shape perception.

The authors describe a new visual illusion first discovered in a natural setting. A cyclist riding beside a pair of sagging chains that connect fence posts appears to move up and down with the chains. In this illusion, a static shape (the chains) affects the perception of a moving shape (the bicycle), and this influence involves assimilation (averaging) rather than opposition (differentiation). These features distinguish the illusion from illusions of motion capture and induced motion. The authors take this bicycle illusion into the laboratory and report 4 findings: Na?ve viewers experience the illusion when discriminating horizontal from sinusoidal motion of a disc in the context of stationary curved lines; the illusion shifts from motion assimilation to motion opposition as the visual size of the display is increased; the assimilation and opposition illusions are dissociated by variations in luminance contrast of the stationary lines and the moving disc; and the illusion does not occur when simply comparing two stationary objects at different locations along the curved lines. The bicycle illusion provides a unique opportunity for studying the interactions between shape and motion perception. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of hypnotic age regression on the magnitude of the Ponzo illusion: A replication.

Partially replicated M. Parrish, R. Lundy, and the Liebowtiz's (see record 1970-03085-001) study on the effect of hypnotic age regression on the magnitude of the Ponzo and Poggendorff illusions. The Ponzo illusion was presented to 4 male and 4 female undergraduates under 3 conditions: waking, regressed to age 9, and regressed to age 5. Unlike the previous study, there were no significant difference in the magnitude of the illusion across the 3 conditions. It is concluded that hypnotic age regression does not affect the magnitude of the Ponzo illusion. It is suggested that age regression is a questionable tool for investigating developmental aspects of perception. (27 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceiving the Intensity of Light.

The relationship between luminance (i.e., the photometric intensity of light) and its perception (i.e., sensations of lightness or brightness) has long been a puzzle. In addition to the mystery of why these perceptual qualities do not scale with luminance in any simple way, "illusions" such as simultaneous brightness contrast, Mach bands, Craik-O'Brien-Cornsweet edge effects, and the Chubb-Sperling-Solomon illusion have all generated much interest but no generally accepted explanation. The authors review evidence that the full range of this perceptual phenomenology can be rationalized in terms of an empirical theory of vision. The implication of these observations is that perceptions of lightness and brightness are generated according to the probability distributions of the possible sources of luminance values in stimuli that are inevitably ambiguous. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Life-span trends in the perception of the Mueller-Lyer: Additional evidence for the existence of two illusions.

Susceptibility to the distortion in the Mueller-Lyer illusion was measured separately in the under- and over-estimation segments of the figure in 688 observers, aged 5–70 yrs. Changes in illusion magnitude with age were best described by cubic functions in both segments, although the ages of minimum and maximum illusion magnitude between 20 and 65 yrs differed for the 2 portions. At both the methodological and the theoretical levels, these results suggest that the 2 segments of the Mueller-Lyer figure are different illusions that should be measured separately when seeking the establishment of age trends. (French abstract) (11 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Octave Illusion Revisited Again.

The octave illusion (D. Deutsch, 1974) occurs when 2 tones separated by an octave are alternated repeatedly, such that when the right ear receives the high tone, the left ear receives the low tone, and vice versa. Most subjects in the original study reported hearing a single tone that alternated from ear to ear, whose pitch also alternated from octave to octave, and D. Deutsch (1975a) proposed an explanation in terms of separate what and where auditory pathways. C. D. Chambers, J. B. Mattingley, and S. A. Moss (2002) argued that the perceived pitch difference generally corresponds more to a semitone and proposed an alternative explanation in terms of diplacusis. This article argues that Chambers et al. used problematic procedures and reports a new experiment on the octave illusion. The findings confirm that an octave difference is generally perceived, and they agree with the model of Deutsch (1975a) but are at variance with the diplacusis hypothesis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of ecological viewing conditions on the Ames' distorted room illusion.

Ecological theory asserts that the Ames' distorted room illusion (DRI) occurs as a result of the artificial restriction of information pickup. According to J. J. Gibson (1966, 1979), the illusion is eliminated when binocular vision and/or head movement are allowed. Exp I, with 144 undergraduates, used size-matching technique employing discs placed within an Ames' distorted room to measure the DRI. Ss viewed the distorted room or a control apparatus under 4 viewing conditions (i.e., restricted or unrestricted head movement), using monocular and binocular vision. In Exp II, 20 Ss viewed binocularly and were instructed to move freely while making judgments. Findings show that the DRI decreased with increases in viewing access, although it persisted under all viewing conditions. The persistence of the illusion is seen as contradicting Gibson's position. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The target in the celestial (moon) illusion.

The visual conditions sufficient to produce the celestial (moon) illusion do not produce it for all presumably suitable celestial targets. For most observers, the illusion is complete for the moon: Apparent visual angle and apparent physical size are inverse functions of elevation, but apparent distance is a direct function. These features of the illusion are attenuated for star clusters and absent for star pairs. Although, in accordance with modern theories of the illusion, the visual terrain may be necessary for the celestial illusion, it is not sufficient; the visual target itself apparently must display particular features. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"The view" and the canine connection: an atlas of mandibular anterior tooth esthetics

Restoring splinted mandibular incisors and canines with full crown restorations has always presented a challenge in creating an esthetic illusion of reality of normal individual teeth. This treatise is designed to present the rules for mandibular anterior esthetics that have been distilled from almost 4 decades of clinical practice of restoring dentitions that have been severely compromised by the deformities of disease or accident. The resultant formula systematically creates the desired results with a high degree of predictability.     

A motion illusion from two-dimensional periodic patterns

The spatial properties of a motion illusion (the Ouchi illusion) that occurs in a stationary pattern were examined by means of a variety of two-dimensional periodic patterns (formed by multiplying pairs of various one-dimensional periodic functions). In two experiments, observers rated the magnitude of the illusion. The results showed that (1) patterns having large energy and steep saddle-shaped contrast gradients tended to generate stronger illusions, (2) the composite pattern made up of the sum of the fundamental and harmonic components exhibited a stronger illusion than either the fundamental or the harmonic pattern, (3) patterns possessing an element orientation and phase shift similar to those of a rectangular checkerboard, and with element sizes of 15-50 min in width and 4-8 min in height yielded a larger illusion, (4) equiluminant colors largely abolished the effect, and (5) blurring the boundary between the test and surround did not reduce the illusion. Interactions between spatially overlapping ON and OFF units was discussed as a possible underlying cause of this phenomenon.     

Low‐Frequency Spectral Representation of Space Shuttle Flight Data

Eighteen accelerograms associated with the lift‐offs of the space shuttle are processed digitally. The recording instruments are calibrated for the 0–50 Hz band. To account for the nonstationary nature of the space shuttle lift‐off, each of the accelerograms is split into three time slices. The first represents the space shuttle main‐engine‐thrust buildup, the second represents the period just following the solid‐rocket boosters' ignition, and the third represents the subsequent period involving intense acoustic activity due to exhaust‐plume engagement on the launch pad. The spectral treatment of the data involves the use of autoregressive (AR) and autoregressive‐moving‐average (ARMA) filters. The filters provide analytical representations of the spectra for all three time slices in terms of a set of coefficients. These coefficients can also be used to synthesize artificial acceleration time histories, which are necessary in base drive qualification studies of critical payloads exhibiting linear or nonlinear behavior. In this context average shock spectra of actual flight data and of pertinent synthetic accelerograms are produced to expedite the dynamic analysis of future payloads.