Baldwin deception

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The Baldwin Illusion is the apparent change in the length of a line as a function of the size of the squares on either side.

history

The deception is named after James Mark Baldwin , who first described it. One of his studies had shown that squares of different sizes were remembered when they were shown together with other squares of different sizes. From this he concluded that the size of the squares should also have a comparable influence on the perception of their distance from one another.

Description and observation

Baldwin deception. The connecting line between the squares appears shorter the larger the squares become.

A horizontal line, the target, connects two squares. The larger the squares, the shorter it appears. Wilson and Pressey found that the perceived length of the connecting line first increases from very small squares and then decreases again after a flat maximum.

interpretation

There are several attempts to explain the classic shape, in which the squares are connected to the ends of the lines and are varied in size. It seems to be fundamental that the frame ratio is an essential factor for the intensity of the illusion, i.e. the ratio of stimulus size and target length. According to the “adaptation level theory” the size of an object is perceived relative to the size of other objects in the field of view. Another explanation is based on the constancy of the visual size , for which there are in turn several interpretations as to the cause. According to one of these, the visual system processes only the part of the retinal image that is currently of interest, but projects it onto an internal perception format of the same size. With increasing expansion of the entire stimulus, the length of the line makes up an ever smaller proportion of the captured image angle and therefore appears steadily smaller in perception.

Other effects

In another variant, the squares remain the same size, but are shifted symmetrically to the center of the line along the line axis, so that they are either arranged inside the line or outside it so that a gap remains between the end of the line and the square. The curve observed shows a sharp maximum when the squares just adjoin the target. The effect is also dependent on the orientation of the stimulus. The perceived length of the target is in a vertical orientation at its greatest, is reduced to 45 0 only slightly and then decreases more than 30 0 to the horizontal orientation towards significantly.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Baldwin, JM (1895). The effect of size-contrast upon judgments of position in the retinal field. Psychol. Rev., 2, 244-259
  2. ^ Wilson, AE, Pressey, AW (1988). Contrast and assimilation in the Baldwin illusion. Percept Mot Skills, 66, 195-204.
  3. ↑ Brigell, M., Uhlarik, J., Goldhorn, P. (1977). Contextual influence on judgments of linear extent. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 3, 1977, 105-118.
  4. ↑ Restle, F., and Merryman, CT (1968). An adaption-theory account of a relative-size illusion. Psychonomic Science, 12, 229-230.
  5. ↑ Kreiner, WA (2009). Sun, Moon and Ursa Major - an information-theoretical model for size perception. doi : 10.18725 / OPARU-1213
  6. ↑ Kreiner, WA (2012). Variants of the Baldwin illusion. doi : 10.18725 / OPARU-2592