Category Archives: Cognitive Psychology

Articles on the acquisition, processing, and storing of information, and the exploration of internal mental states

What Do You See? Feedback Needed!

male vs female perception

Here at WIP we’ve posted quite a few illusions that highlight how perception can be easily influenced by our past experiences, color, lighting, and other factors. This time we would like our readers to help us to conduct an interesting survey on how perception differs between individuals of different genders and age groups.

Question: What did you “see” when you first viewed the image above?

Please leave your answer in the comment section below, along with your gender and age range (less than 13 years old, 13-19, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50+ years old). Responses to the survey can also be made via Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest. The results of the survey will be published in one month!

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The Coffer Illusion

Find the 16 circles

Look closely at the picture shown above. The numerous horizontal and vertical stripes are easy to spot, but how many circles do you see? After you have finished counting the number of circles, go to page 2 for the correct answer and an explanation.

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The Leaning Tower Illusion

 Twin Towers of Pisa

Look carefully at these two pictures (shown above) of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Does it seem as if the tower on the right side is leaning a bit more than the tower on the left? Or did you assume that the photograph of the tower on the right was taken from a different angle than that taken for the tower on the left? Continue reading

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The Psychological Influences of Weight

weighted scales

In many languages around the world (English, Russian, Spanish, Latvian, Chinese, Dutch, etc.), weight is associated with importance, influence and emphasis. For example, in English we might say such things as (1) “the manager has some weighty decisions to make” or (2) “get the president to sign because his signature carries more weight” or (3) “you need more facts in order to add greater weight to your argument.” But does the link between weight and importance only exist in the realm of linguistics? Research published in 2009 by Nils B. Jostmann, Daniel Lakens and Thomas W. Schubert suggests otherwise. Continue reading

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