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Optical Illusions

Abstract

RECENT articles1–3 in Nature have discussed the explanation of optical illusions and, in particular, Gregory's theory of constancy scaling. According to this theory, illusions are produced in situations where there is an inappropriate activation of a constancy scaling mechanism produced either by certain features of the two-dimensional visual pattern which normally suggests depth (primary scaling), or by apparent distance (secondary scaling). This communication presents some critical comments on this type of explanation as applied inclusively to all the optical illusions mentioned.

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References

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  2. Brown, L. B., and Houssiadas, L., Nature, 204, 302 (1964).

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WALLACE, G. Optical Illusions. Nature 209, 327–328 (1966). https://doi.org/10.1038/209327a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/209327a0

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