W4 DISCUSSION
- Research scholarly articles on optical illusions and explain what research has been done in this area. Explain why optical illusions occur, providing specific reasons.
An optical illusion, more suitably known as the visual illusion refers to a visual stimulus perceived by eyes and grasped by the brain in a way that is very dissimilar from reality. Optical illusions are formed using light, patterns, and colors, which create misleading and deceptive images to the brain. The optical illusion tricks the brain to see things that may be real or unreal (Cretenoud, Grzeczkowski & Herzog, 2018). It occurs because the brain tries to interpret what the eyes see and make sense of it. Therefore, when one experiences visual illusions, they often see things that are not there or do not see the things there.
Generally, there are three main categories of optical illusions, namely, physiological, cognitive and literal optical illusions. Physiological visual illusions occur when a person sees some parts of images that are not there. Such images consist of numerous copies of the same pattern or image. According to Cretenoud, Grzeczkowski & Herzog (2018), the reiterating images activate similar optical system trails no matter where the eyes focus. An example of physiological optical illusions is the Herman Grid Illusion, where one is likely to see some black dots where the white lines cross. Hence, the visual system is overloaded, creating a visual illusion.
Cognitive illusions use the assumptions of people to develop visual illusions. The illusions defy people’s traditional way of thinking to create images that seem to break the rules of physical substances. Cretenoud, Grzeczkowski & Herzog (2018) posit that literal illusions occur when a person puts together a collection of various images. It may be easy to see the individual images but very difficult to see the images together. When together, the images seem to look different from the originals. As a result, only different layers are viewed because the brain chooses the portions to concentrate.
- Research scholarly articles regarding bottom-up and top-down information Processing and explain what research has been done in this area. Describe some examples of the two types.
Essentially, bottom-up processing is an analysis of the sensory system that commences at the entry stage and shows what our senses can detect. Besides, information is processed as it comes in and makes from the smallest pieces. For example, if a person perceives a certain image of a letter in a screen, the eyes transmit the information collected to the brains where it puts together all the information. According to Cole (2005), processing of information starts with the sensory data and then goes up to the brain’s intervention of the specific sensory information. People tend to experience sensory data about everything around them, such as the levels of light. The signals collected are carried to the retina where the electrical impulses travel to the brain. Thus, the data is taken to the visual cortex via one direction to create a visual experience.
Top-down processing is the use of background information or data in the process of pattern recognition. Simply, it is the perception that is usually driven by cognition. A person’s brain applies the information it is perceived and knows and later fills in the gaps (Cole, 2005). For example, it is very easy to understand difficult handwriting after reading a complete sentence. The reason behind it is that the immediate meaning words give a framework that aids in understanding the complete information. In top-down processing, the brain is said to use the information that has already been brought to it. Top-down processing is vital because it enables a person to rely on pre-existing knowledge and context to understand everything that we perceive. Therefore, Top-down processing involves the use of our general knowledge to comprehend what we see.
References
Cole, M. (2005). Psychology and Culture: Top-Down Versus Bottom-Up?. Psyccritiques, 50(19). doi: 10.1037/041319
Cretenoud, A., Grzeczkowski, L., & Herzog, M. (2018). How to classify visual illusions? The role of intellectual development. Journal Of Vision, 18(10), 776. doi: 10.1167/18.10.776