ILLUSIONS IN CONCRETE SITUATIONS - .I. INTRODUCTION AND DEMONSTRATIONS

Attention is drawn to the antipathy of a number of authorities towards experimental study of illusions. Much of this is based upon the view that illusory spatial distortions fail to become evident in two-dimensional projections of real-life scenes and solid objects. This implies that the appearances assumed by illusory patterns are irrelevant for understanding the broader issues of visual perception. Sets of line-drawings, photographs and projections of features of well-known and widely-used information-display equipment are described and illustrated. The appearances assumed by these suggest that many examples of illusory distortion become clearly apparent in situations closely resembling these of real life. The conclusion drawn is that the arguments which claim that illusions have no relevance to space and shape perception are unfounded and that these arguments have been instrumental in delaying understanding of the functional repertoire of the visual projection system. © 1969 Walter de Gruyter. All rights reserved.