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Helmholtz illusion makes you look fit only when you are already fit, but not for everyone

A square filled with horizontal stripes is perceived as thinner than one with vertical stripes (Helmholtz illusion). This is not consistent with a common belief that horizontally striped clothing makes a person look fatter, and studies on this problem have shown inconsistent results. Here, we demons...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Ashida, Hiroshi, Kuraguchi, Kana, Miyoshi, Kiyofumi
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Pion 2013
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3859551/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24349693
http://dx.doi.org/10.1068/i0595rep
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author Ashida, Hiroshi
Kuraguchi, Kana
Miyoshi, Kiyofumi
author_facet Ashida, Hiroshi
Kuraguchi, Kana
Miyoshi, Kiyofumi
author_sort Ashida, Hiroshi
collection PubMed
description A square filled with horizontal stripes is perceived as thinner than one with vertical stripes (Helmholtz illusion). This is not consistent with a common belief that horizontally striped clothing makes a person look fatter, and studies on this problem have shown inconsistent results. Here, we demonstrate three factors that could have complicated the issue. First, the Helmholtz effect is stronger for a thin figure than for a fat one, with possible reversal for the latter. Second, we found large variability across participants, suggesting dependence on features to attend. Third, there was strong hysteresis as to the order of testing fat and thin figures, suggesting the effect of surrounding people in daily life. There can be yet other factors, but we should note that this apparently simple case of application of a geometrical illusion in daily perception should be taken as a rather complex phenomenon.
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spelling pubmed-38595512013-12-16 Helmholtz illusion makes you look fit only when you are already fit, but not for everyone Ashida, Hiroshi Kuraguchi, Kana Miyoshi, Kiyofumi Iperception Short Report A square filled with horizontal stripes is perceived as thinner than one with vertical stripes (Helmholtz illusion). This is not consistent with a common belief that horizontally striped clothing makes a person look fatter, and studies on this problem have shown inconsistent results. Here, we demonstrate three factors that could have complicated the issue. First, the Helmholtz effect is stronger for a thin figure than for a fat one, with possible reversal for the latter. Second, we found large variability across participants, suggesting dependence on features to attend. Third, there was strong hysteresis as to the order of testing fat and thin figures, suggesting the effect of surrounding people in daily life. There can be yet other factors, but we should note that this apparently simple case of application of a geometrical illusion in daily perception should be taken as a rather complex phenomenon. Pion 2013-07-10 /pmc/articles/PMC3859551/ /pubmed/24349693 http://dx.doi.org/10.1068/i0595rep Text en Copyright 2013 H Ashida, K Kuraguchi, K Miyoshi http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ This open-access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Licence, which permits noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction, provided the original author(s) and source are credited and no alterations are made.
spellingShingle Short Report
Ashida, Hiroshi
Kuraguchi, Kana
Miyoshi, Kiyofumi
Helmholtz illusion makes you look fit only when you are already fit, but not for everyone
title Helmholtz illusion makes you look fit only when you are already fit, but not for everyone
title_full Helmholtz illusion makes you look fit only when you are already fit, but not for everyone
title_fullStr Helmholtz illusion makes you look fit only when you are already fit, but not for everyone
title_full_unstemmed Helmholtz illusion makes you look fit only when you are already fit, but not for everyone
title_short Helmholtz illusion makes you look fit only when you are already fit, but not for everyone
title_sort helmholtz illusion makes you look fit only when you are already fit, but not for everyone
topic Short Report
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3859551/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24349693
http://dx.doi.org/10.1068/i0595rep
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