Cognitive Straightening 2: Exploring Illusions and Distortions

Illusion of perception in psychology.

Mirages, distorted sounds and images are all illusions of perception. They arise against the background of the fact that a person distorts the interpretation of stimuli perceived through the senses. The impressions he receives at the same time force him to draw incorrect conclusions about the properties of the stimulus object. The visible, audible, and tangible in a distorted form differs from the real stimulus. The discrepancy can be eliminated through measurement and analysis.

Concept and essence

Illusion is a distorted perception of reality, which is based on deception of the senses. A person begins to perceive the imaginary as the real. The term “distorted” means that the object that an individual sees does not correspond to the surrounding reality. Distortion can be easily eliminated by understanding the reasons for its occurrence or by taking a series of measurements. Sometimes illusions are associated with what a person does not believe in.

Types of distortion:

1. Illusions that are associated with water, the influence of a prism, are mirages, distortions of air due to hot steam. Based on physical phenomena.
2. Illusions associated with the peculiarities of perception. Distortions are based on psychology and physiology.

The most studied are visual illusions. On the Internet or special textbooks you can find images that appear to move, but at the same time remain in place.

Illusions of perception from a psychological point of view

Illusions of perception by psychology are considered as observations of phenomena. And it doesn’t matter if a person understands the practical impossibility of what is happening. Thus, we are able to see mirages, distortions of objects in transparent liquids, etc. In this way, new object images are formed instead of real, real objects. The term illusion is sometimes used to define irritating configurations that cause distorted perception. Psychologists do not consider illusions to be a deviation from the norm. While psychiatrists and psychoanalysts deal with hallucinations and delusions.

Why is illusory perception needed, what functionality do psychologists give it?

People have illusions to remove some uncertainty and resolve certain controversial situations. This process resembles the animation of experiences. Each of us is always trying to find an explanation for our worries. Through illusions they get the opportunity to streamline and organize the vision of an object. Thus, illusions are given a compensatory role. They actually help resolve uncertainty, relax and eliminate anxiety that arises in ambiguous situations. The coloring of the illusory image, figure and background does not matter. In any case, this serves as a kind of warning, a signal to action. But often such a basis leads to erroneous decisions.

History of discovery

The perception of reality began to receive attention in 1899. Illusions were familiar to people before, but were perceived as something mystical and frightening.

The first researchers in this direction conducted experiments to prove that illusions are based on people's expectations. These experiments involved lifting weights while blind. The buckets contained the same amount of sand, but people were told that they would now be allowed to lift the bucket even heavier. Participants in the experiment believed that buckets of equal weight were heavier than each other.

The first scientist to conduct such experiments was R. Muller. He asked people to estimate the same weight in containers of different sizes.

After conducting the experiments, Müller presented his personal arguments regarding similar distortions in the Würzburg school. Scientists from other European psychological schools began to develop and study this concept in the first half of the 20th century. They called illusions the anomalous phenomena that occur in nature - mirages, visual distortions due to the refraction of light. Psychologists from the Gestalt school shared this opinion.

What types of illusions are there?

For every sense organ there is at least one illusion, there are a lot of them. The types of illusions that a person can experience have their own division:

• optical – this is an erroneous visual perception;
• sound – hearing loss;
• physiological - peripheral or central parts of the sense organs did not work correctly;
• awareness - a feeling of presence, also classified as a form of hallucination;
• physical – associated with natural phenomena;
• affective - can appear with a sharp change in mood;
• organic – erroneous perception of colors, sizes and shapes;
• pareidological - creating pictures using thoughts.

Pareidolic illusions

Illusory perceptions of real objects are called pareidological illusions. Such illusions can arise when a person examines a pattern of wallpaper, fabric, stains or cracks, or clouds. You can see not only faces or objects, but also fantastic images. This happens as a result of the effect of a dual image, when the illusion of depth or recognition images is created specifically for provocation. This appearance can be observed in several people at once when examining some well-known object, for example, a cultural property.

Affective illusions

Being in a certain emotional state of mind, and at the same time, finding himself in an unfamiliar place, a person is able to see almost incredible things. A striking example is a night visit to a cemetery. Being under the influence of fear and expecting something bad, any person is able to see an affective illusion. Or if there is a fear of spiders, and there is a new, unfamiliar place, a person will be afraid of their appearance from everywhere. Many people are able to see different types of illusions. Affective illusion can appear even in a healthy person.

Physical illusions

Some pilots in their stories emphasize that if you fly over the sea when the stars are reflected in it, you get the feeling of an inverted flight. The main feature of physical illusions is their dependence on the mental state. Physiological or physical illusions are short-term phenomena, they are episodic. If a person is able to critically assess the situation and understand that it is an illusion, then this indicates his psychological health.

How are physiological illusions created? A striking example is a violation of the eye, when “by eye” it is very difficult to determine the distance from a person to an object. Real indicators and a false perception of distance give rise to this type of illusion. Almost all people encounter this type of illusion and, knowing that it is an illusion, easily correct it. This type of illusion is a feature of the structure of the eye and lighting effects.

Causes

Causes:

1. Taking medications, alcohol, or drugs that distort the perception of reality.
2. Natural physical processes in nature - mirages, rainbows, refraction of light through drops of water.
3. A distortion imposed by the opinions of other people.
4. Mental disorders, diseases.
5. Physical pathologies. For example, in extreme heat, an individual may become delirious and see imaginary objects.
6. Strong experiences, stress, nervous breakdowns, depression.

An interesting cause of illusions is synesthesia. This is a process of mixing feelings. Synesthesia is very common among creative people:

1. Many musicians report that they can see special colors when playing melodies.
2. Poets say that when looking at different images they hear sounds that are not really there.

Visual illusions at Palazzo Spada in Rome

At the Palazzo Spada in Rome, the architect Francesco Borromini created an interesting optical illusion - an altered perspective, where descending rows of columns and a rising floor create the impression of a gallery 37 meters long (in fact, its length is only 8 meters). The man who appears at the end of the corridor appears to be a giant, and the sculptures, 60 cm in height, appear to be the size of a man. A mathematician helped the great architect in creating this illusion.

A striking impression is created thanks to the sloping floor, the gradual decrease in the height of the columns and the corridor itself. Look at the schematic representation of the corridor from the side and from above.

Impossible figures

Impossible figures are those illusions of optical illusion that cannot exist in the physical world, but look quite real on paper.

Kinds

There are different types of illusions. Each type differs in the affected areas of perception, sensations, and general impact on the psyche.

Physical

The most obvious physical illusions are optical distortions. They are caused by various manifestations of the psyche, which are squeezed between a person and the object, object or phenomenon perceived by him. Examples:

1. The moon high in the sky appears much smaller than at the horizon.
2. If you submerge a straight stick halfway in water, the submerged end will appear smaller.
3. After looking at something bright for a long time, an imprint of this object will remain in front of your eyes for a few seconds, but in reality it will not be there.
4. It seems that the mountains are closer in clear weather with low air humidity than they actually are.

Cognitive

Cognitive distortions occur when an individual interacts not with the world itself, but with assumptions about it. This leads to the formation of unconscious conclusions that distort reality. Kinds:

1. Ambiguous - Necker Cube, Rubin Vase.
2. Distorting - geometric optical illusions. They are characterized by distortion of length, size, curvature, and location of geometric objects.
3. Paradox distortions - appearing to be objects that are impossible or paradoxical.

A separate type of cognitive illusions is fiction.

Physiological

They arise under the influence of fatigue, tension, and emotional outbursts. Distortions of a physical and physiological nature are temporary. They disappear on their own after a certain period of time.

Physiological deviations are created against the background of discrepancies between real objects and erroneous phenomena. This group includes the false perception of visually reduced sizes of a large object.

Affective

They appear in healthy people physically and psychologically. They are associated with fatigue, mental stress, and strong emotions. Affective illusions appear in places unfamiliar to a person, when he expects bad things.

If a person is on the territory of an unfamiliar private house, and was frightened by a dog as a child, he will expect an attack by the animal. He can hear sounds that don't exist.

Pathological

Associated with mental disorders and psychological diseases. In this state, it is difficult for a person to distinguish reality from an imaginary illusion. The distortions go away on their own, but without proper treatment they return.

Verbal

Distorted perception of sound stimuli. The neutral speech of another person is perceived as a threat, and hostile reproaches, curses, and insults do not reach the person. If a radio or television is on, a person may feel that the announcers are talking to him.

Organic

They manifest themselves as distorted visual perception of objects, phenomena, and forms. The shape, size, color, and location in space are perceived incorrectly.

Awareness

They manifest themselves as an obsessive feeling that someone is present nearby. If treatment is not started, hallucinations and delusions will develop.

Perceptions

False perception of reality. When they manifest themselves, a person experiences sensory impressions that go against reality. Illusions can incline a person to incorrect judgments and opinions.

Pareidolic

The perception of patterns changes. When considering them, complex images develop in the human mind, which are arranged into fantastic pictures.

What is an illusion?

A similar phenomenon can be created by a skilled magician or mother nature herself, but it happens that a person deceives himself. An illusion is when a real object or phenomenon is perceived in a distorted form and is understood ambiguously. It is believed that illusion is a companion to any mental illness, but this is not entirely true; a healthy person is also capable of experiencing illusion. How can you see an illusion?

1. Due to optical illusion.
2. Being in a state that is unusual for a person (drug intoxication, pathology or emotional state).

In everyday terms, illusion refers to hopes and dreams. The unreal world that illusion creates is a world of self-deception, and serves as a means that makes life easier for a person or is even a flight of his imagination. Human consciousness always strives to protect itself from shocks and strive for illusion, encourages dreams of a miracle, creates images of a “beautiful life” or ideal people.

How to stop living in a fictional world?

Often people live in a fictional world and do not realize it. Sometimes a person imposes distortions on himself in order to isolate himself from the dangers of the world around him, to close himself off from others. Such actions can lead to the development of mental disorders and psychological diseases. To correct the situation, you need:

1. Learn to live according to a schedule. Make it up for every day. Make time for rest, work, hobbies, communication with friends and family. Maintain order in everything. This applies to the schedule, diet, order on the table, in the closets.
2. Analyze experienced situations daily and think through ways to solve problems.
3. Change your social circle, your field of activity. If you don’t want to lose your job, you need to ask for a vacation to rest.

You also need to pay attention to internal fears, false beliefs, and barriers. To cope with them, you need to consult a psychologist.

In psychology, there are different interpretations of the term “illusion”. Each of them is tolerant of the other. Illusion is a distortion of reality under the influence of external factors. They can be harmless or intrusive. In the latter case, you will need the help of an experienced psychologist.

Cognitive illusions

Such phenomena arise due to the fact that a person begins to make assumptions about the world, which leads to analysis, sometimes unconscious. Cognitive illusions are erroneous thinking; they develop as a result of mental behavior. Such an illusion of a person is an example of fast thinking; if a person had initially analyzed his thoughts, it would not have arisen. Cognitive distortions are actively studied in psychotherapy because they carry personal and social consequences.

Penrose triangle

It was discovered back in 1935 by the Swedish artist Oscar Reutersvard, who depicted it in the form of a set of cubes. But he gained fame after the publication of an article by Roger Penrose in 1958 about impossible figures, where he was depicted as three beams connected together.

The impossible triangle is possible! His sculpture is in the German Technical Museum and in the city of Perth in Australia.

Penrose Triangle in Perth, Australia

Penrose triangle at the German Technical Museum

Penrose triangle at the German Technical Museum

Impossible trident

The Impossible Trident is the most famous of the impossible figures. Three round teeth gradually turn into two rectangular ones. Although, if you horizontally divide the trident into 2 parts, then both of them will be quite understandable objects. On top there are two rectangular teeth, on the bottom there are three round ones.

The “impossibility” of the trident is achieved thanks to:

• changing foreground and background
• the transition of flat edges at the top of the trident to three-dimensional (round) ones at the bottom

The Impossible Trident appeared almost simultaneously in various publications in the mid-60s of the last century. Norman Mingo's most famous illustration was featured on the cover of MAD magazine in March 1965.

The illusion of dichotomy (pleasant/unpleasant)

Another illusion that tenaciously holds us captive to suffering is the belief that there is something pleasant and unpleasant

. We can continue this series: we divide the world into harmful and useful, right and wrong, convenient and inconvenient. And if we begin to dissect any of these divisions, it turns out that everything is quite relative. And what one person loves, another hates, what is good in one situation is almost a crime in another.

As for dividing events and phenomena into pleasant and unpleasant, it all depends on our state of mind. It is important to understand that the Universe is intelligent, and it creates the most effective conditions for our development. The legendary German saboteur Otto Skorzeny trained his soldiers this way: the final exam at his school was to bury themselves in the ground in front of moving tanks. It looked like this: the cadets went out onto an area covered with paving stones (!), then they were given some time to dig into the ground. They had one tool - their hands. And after the time given to them, tanks were launched across the area; for those who did not have time, the saboteur’s career ended, and along with it, their life. The most interesting thing is that everyone was buried. But what’s even more interesting is that all the fighters who underwent such training survived the war almost in full strength and lived to old age. This story means that any difficulties make us stronger.

Therefore, to say that pleasant things are always good and unpleasant things are always bad is a very big illusion, and in most cases the opposite is true. And the only one who makes us suffer is our own mind. The most relevant examples today include the following: quarantine restrictions, which are in effect in most countries today, cause people a lot of inconvenience. But complaining about your fate in this case is simply not constructive. It is important to understand that any situation can be used for your development.

. And quarantine as well. Maybe for some it’s a big secret, but while sitting at home, you can not only watch TV shows and eat candy, you can engage in self-development: physical, mental and spiritual.

And so it is in everything: the illusion that there is something hostile in this world causes us a lot of suffering. If you read the biographies of great personalities, you will see that often some conventionally unpleasant situations led them to become stronger, learn about their purpose, or find their path. We ourselves determine what to suffer from and what to enjoy. If we are in the position of a student and are ready for changes, the perception of everything new, lessons and challenges, then nothing unpleasant will happen to us.