Anticipating the Future to ‘See’ the Present

[groovedaddy]

Staring at a pattern meant to evoke an optical illusion is usually an act of idle curiosity, akin to palm reading or astrology. The dot disappears, or it doesn’t. The silhouette of the dancer spins clockwise or counterclockwise. The three-dimensional face materializes or not, and the explanation always seems to have something to do with the eye or creativity or even personality.

That’s the usual cue to nod and feign renewed absorption in the pattern.

In fact, scientists have investigated such illusions for hundreds of years, looking for clues to how the brain constructs a seamless whole from the bouncing kaleidoscope of light coming through the eyes. Brain researchers today call the illusions perceptual, not optical, because the entire visual system is involved, and their theories about what is occurring can sound as exotic as anyone’s.

In the current issue of the journal Cognitive Science, researchers at the California Institute of Technology and the University of Sussex argue that the brain’s adaptive ability to see into the near future creates many common illusions.

“It takes time for the brain to process visual information, so it has to anticipate the future to perceive the present,” said Mark Changizi, the lead author of the paper, who is now at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. “One common functional mechanism can explain many of these seemingly unrelated illusions.” His co-authors were Andrew Hsieh, Romi Nijhawan, Ryota Kanai and Shinsuke Shimojo.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/10/health/research/10mind.html?th&emc=th

[Fredda Weinberg]

1. We see what we want to see, hear what we want to hear ... yup n/t

[Indenturedebtor]

2. The effect is even more pronounced when remembering the past

People form "templates" of what things look like in general... say a cup, or even more pronounced a place like a Doctors Office.

Having learned the shared common features of Doctors Offices, when you try to imagine yourself back in the Doctors Office last week your brain will fill in objects, items, and sometimes even processes and conversations that never happened. Its a lot easier than remembering every last detail of your visit, especially when you didn't pay attention to everything at the time. Works sort of like a compressed Flash video.

This of course has huge implications for sworn testimony. People will remember clear as day things that never happened, based on their own damn near hardwired prejudices. They cannot distinguish the real information from the "filler".