Optical Illusions and Perception

Learning Intention

We are learning about how the brain can be tricked into seeing images differently than they actually appear

Success Criteria

I will describe two optical illusions and how they work

Complete the worksheets and attach a copy to Google Classroom or complete them in your workbook as instructed by your Teacher

What organ in the body allows us to see?

If you think the answer to that question is the eye, you are only partly correct. In fact, what we see is constructed by the brain with information received by the eyes. The brain is constantly working to make sense of the visual information.

For example, all of the visual information arriving at the back of the eye is actually upside-down! The brain then makes sense of the information and corrects the image turning it the right way up. 

What you see is also influenced by your past experiences.

For example, faces are usually convex (curving outwards) so even if you are looking at a concave (curving-inwards) face your brain will usually trick you into thinking the face is convex. Try for yourself in the clip below!