Title: The Two Illusions of Muller-Lyer: Confusion Theory Reexamined
Abstract:The Miiller-Lyer illusion was studied in both the tails-in and tails-out forms, with both the distance between the tips of the tails and the size of the angle formed by the tails and the shaft factori...The Miiller-Lyer illusion was studied in both the tails-in and tails-out forms, with both the distance between the tips of the tails and the size of the angle formed by the tails and the shaft factorially varied. The results force two conclusions: that there are two functionally different Miiller-Lyer illusions, one with tails in and one with tails out, and that the confusion theory offered earlier does not explain both. 'Confusion' theories (Woodworth, 1938, p. 645) have been prominently used to explain the Miiller-Lyer and other geometrical illusions. Erlebacher and Sekuler (1969) addressed the question of what, in fact, might be 'confused' when subjects judge the length of lines with appended 'tails,' or obliques. We concluded that subjects judge not only the actual line length but incorporate into their judgment the distance between the ends of the obliques. The perceived length then is a compromise between these two quantities. This conclusion resulted from a series of experiments on that version of the Miiller-Lyer figure with the obliques directed inward. The independent variables were the length of obliques and the angle these obliques made with the shaft. Briefly, those experiments showed (a) that with the size of the angle between obliques and shaft varied, and with the lengths of those obliques held constant, then the smaller the angle, the smaller the shaft appeared and the greater the illusion; (b) that with the size of the angle varied, and with the lengths of the obliques varied to keep a constant distance between their ends, then the magnitude of the illusion reRead More
Publication Year: 1971
Publication Date: 1971-12-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref', 'pubmed']
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Cited By Count: 45
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Title: $The Two Illusions of Muller-Lyer: Confusion Theory Reexamined
Abstract: The Miiller-Lyer illusion was studied in both the tails-in and tails-out forms, with both the distance between the tips of the tails and the size of the angle formed by the tails and the shaft factorially varied. The results force two conclusions: that there are two functionally different Miiller-Lyer illusions, one with tails in and one with tails out, and that the confusion theory offered earlier does not explain both. 'Confusion' theories (Woodworth, 1938, p. 645) have been prominently used to explain the Miiller-Lyer and other geometrical illusions. Erlebacher and Sekuler (1969) addressed the question of what, in fact, might be 'confused' when subjects judge the length of lines with appended 'tails,' or obliques. We concluded that subjects judge not only the actual line length but incorporate into their judgment the distance between the ends of the obliques. The perceived length then is a compromise between these two quantities. This conclusion resulted from a series of experiments on that version of the Miiller-Lyer figure with the obliques directed inward. The independent variables were the length of obliques and the angle these obliques made with the shaft. Briefly, those experiments showed (a) that with the size of the angle between obliques and shaft varied, and with the lengths of those obliques held constant, then the smaller the angle, the smaller the shaft appeared and the greater the illusion; (b) that with the size of the angle varied, and with the lengths of the obliques varied to keep a constant distance between their ends, then the magnitude of the illusion re