AP51943

Science Summary

Gavin Buckingham of Heriot-Watt #|University published a report on SWI (Size-weight illusions) and how we can learn from them. One of the most popular studies is giving a person two weights that are sized differently, but weighing the same, to determine which they believe is heavy. Typically, a person will believe that the smaller weight is heavier even after learning about what is going on (Buckingham, G.). Some believe that this illusion exists because we use stronger force to lift the bigger object since we believe that it will weigh more and this stronger force gives an illusion of “lightness” (Buckingham, G.). Another illusion is the “temperature-weight illusion”, in which the test subject believes that the colder object is heavier than the warmer object although they weigh the same (Buckingham, G.). Of course, information and studies like this can #|play easily into the textbooks views on perception, “the process through which the brain assigns meaning to sensations” (Boyd p.87). By using prior knowledge, people can mistake the size of an object or the material the object is made out of as affecting the weight. If people believe that it is bigger or made out of heavy material, their perception of the weight can be thrown off. This study will be helpful in the #|future because if we can #|continue to look into illusions such as these, we may be able to reverse them or even prevent them all together, once we know what is causing them.

References: Wood, Samuel E., Ellen R. Green. Wood, and Denise Roberts. Boyd. //Mastering the World of Psychology//. Fourth ed. Boston: Pearson/Allyn and #|Bacon, 2011. #|Print.

Buckingham, G. (2014). Getting a grip on heaviness perception: a review of weight illusions and their probable causes Experimental Brain Research, 232 (6), 1623-1629

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