Ternus Illusion 🔯
🧠Psych - 95 / 100
Hey,
This is the 95th edition of this newsletter!
Let’s talk about Ternus Illusion 🔯. While it may not have enough practical implications, it is still an interesting phenomenon to know about.
What is it?
The Ternus Illusion, also known as the Ternus Effect, is a term that describes an illusion of apparent motion that is registered by the eye under certain circumstances.
Most commonly, this illusion occurs when the eye is presented with shifting stimuli (pictures) in rapid sequence.
Examples -
In a simplified explanation of one form of the illusion, two discs, (referred to here as L for left and C for centre) are shown side by side as the first frame in a sequence of three frames.
Next a blank frame is presented for a very short, variable duration. Here is Element motion in effect.
In the final frame, two similar discs (C for centre and R for right) are then shown in a shifted position. Depending on various factors including the time intervals between frames as well as spacing and layout, observers perceive either element motion, in which L appears to move to R while C remains stationary or they report experiencing group motion, in which L and C appear to move together to C and R.
Here it is in the group motion in effect.
Where does it occur?
This problem of phenomenal identity that Ternus had discovered occurs due to the human visual system's natural ability to establish and then preserve the entities of objects even when the defining attributes of those objects have undergone drastic changes and no longer resemble what they once did.
Why do I need to know?
In one study it was found that Spatial Congruency Bias was present in identifying objects which is triggered by retinal position congruence.
Spatial congruency bias is the phenomenon in which, when two different objects are sequentially presented at the same location, their identities tend to be misjudged as identical. [3]
References & Studies: -
https://www.alleydog.com/glossary/definition.php?term=Ternus+Illusion
https://optical-illusions.fandom.com/wiki/Ternus_Illusion
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-61698-5
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