Optical Illusions in Psychology

Cafe Wall Illusion

The cafe wall illusion is an optical illusion, first described by Doctor Richard Gregory. He observed this strange effect in the tiles of the wall of a cafe in Bristol. This optical illusion tricks the mind into thinking that the parallel horizontal lines are bent, when in fact they are actually straight.

Blivet Optical Illusion

A blivet is an optical illusion that is an example of an impossible object. It appears to have three cylindrical prongs at one end. However, if you follow the middle prong down you will see that it does not have a physical starting place. This object could not exist in real life.

Bezold Effect

The Bezold Effect is an optical illusion, named after a German professor of meteorology, Wilhelm von Bezold, who discovered that a color may appear different depending on its relation to adjacent colors. In the above example, the red seems lighter combined with the white, and darker combined with the black.

Motion Illusion

The motion illusion is a type of optical illusion in which a static image appears to be moving due to the cognitive effects of interacting color contrasts and shape position. To properly view this effect, click the image above to see the full sized version.