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Updated: Aug 8, 2025
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Creating Objects and Object Categories for Studying Perception and Perceptual Learning
Published on: November 2, 2012
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Illusory object recognition is either perceptual or cognitive in origin depending on decision confidence
Josipa Alilović1,2, Eline Lampers1, Heleen A Slagter3,4
1Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Plos Biology
|March 2, 2023
Summary
Perceptual illusions arise from sensory processing errors, not just guessing. High confidence in incorrect decisions strengthens these illusions, while low confidence indicates cognitive errors.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Science
- Perception
Background:
- Misinterpreting sensory input or perceiving stimuli that are not present are common human errors.
- The origin of these perceptual errors—whether sensory (illusions) or cognitive (guessing)—remains unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the neural basis of perceptual errors and the role of decision confidence.
- To differentiate between sensory and cognitive origins of perceptual decision errors.
Main Methods:
- Participants performed a challenging face/house discrimination task.
- Multivariate electroencephalography (EEG) was used to analyze neural activity during decision-making.
- Neural representations of presented stimuli were compared with reported percepts under varying confidence levels.
Main Results:
- During erroneous decisions, early visual processing initially represented the correct stimulus.
- With high confidence in incorrect decisions, neural representations later flipped to match the reported, but incorrect, percept.
- This neural pattern flip was absent in low-confidence erroneous decisions.
Conclusions:
- Decision confidence plays a critical role in distinguishing true perceptual illusions from cognitive errors.
- High confidence in erroneous perception indicates a strong illusion rooted in sensory processing.
- Low confidence suggests cognitive factors, like guessing, contribute more significantly to the error.
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