Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 15, 2025

Methods to Explore the Influence of Top-down Visual Processes on Motor Behavior
Published on: April 16, 2014
The zooming-speed illusion: A meta illusion?
Hiroshi Ashida1, Akiyoshi Kitaoka2
1Kyoto University, Japan.
Abstract:
A movie taken from the front window of a running train, with zooming in and out, has been popularly acknowledged as a perceptual illusion such that the train motion is perceived as much slower when zoomed in. This is, however, not a real illusion because the image speed varies as a function of the focal length of the lens. This could be a meta-illusion, that is, an illusory sense of illusion, that might reflect a lack of understanding of how zooming changes the geometrical structure of the image.
Related Concept Videos
Depth Perception and Spatial Vision
Perceptual Constancy
Size constancy is the recognition that an object remains the same size, even when its image on the retina changes. For instance, a bus is perceived to be large enough to carry people, even if it looks tiny from...
Hindsight Biases
Nonconscious Mimicry
Schemas
Deindividuation

