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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 17, 2026

Applying Incongruent Visual-Tactile Stimuli during Object Transfer with Vibro-Tactile Feedback

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Published on: May 23, 2019

On Common Factors in Visual Illusions: A Review.

Ece Yatikci¹, Michael H Herzog¹

¹Laboratory of Psychophysics, Brain Mind Institute, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland.

Neuropsychologia

|July 15, 2026

Summary

Illusion research is crucial for understanding vision, despite weak correlations between different illusions. Studying illusions helps reveal how the brain processes visual information and solves complex problems.

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Last Updated: Jul 17, 2026

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Published on: July 21, 2020

Area of Science:

Visual Perception
Cognitive Neuroscience
Psychophysics

Background:

Illusions have historically intrigued humans, raising questions about sensory perception and reality.
While spatial illusions are accepted in vision research, illusions themselves are often debated as a distinct research topic.
A common argument against illusion research is the perceived lack of conceptual commonality among different illusions.

Purpose of the Study:

To argue that illusion research is a valuable and principled approach to understanding vision.
To demonstrate that despite low correlations between individual illusion magnitudes, illusions offer unique insights into visual processing.
To highlight how studying illusions can illuminate the brain's strategies for solving the ill-posed problems inherent in vision.

Main Methods:

Review of numerous studies examining illusion magnitudes and their intercorrelations.
Analysis of the shared variance between different types of visual illusions.
Conceptual argument for the significance of illusion research as a distinct field.

Main Results:

The majority of reviewed studies show weak correlations between the magnitudes of different illusions.
Individual susceptibility to one illusion does not reliably predict susceptibility to another.
Low shared variance suggests that specific illusions may not generalize to overall visual perception.

Conclusions:

Illusion research is a valuable scientific endeavor in its own right, offering a principled way to study vision.
Understanding how the brain is deceived by illusions provides critical insights into the brain's normal visual processing mechanisms.
Despite their differences, illusions collectively serve as powerful tools for investigating the fundamental principles of visual perception and problem-solving in the brain.