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Related Experiment Videos

Why do ambiguous figures reverse?

I Rock1, S Hall, J Davis

  • 1Psychology Department, University of California, Berkeley 94720.

Acta Psychologica
|October 1, 1994
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

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This study challenges neural satiation theory for ambiguous figure reversals. It highlights the importance of the subject knowing a figure is reversible and how to see its alternative views, leading to an intention to reverse.

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Visual Perception

Background:

  • The dominant theory for ambiguous figure reversal has been neural satiation.
  • This study proposes an alternative theory based on experimental instructions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the role of subject awareness and intention in ambiguous figure reversal.
  • To challenge the neural satiation theory by proposing a new cognitive mechanism.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of typical instructions given to subjects in reversal experiments.
  • Experimental manipulation of subject knowledge regarding figure reversibility.
  • Experimental manipulation of subject intention to reverse figures.

Main Results:

  • Knowledge of reversibility and how to construe alternatives is crucial for reversal.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Experience alone does not cause reversal if reversibility is unknown.
  • Reversal is inhibited if the intention to reverse is overridden by other intentions.

    • Conclusions:

    • Subject's knowledge and intention, not just neural processes, drive ambiguous figure reversal.
    • The intention to reverse may become automatic and involuntary under certain conditions.