Exampls of REVERSIBLE FIGURE GROUND TASKS
in the VISUAL MODALITY

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Example #1-- Which direction are the birds flying: Do I see them going right or left? Email me the right answer and I will turn over the $10,000 check I have to you.





Answer--Well, they certainly are going. This was a rather simple picture. There is a more elaborate one in the notes to the right of these, on slide 21 of the lesson. Notice, here that how we organize the picture has a great baring on what we perceive. This will become even more wild as we proceed.

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Example #2--How many legs does an elephant have? I thought I knew until I saw this picture. This is a figure ground teaser that defies organization. Would you like draw and color this one?


Answer.--We saw this before with the two/three pronged figure. Here we become very aware of the changing peceptual process which makes us see the picture in different ways. Yet this is our reality.


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Example #3-- Where's the dot?. Talk about changing images, hee is the famous Necker Cube. Can you describe to me where the small circle is on this cube?





Answer--If your perceptual system organizes the cube one way, you may perceive it from above, and the circle appears to be in the upper left hand corner of the side facing you. But if you watch long enough, your system will automatically select a different set of coordinates and the image will change in your mind. Then you may perceive the cube from below land the circle would apper to be on the upper left corner of the side away from you. And then for me, sometimes the box gets hopelessly tangled!


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Example #4-- How many cubes are here? This is a simple task for reality. Just count it (them).



Answer--The answer of course is 2 different cubes, although you cant really see them both at the same time. One is facing slightly down from right to left, while the other is facing slightly up from left to right. What's more is they should switch radically back in forth in your mind as your figurge ground structure automatically shifts. The next one is seems totally impossible!


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Example #5-- How many steps are there on this podium? If someone asked me this question, they might wonder at my ability to count.


Answer--It all depends, of course, upon your perceptual organization. If you organize it from the left (left arrow), you will see four steps. But from the right (right arrow) there is only one and although it is the SAME STEP as the first from the other side, it now reaches the same height as the other four! Where is reality now? This is how you and I and children see the world. Its amazing we can agree on anything. But wait, the next one is your worst nightmare!


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Example #6-- Where's the top!!! I have had this dream ever since I was in the doctoral program at USC?



Answer--It just amazing how the mind can play such tricks on us that defy our own sense of logic. It certainly makes us question our reality. The next two demonstrate clearly how perception can vary greatly the experience receive, given the same stimulus.


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Example #7-- How do I look? Well, it isn't me, but how would you discribe this peron?



Answer--In class when I show this picture to the students, half describe her as being a rather young lovely woman. The other half see her as a somewhat haggard old lady. Its amazing how our perceptions can vary when looking at the same person! With some effort and TIME, most people can see the other image. But not eveyone...some never do. Whereas these pictures are contrived to create that problem (for these students it is not in anyway a symptom of a perceptual disorder if they dont see the other image), the end result is not unlike the feelings that children and adults with perceptual problems experience. That is, they just don't see what everyone else is seeing (or hearing or feeling); and although this has absolutely nothing to do with intelligence, it engenders a feeling of being dumb. This in turn can lead to an attitude of "what's the use...why try etc." Incidentally, some folks can eventually see the other image but when they do they find they can't get back to the first one. We will discuss this on slide 29. The last example is similar to this one.


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Example #8-- Is this man a rat or what?. Perception determines what we see. What do you see in this picture?



Answer--Again, some students see a picture of their professor ... a bald headed old man with glasses. My wife always sees a rat! The point is that perception (and our reality) is a construct of the mind and how it chooses to organize impulses after they have been transduced. That there is so much room for individual variance is a sobering thought. Lets return now to the lesson. Feel free to use the back button on your browser or the scroll bar to revisit any of the pictures.


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