This site offers links to tutorials and demonstrations about various forms of illusions, offering explanations for the illusions and links to research papers discussing the phenomena demonstrated. Lightness and motion illusions are extensively addressed.
Type of Material:
The site includes images, Flash animations, text, and links.
Recommended Uses:
This site can be used to augment coverage of sensation and perception in the context of courses at various levels (e.g., Sensation & Perception, Cognitive Psychology). The faculty user would want to review and select the specific materials most appropriate to use with his or her students.
Technical Requirements:
Flash is required to view some of the illusions. Familiarity with experimental psychology would be helpful for reading the more complicated research reports.
Identify Major Learning Goals:
This site seeks to teach the user about the visual system by providing demonstrations and explanations of various perceptual phenomena. Its goal is to demonstrate the complexities of human perception that are taking place automatically.
Target Student Population:
Lower and upper division psychology students. Undergraduate psychology students will enjoy viewing the illusions. The research reports/papers are more appropriate for graduate students.
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:
The student who is using this site should have an understanding of the basics of sensory and perceptual systems. The value of the site would be minimal without such a background.
Content Quality
Rating:
Strengths:
The site contains a vast amount of information on perceptual illusions. The material is likely to get students thinking and talking about sensation and perception.
Concerns:
The information provided is disjointed - the various components are not linked and material is presented at various levels of complexity. Greater structure would improve the site. Also, some simple explanations for more of the phenomena would be helpful for less experimentally savvy undergraduate students.
Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool
Rating:
Strengths:
The content is of high quality and it effectively opens students' eyes to automatic perceptual processes.
Concerns:
Additional content that starts at a more basic/fundamental level would be a valuable addition. Rather than just point out the illusions, more succinct explanations for the illusions would be nice to see. The site would be far more effective if background was provided that would assist the individual with minimal knowledge.
Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty
Rating:
Strengths:
Very easy to more around the site and activate the illusions. It is nice to clearly see the illusions appear and also to see that the illusions are indeed illusions (false perceptions).
Concerns:
There are many dead links and an overall lack of structure. The components are not integrated.
Creative Commons:
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