IF YOU can spot both of the women in this classic optical illusion then you’ve got a keener eye than most. “My Wife or Mother-In-Law” is one of history’s best-known illusions – and researchers believe that your age may determine what you see. Viewers can see a young woman facing away, or an older, hook-nosed […]
IF YOU can spot both of the women in this classic optical illusion then you’ve got a keener eye than most.
“My Wife or Mother-In-Law” is one of history’s best-known illusions – and researchers believe that your age may determine what you see.
Viewers can see a young woman facing away, or an older, hook-nosed woman facing leftwards.
If you are struggling to make them both out, the clue to look for is the young girl’s chin, which doubles as the older woman’s nose.
The oldest version of the illusion first appeared on a German postcard in 1888.
The most famous version, seen here, was drawn by British cartoonist William Ely Hill and appeared in the American magazine “Puck” on November 6, 1915.
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A 2018 study published by two psychology professors at Flinders University in Australia claimed that whichever figure you see relates to your age.
The study said that older people will notice the older woman first, whereas younger individuals will see the younger figure.
The study included 393 participants (242 males, 141 females) from ages 18 to 68, with a median age of 32.
They were shown the image for half a second and then were asked to reveal the gender and age of the figure they saw first.
Most of the participants saw the younger woman first.
Researchers said that that could be due to most participants leaning towards the younger side.
When the researchers separated the oldest 10 per cent and the youngest 10 per cent of those surveyed, they found that the older set saw the older woman first.
The younger individuals, on the other hand, saw the younger figure.
The aim of the study was to determine if “own-age biases affect the initial interpretation of an image at a subconscious level.”
Optical illusions are often just a bit of fun, but they also hold real value for scientists.
The brain puzzles help researchers shed light on the inner workings of the mind and how it reacts to its surroundings.
Back in 2017, scientists Kim Ransley and Alex O. Holcombe, of the University of Sydney, highlighted the importance of illusions to our understanding of the brain.
“Visual illusions show us that we do not have direct access to reality,” the pair wrote in The Conversation.
“They can also provide an inkling of the mental processing that delivers our experience of the viewable world.
“Indeed, it is the processing happening inside our brains that is the basis for many illusions.
“Rather than delivering information from our eyes in nearly raw form as a camera would, the brain tries to determine what is actually out there.
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“When the information entering the eye is ambiguous, the brain must make educated guesses.”
It follows the release of a spooky illusion last week that makes the viewer feel as though they are tumbling into a black hole.
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