Hi, I am preparing for a presentation in my Sensation and Perception class. I found a book that describes different illusions for all of the senses. I was looking for some help relating these illusions to theories in perception. Here is examples of what I would like to demonstrate: * Feelings: "No Sign of a Signature" - The class sits at their desk with a pencil and paper. They will use their favorite foot to trace circles on the floor. Once they get their foot going, they will watch it to make certain it keeps moving in a circle. They will now try to sign their name. The scawl they produce will make them feel helpless. If they do succeed in signing their name fairly legibly, chances are that their foot has traced similar motions. They have not kept it moving in a circle. The muscle-coordination problems here is similar to rubbing your stomach and patting your head at the same time. With practice it is possible to master this one. * Hearing: "Sounds of the Sea" - Hear the ocean roar in your own room far from the sea. Listen to a seashell, or, if you haven't one handy, put your ear against a jar. The sound of the surf crashing against the shore is loud and clear. But it is only an illusion, noise from your environment, including noise made from your environment, including noise made by your ear brushing against the edge of the shell. These sounds are reinforced by the vibration of the air within the shell or jar. * Tasting & Smelling "Name that Food" - You can check your sense of taste when it comes to telling the difference between Coke and Sprite. A blindfold and nose clips make it almost impossible. The beverages taste surprisingly alike. They are both lemon-lime based drinks although one is sweeter than the other. You will have no problem telling the difference with your senses of smell and vision operating. Your chemical senses of taste and smell can be fooled. The receptors for taste are located in bumps, called taste buds, on your tongue, along your throat, and on the roof of your mouth. They fire when molecules from food in your saliva come in contact with them. The receptors for smell are found in the lining of the upper part of the cavity inside the nose. They also fire when molecules come in contact with them. Smell and taste are very closely associated. Without smell you would have very little appreciation for fine cooking. Taste would be limited to the basic flavors which are sweet, salty, bitter, and sour. Remove smell, and you can be fooled by taste alone. * Seeing: I will have a variety of photo copies of different optical illusions to pass out to the class. Such as, Alternating Forms, The Herman Grid, First Impressions, Going Up, The Deception, and Crazy Columns, etc. Are these truly perceptual illusions????
