MÜLLER-LYER ILLUSION

Müller-Lyer illusion

Müller-Lyer illusion

Introduction to the Experiment

This trial will use the procedure of adjustment to determine how much the Müller-Lyer illusion may distort your insight of relation line lengths. The applet will present an likeness of two lines of distinct lengths, one overhead the other (see number1 below). The top line is a benchmark stimulus line, and will be the identical extent all through this experiment. The lower line is a comparison stimulus line, which you will be adept to make longer or shorter than the standard. Each line will have arrowheads on its finishes: the standard line will have arrowheads pointing inward; the evaluation line will have arrowheads pointing outward on some trials and inward on other trials. By modifying the extent of the evaluation line so that it appears to match the extent of the standard line, this trial will assess the effect of the Müller-Lyer illusion on your insight of relation extent (i.e., your judgment about the relation lengths of the evaluation and standard lines):

The Procedure and Instructions

Throughout the experiment, your task will be to adjust the extent of the comparison line (i.e., the smaller incentive line) so that its major line segment (i.e., the directly line segment without the arrowheads) matches the extent of the standard line's main line segment. You will be offered with three buttons, "increase," "decrease," and "next trial." During the trial, you will be adept to either elongate or reduce the evaluation line: banging a mouse button will change the extent of the evaluation line by one unit; retaining the button down will change its length continuously. When you believe the evaluation major line segment corresponds the benchmark major line segment, press the "next test" button to end the current test and begin a new one.(

Independent Variables

There are two unaligned variables (see number 1 below): 1) ARROWHEAD variable: the arrowheads on the evaluation line will either be the identical or different from the arrowheads on the benchmark line. 2) TYPE-OF-TRIAL variable: at the beginning of a test, the evaluation line will be either longer than the benchmark line, or it will be shorter. If it is longer, because you will mostly likely reduce the extent of the evaluation line, this is called a descending kind of test; if it is shorter, because you will mostly likely increase the length of the evaluation line, this is called an ascending kind of trial.

 

figure 1

Dependent Variables

The dependent variable will be how accurate you are in setting the base (comparison) line to agree the extent of the peak (standard) line.

The Muller-Lyer Illusion

Which of the two upright line segments is longer? Whereas your visual scheme notifies you that the left one is longer, a leader would verify that they are equal in length. The Muller-Lyer illusion is one of the most well known of illusions. It was created by German psychiatrist Franz Muller-Lyer in 1889.

One function of an untested psychologist is to find explanations for psychological phenomena like the Muller-Lyer illusion, and then to present experiments to ...