The old cliché says “seeing is believing,” but a psychologist’s favorite optical illusion defies that saying.
This visual trick turns a black-and-white photo into a full-color representation of a cheery campus scene in just a few seconds.
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Psychologist Steve Rathje shares illusions and psychological phenomena on TikTokCredit: TikTok/stevepsychology
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His favorite illusion compels viewers to see this image in color Credit: TikTok/stevepsychology
Steve Rathje is a psychologist and PhD student at Cambridge who analyzes psychological phenomena for his millions of followers on TikTok.
In a recent video, Rathje demonstrated his hilarious trick, which colors a black and white photo in seconds.
“I’m about to trick your brain into thinking this black and white image is full color,” Rathje said at the beginning of the video.
He then asked viewers to look at a point in the center of the image for 20 seconds.
The image in question was not black and white, but rather a bizarre version of the earlier monochrome photograph, complete with purple grass, orange sky, and other unusual details.
Rathje explained what was about to happen as his viewers watched.
“The colored cells in your eyes, called cones, get fatigued,” said the psychologist.
“When your cells get tired, they send more activity to the opposite color.”
As long as viewers looked at the marked point, their eyes would create “reversed” afterimages.
An orange sky would create a deep blue afterimage, while warm purple grass should turn green.
After showing the “inverted” image for 20 seconds, Rathje returned to showing the black and white image.
“This is a black and white image,” Rathje said. “It shouldn’t look black and white to you.”
Instead, viewers saw the scene in full color, with several people in the comments expressing their amazement at the impact of the illusion.
“The grass was such a bright green. So cool!” wrote one viewer.
“This one worked so well I had to move my eyes to make sure it was really black and white,” said another viewer.
Some commenters had difficulty viewing the image, but were successful if they held their phones further away or placed the image on a larger screen.
Those who were able to successfully see the illusion couldn’t wait to pass it on.
“That was so cool I had to share it with my daughter,” wrote one viewer. “Thank you!”
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Categories: Optical Illusion
Source: HIS Education