Hi Claudia, I get that on NJ roads as well on very hot July or August days, but the difference between our experiences and the one experienced by the guy in the desert is that, just as with the pencil in the glass or water situation, we both recognize that what looks like a body of water ahead in the road is readily recognized as mere shimmering; an illusion and, as such and according to the classification I had mentioned, it becomes a simple optical illusion. The lost, dehydrated guy in the desert, _believes_ the shimmering IS water, therefore the additional error is one of interpretation; it is perceptual in character.
Miguel ----- Original Message ----- From: "Claudia Stanny" <[email protected]> To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)" <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, February 20, 2011 9:06:31 PM Subject: Re: [tips] Optical illusion or Perceptual illusion? (was Escher water wheel) Re: Miguel's discussion of the oasis (water in the desert) illusion: I suppose that mirages, such as the common oasis-in-the-middle-of-the-desert mirage (shimmering from heat rising in the horizon that appears as a body of water) and perhaps other like illusions are a combination of the two, optical and perceptual. In the case of the mirage, the percipient may be so confused from dehydration and exhaustion and so thirsty that s/he ends up believing that the distortion created by the shimering is an oasis, thus both elements are present in this illusion. I sure hope the dehydration/hallucination from heat component is not required, given that I experience this illusion nearly every day from June through early September when driving my air-conditioned car along baking Pensacola roads! :-) Claudia --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected] . To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13482.917fac06d4daae681dabfe964ca8c74e&n=T&l=tips&o=8879 (It may be necessary to cut and paste the above URL if the line is broken) or send a blank email to leave-8879-13482.917fac06d4daae681dabfe964ca8c...@fsulist.frostburg.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=8881 or send a blank email to leave-8881-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
