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Introduction to Perception

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Introduction to Perception
Introduction

Visual illusions are a major tool in studying neural circuits, brain functions, construction of visual perception etc. The article that follows, discusses the correlation between visual illusions and characteristics of perception by brain that lead to them. The article is an overview of one of the most interesting fields of psychology.

For thorough discussion of the subject, it is necessary to understand and clarify the essential definitions and terminologies involved. The most vital term in this context is ILLUSION.

What are illusions?

“Visual illusions are subjective percepts that do not match the physical reality of the world.”
- Encyclopedia of Perception, edited by E. Bruce Goldstein, Sage Press

“An illusion is a distortion of the senses, revealing how the brain normally organizes and interprets sensory stimulation.”
- Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Types of Illusions- 1) Visual Illusions 2) Optical Illusions

“The terms visual illusion and optical illusion are often used interchangeably. Visual illusions demonstrate the ways in which the brain fails to recreate the physical world. However, unlike visual illusions, optical illusions do not result from brain processes. Instead, an optical illusion is the perception of a distortion that results from the physical properties of light, such as reflection and refraction, and/or the optics of the eye. “
- Visual Illusions, Pg. 1077

What is perception?

“Perception (from the Latin perceptio, percipio) is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to fabricate a mental representation through the process of transduction, which sensors in the body transform signals from the environment into encoded neural signals.”
- Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

As Wikipedia describes it, one of the most significant characteristics of Perception is- “Perception is not the passive receipt of these signals, but can be shaped by

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