Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Size Estimates in Ebbinghaus Illusion in Adults and Children of Different Age

  • Published:
Human Physiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Psychophysical experiments were performed with the participation of 297 subjects (adults and 6- to 17-year-old children and adolescents). Perception of the size of a central stimulus surrounded by other stimuli was studied. Subjects had to estimate the size of a circle with a diameter of 22 angular min, which was surrounded by four similar figures with a diameter of either 11 or 44 angular min at a distance of either 11 or 33 angular min. The misperception of the stimulus size was dependent on the subject's age, the distance between the circles, and the size of the flanking circles. The smaller flanking circles located at any distance produced size underestimation in younger children; these circles led to size overestimation in case of their location at a short distance in most adults and adolescents. The larger flanking circles produced underestimation in all age groups, but, in adults, unlike children, this illusion decreased with increasing distance. The illusion mechanism and its possible connection with selective attention are discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

REFERENCES

  1. Bondarko, V.M. and Danilova, M.V., The Estimation of the Circle Size in the Ebbinghaus Illusion, Sensornye Systemy, 2000, vol. 14, no 4, p. 277.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Massaro, D.W. and Anderson, N.H., Judgmental Model of the Ebbinghaus Illusion, J. Experim. Psychol., 1971,vol. 89, no 1, p. 147.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Girgus, J.S., Coren, S., and Agdern, M., The Interrelationship between the Ebbinghaus and Delboeuf Illusions, J. Experim. Psychol., 1972, vol. 95, no. 2, p. 453.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Ehrenstein, W.H. and Hamada, J., Structural Factors of Size Contract in the Ebbinghaus Illusion, New Horizonsin the Study of Gestalt Perception, Sumi, S. and Noguchi, K., Eds., Japan: Keio Univ., 1996, p. 158.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Kovacs, I., Human Development of Perceptual Organization, Vision Res., 2000, vol. 40, nos. 10-12, p. 1301.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Weintraub, D.J. and Schneck, M.K., Fragments of Delboeuf and Ebbinghaus Illusions: Contour/Context Explorations of Misjudged Circle Size, Percept. Psychophysics, 1986, vol. 40, no 3, p. 147.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Girgus, J.S. and Coren, S., Assimilation and Contrast Illusion: Differences in Plasticity, Percept. Psychophysics, 1982, vol. 32, no 6, p. 555.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pavlov Institute of Physiology, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, nab. Makarova 6, 199034, Russia

    V. M. Bondarko & L. A. Semenov

Authors
  1. V. M. Bondarko
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. L. A. Semenov
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Bondarko, V.M., Semenov, L.A. Size Estimates in Ebbinghaus Illusion in Adults and Children of Different Age. Human Physiology 30, 24–30 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:HUMP.0000013760.85499.17

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:HUMP.0000013760.85499.17

Keywords

Search

Navigation