Laurence Harris (1998) The Mars/sun Collision Illusion: Motion is not Visualizable
. Psycoloquy: 9(33) Cognitive Illusion (2)
Versions: ASCII formatted
Psycoloquy 9(33): The Mars/sun Collision Illusion: Motion is not Visualizable
THE MARS/SUN COLLISION ILLUSION: MOTION IS NOT VISUALIZABLE
IN TWO DIFFERENT REFERENCE FRAMES SIMULTANEOUSLY
Commentary on Margolis on Cognitive-Illusion
Laurence Harris
Psychology Department
York University
Toronto, Ontario
M3J 1P3, Canada
http://www.yorku.ca/dept/psych/people/faculty/harris/
harris@yorku.ca
Abstract
The illusory potential collision of Mars and the Sun when
considering the motions of the sun and planets as described by
Tycho Brahe arises because of an attempt to represent their motions
in two reference frames simultaneously. The ingenious demonstration
by Margolis (1998) removes the problem by providing a clear,
unambiguous reference frame in which to view the motions. This case
illustrates the danger of overlooking reference frames as a
fundamental aspect of cognitive coding.
Keywords
blindsight, cognitive illusion, mental image, persuasion,
psychology of science.
References
- Harris, L.R., Zikovitz, D.C., and Kopinska, A.E. (1998) Frames of reference with examples from driving and auditory localization. In: Harris, L.R. and Jenkin, M. (Eds.) Vision and Action. Cambridge University Press.
- Margolis, H. (1998) Tycho's Illusion: How It Lasted 400 Years, and What That Implies About Human Cognition. PSYCOLOQUY 9 (32) ftp://ftp.princeton.edu/pub/harnad/Psycoloquy/1998.volume.9/psyc.98.9.32.cognitive-illusion.1.margolis