A PERSISTENT COGNITIVE ILLUSION AMONG EXPERTS IN THE PSYCHOBIOLOGY OF VISION
Commentary on Margolis on Cognitive-Illusion

<hr> Gerald S. Wasserman (1998) A Persistent Cognitive Illusion Among Experts in the Psychobiology of Vision. Psycoloquy: 9(43) Cognitive Illusion (8)<br>Versions: <a href=ftp://www.cogsci.soton.ac.uk/pub/psycoloquy//1998.volume.9/psyc.98.9.43.cognitive-illusion.8.wasserman>ASCII</a> <a href=http://www.cogsci.ecs.soton.ac.uk/cgi/psyc/newpsy?9.43>formatted</a><hr>
<TITLE>Psycoloquy 9(43): A Persistent Cognitive Illusion Among Experts in the Psychobiology of Vision</TITLE>
<H1>A PERSISTENT COGNITIVE ILLUSION AMONG EXPERTS IN THE PSYCHOBIOLOGY OF VISION<br>
Commentary on Margolis on Cognitive-Illusion<br>
</H1>
<ADDRESS>Gerald S. Wasserman<br>
Department of Psychological Sciences<br>
Purdue University<br>
West Lafayette IN 47907-1365<br>
USA<br>
http://www.psych.purdue.edu/~codelab/home.html <br>
<br>
King-Leung Kong<br>
Department of Psychological Sciences<br>
Hong Kong University<br>
Hong Kong<br>
P.R. CHINA<br>
<br>
<a href=mailto:codelab@psych.purdue.edu>codelab@psych.purdue.edu</a> 
<a href=mailto:kkong@hkucc.hku.hk>kkong@hkucc.hku.hk</a> 
</ADDRESS>
<P><H1>Abstract</H1><BLOCKQUOTE>
Margolis (1998a,b) has offered the four-century
persistence of Tycho's illusion among expert astronomers and
historians of science as evidence that cognitive illusions cannot
be treated solely as effects produced by clever experimenters
working with naive subjects. It is therefore relevant that another
cognitive illusion has persisted for the better part of a century
among experts who compare visual neurophysiology with visual
sensation. In this case, a powerful illusory correlation leads
experts to conclude that neural onset transients enhance the
perceived brightness of brief flashes. The illusion is partially
dissipated by the provision of a visual display which contains no
evidence of brightness enhancement even though it clearly contains
neural onset transients. Despite exegesis of the basis of this
cognitive illusion in prominent publication venues, and despite
authoritative endorsement of the soundness of the exegesis, this
powerful cognitive illusion continues to affect expert thinking.
Moreover, because the dissipation is only partial in this
particular case, some degree of cognitive isolation exists between
the two ways of comprehending these data. Hence this
psychobiological case not only provides another illustration of the
power of certain habits of mind to dominate other such habits, but
the partial character of the dissipation provides more generality
for Margolis's position.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P><H1>Keywords</H1><i>
blindsight, cognitive illusion, mental image, persuasion,
psychology of science.
</i>
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</UL>