Scientific Basis of the Spinning Silhouette Optical Illusion

Remember the optical illusion of the spinning silhouette which spins clockwise or counterclockwise? Popular e-quizzes claim that your perception of which way the silhouette spins is indicative of whether you’re left- or right-brained. Well, leave it to scientists to bust that myth:

Niko Troje says that a reported preference for seeing the silhouette spinning clockwise rather than counter-clockwise is dependent upon the angle at which the viewer is seeing the image. [...]

Dr. Troje and his team found that a view-from-above bias (VFA) is what makes the viewer prone to seeing the silhouette in a certain way, not one’s personality or whether the viewer is left- or right-brained. When shown the silhouette illusion, the study’s 24 participants most often reported that the woman was spinning counter-clockwise if viewed from above, and clockwise if viewed from below. Thus, the viewing angle causes the difference in perception.

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