Richard Seigel

March 11, 2013

PSYCH 182: Illusions and the Brain

Zllner Illusion
 The Zllner illusion that we discussed in class is a simple arrangement of lines in a way

that our brains perceive as lines that are converging and diverging when in actuality they are

parallel. By placing long parallel lines equally spaced from each other and combining them with

hash marks that are alternating in direction on every other long line. The hash marks must be at a

steep angle touching the long line to make illusion work. The steeper the angle, the more

effective the illusion. This also goes for the large parallel lines; as they move from vertical or

horizontal to a diagonal, the illusion gains strength. This can be seen in real life as we saw in

lecture with the lamp and bookcase example. As the books are angled in alternating directions on

alternating shelves, gave the lamp a zigzag appearance. When the books were taken away from

the background, the lamp stood vertically straight, as the illusionary cues were no longer present.

The Zllner illusion can be found in everyday life, such as the bookcase example, which makes it

one of my favorite illusions that we covered in class.

For my project I bought a large white poster board from staples and decided to create my

own Zllner illusion using permanent markers. Using a pencil, I used a protractor and ruler to

carefully set the diagonal angle, width, and distance of each long parallel line. Making sure the

distance between each line is the same is crucial to the effect of the illusion. Too much distance

between the lines, or different measurements between each line can diminish the effect. Once I

finished all the large parallel lines, I then started on the small hash marks. Once again in pencil

and using the ruler and protractor to make sure that the lines were evenly distributed and at an

appropriate angle to get the best effect of the illusion. Once I was content with the angle and

placement of each line on my poster board, I proceeded to fill in the pencil markings with black

sharpie to give the illusion its final image and effect. The entire process took around 4-5 hours to

complete the illusion that is shown below.