which way?

rh · Post by rh » Fri Oct 12, 2007 9:25 am

which way is she turning?
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/ ... 61,00.html

crookedtune · Post by **crookedtune** » Fri Oct 12, 2007 9:33 am

I could concentrate better if she wore a tutu.

Innocent Bystander · Post by **Innocent Bystander** » Fri Oct 12, 2007 9:34 am

I see her turning Clockwise, which according to them is a right-brain (imaginative) response. I would have expected a left-brain (logical) response, to be honest. I can't get the image to rotate in the other direction. Mainly because of the shadow at the bottom.

crookedtune · Post by **crookedtune** » Fri Oct 12, 2007 9:40 am

I can't make her change direction either, but if I look away and back again, she often has. Must have been a difficult child to raise.

emmline · Post by **emmline** » Fri Oct 12, 2007 9:47 am

Here is my experience:
Mostly she turns clockwise, but every so often she switches mid-spin and starts going counter-clockwise.

I had to test this by getting my daughter to look at the same time. I was curious to know if it really was strictly my perception when the spinning girl changed spins, or whether something in the image actually changed.

Based on the both of us, it's in our heads. Olivia insisted the girl was spinning counter when I insisted she was clockwising, and the points of change we perceived did not jibe at all.

Not surprisingly, if the text is believable, I am more right than left-brained, but tend to straddle the fence quite a bit. This is an accurate picture how I seem to be, based on other measures.

Innocent Bystander · Post by **Innocent Bystander** » Fri Oct 12, 2007 10:03 am

I'm familiar with a number of "gestalt" images, and expected to be able to change this one. But I can't. And I can't finish my Sudoku puzzles.

I'm losing the left side of my brain. Aaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrgggggh!

I.D.10-t · Post by **I.D.10-t** » Fri Oct 12, 2007 10:09 am

It seems to me the easiest way to have the image change directions is to look at the stationary ankle. When the foot seems to be going in a different direction, shift your vision slowly to the rest.

Ronbo · Post by **Ronbo** » Fri Oct 12, 2007 10:11 am

As far as I can see, she is turning to her right. Which, if you were looking top down, would be clockwise, if you are looking up, then it is anticlockwise. I couldn't make it do a damn thing, except to wish she wasn't in shadow.

The Weekenders · Post by **The Weekenders** » Fri Oct 12, 2007 10:16 am

They're screwing with our heads. They changed the direction. Why do I say that? Because four times in a row, my workmate and I saw it change direction at the exact same moment. Why would that be, we are not twins, fercrynoutloud.... Different age, different gender, different tastes in many many ways, and we both said "see, it just changed."

Humbug. Must be April 1.

emmline · Post by **emmline** » Fri Oct 12, 2007 10:22 am

The Weekenders wrote:They're screwing with our heads. They changed the direction. Why do I say that? Because four times in a row, my workmate and I saw it change direction at the exact same moment. Why would that be, we are not twins, fercrynoutloud.... Different age, different gender, different tastes in many many ways, and we both said "see, it just changed."

Humbug. Must be April 1.

Yeah, Weeks, that's exactly what I was trying to do but we perceived the change point and the direction differently.

I can "make" her switch to counterclockwise, with focus, but she will inevitably pause(well, it looks like she's pausing,) in a few seconds and switch back to clockwise.

Does anyone mostly see her spinning counterclockwise?(as view from the top, or as if you were spinning with her, you'd turn to the left.)

Congratulations · Post by **Congratulations** » Fri Oct 12, 2007 10:28 am

I cannot for the life of me make her spin counterclockwise.

Walden · Post by **Walden** » Fri Oct 12, 2007 10:31 am

Congratulations wrote:I cannot for the life of me make her spin counterclockwise.

It's because she is spinning clockwise.

djm · Post by **djm** » Fri Oct 12, 2007 10:35 am

At first she was only turning counter-clockwise for me. I couldn't figure out how to see her going clockwise. Then I ran my eyes from her head down to her toes. As soon as I saw her feet, she was instantly turning clockwise. From that point on, I couldn't make her turn back to counter-clockwise again.

Then I started to read the text at the left that describes the various left-brain/right-brain attributes. I noticed that, at the edge of my vision, she was turning counter-clockwise again.

So that is how to get her to change direction: look at her from the sides or from the top or from the bottom. Changing the angle of your view should enable you to change her (apparent) direction of rotation.

Oh, yeah? Well, it worked for me.

djm

emmline · Post by **emmline** » Fri Oct 12, 2007 10:50 am

One of the user comments after the article says this, which sounds very reasonable:

Very interesting. I can only see it clockwise. As a scientist who investigates laterality issues I can say authoritatively, though, that the there isn't any evidence supporting the text provided with the animation, including the statement that the direction of perceived motion indicates some kind of global lateralized cognitive style (Boles has pretty well debunked that kind of approach). Also, while the two hemispheres very clearly have differentiated functions (this has been demonstrated even in birds and frogs and fish), how to characterize the differences is a matter of ongoing debate. Several of the items in the list are simply incorrect, as far as the scientific literature goes. For example, laterality research strongly indicates that knowledge of both object names and object functions are left-lateralized. The popular idea that the left hemisphere is logical and the right hemisphere is emotional is also generally discredited. Oddly enough, the text exactly reverses a theoretical argument I currently have under peer review which is that the left hemisphere is more future-oriented and the right hemisphere is more past-oriented.

crookedtune · Post by **crookedtune** » Fri Oct 12, 2007 11:33 am

When you perceive her spinning clockwise, it's her right leg that is lifted. When counter, it's the left leg lifted.

When she spins clockwise, the foot shadow appears when she's facing you. When counter, it appears when she has her back to you.

In both cases, the moving foot shadow doesn't seem consistent with any placing of the light source.

With practice, you can pretty much change her direction at will by moving your gaze around.

Very interesting animation!