Friday, June 24, 2016

Do We See With Our Ears?


Often times my dad and I will watch a show called “Brain Games” together after work. Each episode this show explores new ways that our brains can deceive our senses. It was funny because the night prior to reading about the McGurk effect I learned about the same concept via Brain Games! On this episode a video is shown of two balls either colliding or bouncing off of one another. I couldn’t figure out why when shown two different clips of the same occurrence, was I seeing two different things. Was it because I knew two answers existed or was something different about each image, one perhaps slightly altered? I never would have thought the difference lay within the sound being played along with the image. It turns out in one case a “boink” sound was played as the balls came together on screen, causing me to see the mas bouncing off one another. I assumed this happened because of the familiarity I have with a “boink” sound as a result of bouncing. When the sound was taking away I saw them pass through one another. The change in perception was all due to what I heard not what I saw; causing me to realize that I "see with my ears" as well as my eyes!

 I have attached a clip from this episode if anyone would like to check it out! http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/brain-games/videos/seeing-with-your-eyes/

2 comments:

  1. It is amazing how this books connects to ordinary things that are in our life everyday.For example, perception plays a huge part in how we communicate with other people. This can be done through sight, touch and even smell! If you have the same posture as another person, the other person becomes more open to your ideas and thoughts. It is very interesting on how various forms of perception affect communication.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love that show! It is awesome that you got to see something you learned in class on television! It is so interesting how what we hear affects what we see, and we don't even realize it. Thanks for the clip, I will definitely check it out!

    ReplyDelete