Fig. 1
From: The illusion of absence: how a common feature of magic shows can explain a class of road accidents
Top panels: A demonstration of the illusion of absence. Although all the objects in panel (a) are hidden behind the violet ”bubbled” occluder in panel (b), it is curiously difficult to imagine that they are really there. Bottom panels: A demonstration of amodal completion. The two fingers are experienced as a single long finger when they are partially occluded by the box (panel d). Note that this illusory impression persists even though it is quite absurd and contradicts your conscious knowledge. Top row adapted from The Other Side of Magic: The Psychology of Perceiving Hidden Things by V. Ekroll, B. Sayim and J. Wagemans, 2017, Perspectives on Psychological Science, 12(1), p. 98. Copyright (2017) by SAGE Publications. Reprinted with permission. Bottom row adapted from “Never repeat the same trick twice—unless it is cognitively impenetrable” by V. Ekroll, E. De Bruyckere, L. Vanwezemael and J. Wagemans, (2018), i-Perception, 9(6), p. 3, used under CC BY