"Hollow Mask Illusion" and Autism

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There is research that suggests some Autistic people do not see the "Hollow Mask Illusion" in the linked Video below:

http://scienceblogs.com/cognitivedaily/2009/07/some_insight_into_how_the_holl.php

Most people see the illusion of a normal face when the hollow mask is rotated.
I was wondering how many of you, if any, see the reality of a hollow face when the mask is rotated.

When I first saw this, I was like, "so you're turning a mask around 360 degrees, what's so special about that". I saw the face and then I saw the face from the back like it was inside out or something. Big whoop. After I read what I was supposed to see and watched again, the illusion worked. I don't know what that means, if it means anything, but my initial, unbiased test was that I saw the face normal then turn and become an inverted face.

I see the illusion no matter how hard I try not to.

+1

I didn't see it "correctly" until I was instructed on how to do so. And now I can't see it the way I did the first time no mater how hard I try. Two-minute conversion to neurotypicality for me!

was like half and half for me.... uncanny valley much...

It could be an example of the conscious mind simply overruling the unconscious mind. When we're told what we're supposed to see, then we see it, but we have to be told, it doesn't happen automatically. Isn't this part and parcel of AS? I can still see it both ways if I sort of bend my mind differently, but it's hard

Me, too. The funny thing is, I've read about the "hollow mask illusion" once before, about a year and a half ago. The article I read before was about the illusion apparently not working on schizophrenics. That article came with a different hollow mask video, and on that video, the inverted mask appeared hollow to me the entire time. I was completely freaked out, wondering if I could somehow be schizophrenic, and not know it.
I watched that video over and over, trying to see the illusion. I finally saw it, when I used the mouse to manipulate that thing on the bottom of the screen that tracks the progress of the video (can't think of what it's called) in order to slow the speed for the video.
With the video featured in this thread, I was only able to see the inverted face as a normal face when I slowed the speed. This time, I saw about half and half, as DemonAbyss10 described, or more accurately about 60/40 - 70/30 in favor of the inverted face. When I slowed the speed of the video using the technique described above, I saw the inverted face as a normal face the entire time.
Interesting how I seem to perceive things more "normally" when the speed is slowed. I assume it has something to do with my processing speed.
ETA- I just watched it again at normal speed, and realized that it's actually more like 85/15 in favor of seeing the face as inverted. It looked like a normal face for a second when it first started to rotate, then it changed. It's very odd how that happened.
ETA2- I was just watching the "Charlie Chaplin Optic Illusion" video, the one I saw after I first read about this phenomenon (it should be displayed as an option after the original video linked here concludes), and now the illusion is working on me at normal speed, now that I've watched that other video several times in a row, and watched this one a few times, too. Go figure. I don't understand my brain. Arrrggghhh! Must. Stop. Obsessing.

Last edited by OuterBoroughGirl on 04 Dec 2010, 9:03 pm, edited 2 times in total.

There is information in the link I provided that relates the inability to see the illusion to the condition of "face blindness", sometimes seen in Autism. Often, people that have this condition have difficulty recognizing differences in faces, sometimes to the extent where they have difficulty recognizing the faces of their friends and family.

There is also research that shows a relationship with not being able to see the illusion and the condition of Schizophrenia.

I think your ability to see the illusion after you understand what you are supposed to see is very interesting. I haven't heard of this happening, but it seems reasonable that some people may experience it both ways. If anyone who reads this thread has a similiar experience I would appreciate them noting it in a reply to this discussion.

Could someone explain how I should vote in the poll?

I seen a face and when it turned it was of course hollow on the inside. Isn't that simply the logic of how a hollow mask is? I don't understand what I'm supposed to be seeing.

EDIT: Okay I read it a few more times and now understand that I'm supposed to see a non-hollow face despite it rotating. So basically this is an example that I should be thinking in a deluded, NT manner.

For the record I am face-blind. I'm guessing normal people see faces everywhere and easily.

edit:nevermind i saw the illusion after a few more times. but i have to try otherwise its just a hollowed mask to me

Last edited by oat on 04 Dec 2010, 9:54 pm, edited 2 times in total.

I saw the hollow face effect only when the face began to turn and then it quickly reverts to a normal face. In re: to face blindness, I have no trouble with that, although sometimes I see people and don't know where I know them from, even if I see them on a fairly routine basis, like a cashier at the grocery store or a bank teller.

I didn't see it in the 3D animation, no matter how many times I saw it even after this video in which I did see it:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_Qwp2GdB1M&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

Cheerfully,
Wallourdes

So, after not looking at it for a while, I tried looking at it again and I see the hollow face easier again. I can consciously "toggle" it back and forth too, which is kind of neat.

I picked the second option, but had a sort of strange experience. The mask looked convex at first, then as it turned it looked hollow, until it had turned 180 degrees, and then it seemed to morph into a convex face. It made my skin crawl. Then as it moved past 180, it turned hollow again. Just a tiny bit to the left or right and it was hollow, only at 180 was it not!

I saw it staying convex no matter what I did, but when I held a hand in front of it so I could only see the top, it was STILL convex... so it may not be cues from the face.

Are the three images that aren't faces actually convex or concave?

Pretty sure those are all concave cake pans. The first one, the bear, I can see both ways. The pineapple and star looked concave from the start, but then I've seen cake pans like that before because a family friend makes odd shaped cakes.