Postcard Exhibits: Exploratorium Exhibits. Young Women or Old? Words and Colors. Faces or Vases. Do you see the Phantom Spots?

Young Woman or Old? That depends on your interpretation. Young people tend to see a young girl; older people, an elderly lady. With effort, you can switch from one to the other: the young woman's chin becomes the old woman's nose; the old woman's mouth, a band on the neck of the young woman.

By American psychologist E.G. Boring

Words and Colors Read the image aloud--but rather than reading the words, say the color of the ink that was used to write each word. It's not easy; the written words have a suprisingly strong influence over the actual color.

Faces or Vases? The answer depends on what you perceive as the background--the black spaces or the white. Photographer Zeke Berman has created this intriguing collage using silhouettes of real people.

"Goblet Portraits" by Zeke Berman &copy1978

Do you see the Phantom Spots? You may see spots where the white lines intersect, but if you try looking right at one, it will disappear. The spots, of course, aren't really there. They're caused by the way your eyes respond to light and dark areas. When an area is surround by light, your eye compensates by "turning down" the brightness a bit, making you see darkened blobs. In this grid, the areas surrounded by the most white are at the intersections of the white lines. Since this phenomenon works best in your peripheral vision, the spots disappear when you look right at them.