What you see first when looking at this picture? Do you see a rabbit? Do
you see a duck? But in reality, it is the speed with which you switch
between the two images of this optical illusion that determines how
creative you are.
This image is a classic optical illusion which exists for a hundred
years. This type of illusion goes back to 1899, when an American
psychologist named Joseph Jastrow used it in a research concerning the
perception and mental activity. The results of his research have shown
that people who manage to easily change their perception of the image
and switch from one animal to another have the brain that works faster
than the individuals who are slowly changing their perception or have
difficulties to switch between the rabbit and duck. The psychologist
therefore concluded that the more a person is creative, the more he is
able to quickly change the perception of the image from one animal to
another.
THUS, THIS CAN HELP YOU ASSESS YOUR LEVEL OF CREATIVITY BY DETERMINING:
1) What do you see first?
2) The speed at which you could see both animals
When it comes to optical illusions, it is mainly a question of vision,
brain and perception. It is a kind of conflict between the eye and the
brain that gives the sensation of seeing something other than what is
presented to the eye, both with regard to the form and the color, size
or movement of some objects. These illusions are due to the
contradiction of certain information collected by us and transmitted to
our brain which, after analysis, can’t be interpreted.
Spontaneous or specially designed, optical illusions show how the way we
look at our environment can be subjective and vary from one person to
another. Moreover, we find these illusions to test the effect of certain
stimuli against which our brain is unable to give a precise and unique
interpretation of what it sees.
Take for example the Necker Cube where you can’t decide which line is in
front of the other when they meet, the board of Adison which represents
a set of squares of different shades of gray while they are similar in
reality, and so on. The most widely known and spontaneous illusion is
that of the mirage where the visible image of a distant object appears
displaced from its true position, or when we seem to see a puddle of
water along the middle and it disappears gradually as one approaches it.
Various factors such as the change of perspectives, reflection of the
light, the will of our brain to find a familiar image, some social
taboos, needs or personal interests may influence our interpretation
and, by extension, alter the perception of the world around us.
Now that you know all this, repeat the test to find out your level of creativity!