The disparity between the ongoing use, the overall positive attitudes towards criminal profiling and the lack of empirical evidence for its validity is also referred to as criminal profiling illusion. Associated risks for society range from misled police investigations, hindered apprehensions of the actual offender(s), and wrongful convictions of innocent citizens to mistrust in the police and their methods. Research on potential explanations to the Criminal Profiling Illusion is still in its infancy but assumes that people receive and adopt incorrect messages favouring the accuracy and utility of criminal profiling. One suggested mechanism through which individuals may acquire such incorrect messages is the consumption of fictional crime-related media which typically present criminal profiling as highly accurate, operationally useful and leading to the apprehension of the offender(s). By having some relation to reality but presenting a distorted picture of criminal profiling, fictional crime-related media may blur the line between fiction and reality thereby increasing the risk for the audience to mistake fiction for fact. Adopting a cultivation approach adequate to examine media effects on one’s perception, the present study is the first to investigate whether the perception of criminal profiling may be influenced by the consumption of fictional crime-related media based on a correlation study. Although the results provide support for the assumption that misperceptions of criminal profiling are widely spread in the general population and associated with the consumption of fictional crime-related media, the found cultivation effects are small and must be interpreted cautiously. Considering that even small effects may have the potential to influence real-life decision-making, they may still be relevant and affect the society at large.

Det sägs att Sverige är världens mest sekulariserade land, ett påstående som kan diskuteras och som väcker frågor kring vad som går förlorat nar vi lämnar religionen bakom oss. Även om allt färre är religiosa i ordets mer traditionella bemärkelse, finns det ett stort behov av att hålla ceremonier. Uppkomsten av spirituella fenomen i vår samtid hintar om en längtan efter något slags återsakralisering. Genom att bearbeta den universella betydelsen av troskeln, placerad mitt emellan kaos och kosmos, har projektets huvudsyfte varit att skapa en ceremoniell byggnad och en askspridnings­plats som verkar bortom konfessionella gränser. Ambitionen är att projektet ska bidra med tyngd, stämning och värdighet, kvaliteter som ofta går forlorade när ceremonier flyttar ut ur det religiosa rummet. Byggnademas arkitektoniska laddning består av illusioner, sekvenser och symboler. Tre teman som kombinerats med mer traditionella, men bearbetade arkitektoniska kvaliteter i sakrala rum for att skapa relevans i vår sekulariserade värld. För att avgränsa ämnet har byggnaderna utformats med fokus på ceremonier for avsked.

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<p dir="ltr">The Black Hole Illusion (BHI) is a nighttime aviation landing illusion where pilots overestimate their descent angle. The BHI occurs when only the outline of the runway is visible to pilots, usually at night with little illumination of the environment. This illusion is dangerous, as it causes pilots to perceive themselves at a high descent angle; and they compensate by flying lower, resulting in a possible crash into the ground or obstacles before the runway. A common interpretation of the BHI is that it represents a perceptual illusion, where the descent angle is misperceived. We quantitatively analyzed two different perceptual theories that predict pilots perceived descent angle during the BHI experience; and we also quantitatively analyzed another perceptual theory to apply during nighttime approaches to alleviate the disorientation experienced from the BHI. Of the first two theories, Perrone's algorithm (Perrone, 1983) predicts that the magnitude of the illusion should vary with runway width/length in nighttime conditions, compared to no illusion and no effect of runway width/length in daylight conditions. On the other hand, the eye-level algorithm (adapted from the work in Galanis, Jennings, and Beckett (1998) and Robinson, Williams, and Biggs (2020)) predicts that there should be no effect of runway width/length in either nighttime or daylight conditions. The last algorithm, the focus of expansion algorithm (adapted from the theory of Gibson (1950) and Gibson (1966)), details a way that pilots can obtain the landing position of their aircraft without estimating their angle of descent, thereby alleviating possible disorientation experienced during nighttime approaches. Additionally, we conducted three empirical studies: The first two aimed at testing Perrone's algorithm and the eye-level algorithm; and the third aimed at testing the focus of expansion algorithm. Across the first two empirical studies, we did demonstrate a BHI for the nighttime evaluations of descent angle; but the data did not support either algorithm. In the third empirical study, the data did not support the focus of expansion algorithm; however, we found that participants were more accurate with estimating the aircraft's landing position when the landing position was closer to the beginning of the runway. Overall, we conclude that the BHI may reflect general disorientation in conditions with limited information.</p>

No / Purpose: Does a physiologically plausible model of the retinal ganglion cell (RGC) receptive field (RF) predict the spatial tuning properties of the Hermann Grid Illusion (HGI)? Methods: The spatial tuning of a single intersection HGI was measured psychophysically in normal observers using a nulling technique at different vertical grid line luminances. We used a model based upon a standard RGC RF, balanced to produce zero response under uniform illumination, to predict the response of the model cell to the equivalent range of stimulus conditions when placed in either the 'street' or the 'intersection' of a single element of a Hermann grid. We determined the equivalent of the nulling luminance required to balance these responses and minimise the HGI. Results: The model and the psychophysical data demonstrated broad spatial tuning with similarly shaped tuning profiles and similar strengths of illusion. The line width at the peak of the model tuning function was around twice the model RGC RF centre size. Modelling the psychophysical functions gave RF centre sizes smaller than expected from human anatomical evidence but similar to that suggested by primate physiological evidence. In the model and psychophysically the strength of the illusion varied with the luminance of the vertical grid line when HGI strength was expressed as a Michelson nulling contrast, but this effect was smaller when HGI strength was expressed as a nulling luminance. Conclusions: The shape, width, height and position of the spatial tuning function of the HGI can be well modelled by a RGC RF based model. The broad tuning of these functions does not appear to require a broad range of different cell sizes either in the retina or later in the visual pathway.

No / Motion is known to distort visual space, producing illusory mislocalizations for flashed objects. Previously, it has been shown that when a stationary bar is flashed in the proximity of a moving stimulus, the position of the flashed bar appears to be shifted in the direction of nearby motion. A model consisting of predictive projections from the sub-system that processes motion information onto the sub-system that processes position information can explain this illusory position shift of a stationary flashed bar in the direction of motion. Based on this model of motion¿position interactions, we predict that the perceived position of a flashed stimulus should also be attracted towards a nearby moving stimulus. In the first experiment, observers judged the perceived vertical position of a flash with respect to two horizontally moving dots of unequal contrast. The results of this experiment were in agreement with our prediction of attraction towards the high contrast dot. We obtained similar findings when the moving dots were replaced by drifting gratings of unequal contrast. In control experiments, we found that neither attention nor eye movements can account for this illusion. We propose that the visual system uses predictive influences from the motion processing sub-system on the position processing sub-system to overcome the temporal limitations of the position processing system.

Yes / Many visual effects are believed to be processed at several functional and anatomical levels of cortical processing. Determining if and how the levels contribute differentially to these effects is a leading problem in visual perception and visual neuroscience. We review and analyze a combination of extant psychophysical findings in the context of neurophysiological and brain-imaging results. Specifically using findings relating to visual illusions, crowding, and masking as exemplary cases, we develop a theoretical rationale for showing how relative levels of cortical processing contributing to these effects can already be deduced from the psychophysically determined functions relating respectively the illusory, crowding and masking strengths to the contrast of the illusion inducers, of the flankers producing the crowding, and of the mask. The wider implications of this rationale show how it can help to settle or clarify theoretical and interpretive inconsistencies and how it can further psychophysical, brain-recording and brain-imaging research geared to explore the relative functional and cortical levels at which conscious and unconscious processing of visual information occur. Our approach also allows us to make some specific predictions for future studies, whose results will provide empirical tests of its validity.

Yes / Falls on stairs are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in elderly people. A simple safety strategy to avoid tripping on stairs is increasing foot clearance. We determined whether a horizontal–vertical illusion superimposed onto stairs to create an illusory perceived increase in stair-riser height would increase stair ascent foot clearance in older participants. Methods.: Preliminary experiments determined the optimum parameters for the horizontal–vertical illusion. Fourteen older adults (mean age ± 1 SD, 68.5 ± 7.4 years) ascended a three-step staircase with the optimized version of the horizontal–vertical illusion (spatial frequency: 12 cycles per stair riser) positioned either on the bottom or top stair only, or on the bottom and top stair simultaneously. These were compared to a control condition, which had a plain stair riser with edge highlighters positioned flush with each stair-tread edge. Foot clearance and measures of postural stability were compared across conditions. Results.: The optimized illusion on the bottom and top stair led to a significant increase in foot clearance over the respective stair edge, compared to the control condition. There were no significant decreases in postural stability. Conclusions.: An optimized horizontal–vertical visual illusion led to significant increases in foot clearance in older adults when ascending a staircase, but the effects did not destabilize their postural stability. Inclusion of the horizontal–vertical illusion on raised surfaces (e.g., curbs) or the bottom and top stairs of staircases could improve stair ascent safety in older adults.

Parmi les réalisateurs, producteurs et acteurs de Bombay, Raj Kapoor (1924-1988) est certainement l’un des plus célèbres et des plus originaux, qu’il s’agisse de son œuvre ou de sa personnalité. Sa vaste filmographie qui rassemble quelques-uns des plus beaux mélodrames du cinéma populaire hindi reste méconnue en France. Proches du peuple, ces mélodrames révèlent un phénomène présent dans différentes situations et sous différents aspects : le sentiment d’incompréhension.Ce travail de recherche, inspiré par la lecture de Peter Brooks et Stanley Cavell sur le mélodrame, se donne pour but de montrer que les mélodrames de Kapoor sont porteurs d’un concept particulier qui les unit et les définit comme un genre cinématographique propre que nous appellerons « mélodrame de l’incompréhension ». Le sentiment de ne pas comprendre ou d’être « mal compris » qui hante ces mélodrames se cristallise non seulement à partir des enjeux esthétiques, historiques, politiques et culturels mais aussi des événements personnels.S’appuyant sur l’esthétique du mélodrame, Kapoor multiplie la présence métaphorique du héros aveugle qui pointe la difficulté ou l’impossibilité de communiquer et fait grief à la société de ne pas le comprendre. Inscrivant sa souffrance dans un contexte plus large, le mélodrame kapoorien dépasse les frontières du drame intimiste pour s’élever au niveau du peuple, voire de la nation, selon certains auteurs. Pour amplifier le phénomène d’incompréhension, le mélodrame utilise le malentendu, la méprise, l’ignorance, la confusion, l’illusion, etc. au point que ces difficultés de communication paraissent très clairement représenter des éléments structurels marqués par la réflexion de Kapoor sur l’incompréhension, teintée de mélancolie et de tristesse. / Among Bombay’s directors, producers and actors, Raj Kapoor (1924-1988) is certainly one of the best known and most original both for his work and for his personality. His vast filmography which constitutes a collection of some of the most beautiful melodramas of Hindi popular cinema remains virtually unknown in France. Close to the people, these melodramas reveal a theme which is universally present, illustrated in a variety of situations and different lights. It is the phenomenon of incomprehension.The present work, inspired by a reading of Peter Brooks and Stanley Cavell on the subject of melodrama, aims to show that Kapoor’s melodramas treat this specific theme which unites them and allows them to be defined as a distinct cinematic genre here termed "melodrama of incomprehension." The feeling of inability to understand or of being misunderstood which haunts these melodramas is gleaned not only from aesthetic, historical, political and cultural subjects but also from personal experience.Drawing on the aesthetics of melodrama, Kapoor multiplies the metaphorical presence of the blind hero illustrating the overwhelming difficulty of communication, and blames society for a lack of understanding. Extending the resulting suffering to a wider context, Kapoor’s melodrama transcends the bounds of individual drama, reaching out to the level of the people as a whole, indeed to the entire nation according to some authors. To amplify the phenomenon of incomprehension, his melodrama uses misunderstanding, scorn, ignorance, confusion, illusion, and more. Kapoor does this to a point at which these difficulties of communication clearly represent identifiable structural elements in his portrayal of incomprehension imbued with melancholy and sadness.