Ellis R R, Lederman S J
Department of Psychology, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
Perception. 1998;27(2):193-201. doi: 10.1068/p270193.
Theories of weight illusions have traditionally emphasised either the primary contribution of low-level sensory cues or the role of expectation based on knowledge and past experience. Current models of weight illusions lean quite strongly towards sensory-based interpretations. The current experiment raises a problem for such approaches by generating a weight illusion that is difficult to explain other than by the participants' knowledge. Golfers (who expect a weight difference between ball types) reliably judged practice golf balls to weigh more than real golf balls of the same weight. In contrast, non-golfers (who expect no weight difference between ball types) judged practice and real balls of equal weigh to weight the same. Furthermore, within the group of golfers, those who expected the weights of the two ball types to be the most discrepant prior to lifting tended to report the strongest illusions subsequent to lifting. Because there is no low-level sensory cue between ball types that on its own would signal a weight difference, the current finding suggests that there is a top-down component to weight perception that is based on experience with specific objects.
传统上，重量错觉理论要么强调低层次感官线索的主要作用，要么强调基于知识和过往经验的预期所起的作用。当前的重量错觉模型相当强烈地倾向于基于感官的解释。而当前的实验对这类方法提出了一个问题，因为它产生了一种重量错觉，若不考虑参与者的知识，很难对此做出解释。高尔夫球手（他们预期不同类型的球重量有差异）可靠地判断练习用高尔夫球比同样重量的真实高尔夫球更重。相比之下，非高尔夫球手（他们预期不同类型的球重量无差异）则判断等重的练习用球和真实球重量相同。此外，在高尔夫球手群体中，那些在拿起球之前预期两种球的重量差异最大的人，在拿起球之后往往报告说错觉最强烈。由于不同类型的球之间不存在能单独表明重量差异的低层次感官线索，当前的研究结果表明，重量感知存在一个基于对特定物体经验的自上而下的成分。
