A new study reveals the way we interpret this classic duck or rabbit picture provides an insight into our mindset.
If you see only a duck or a rabbit, but cannot see a combination of both animals, we might actually be more gullible than we realise.
Assistant professor Kyle Mathewson from the University of Alberta discovered those taking part in his study struggled to see a rabbit in the duck’s mouth without a pointer.
The academic claims this is evidence of how the brain struggles to interpret information if it’s presented without context, according to his paper published in the journal Perception.
He goes on to say that if you struggle to see both animals in the image you are more likely to fall for fake news, because you are more likely to believe what you see without considering the greater context.
Assistant professor in the Department of Psychology Kyle Mathewson believes this may explain why so many fall for fake news
What, the duck?
In Mathewson’s study, conducted at the University of Alberta, he presented the classic optical illusion to participants. Half could see a duck or rabbit, but not the other animal.
Mathewson found however he could help participants to see both with a simple cue.
When he asked participants if they could see a duck eating a rabbit, suddenly they could see whatever animal it was they couldn’t see before.
‘Your brain sort of zooms out and can see the big picture when the images are put into context with one another,’ he said.
Other cues, however, were not as effective. If participants we only told about the opposite interpretation, they couldn’t see it.
A similar thing happened when participants were told that the duck was ‘next to’ the rabbit: it made no difference to the result.
‘We should all be mindful of that when, for example, we’re reading a news story. We’re often interpreting and understanding information the way we want to see it,’ Mathewson said
Context is key
He said the ‘eating’ cue provides ‘context’ for the images, in a way the other cues didn’t. This helps the brain to see an interpretation it found impossible before.
If you found you could see both images with the simpler cues, you probably find it easier to understand information without a lot of context.
This has implications for the way we read the news.
If we are primed to see a news item in one way, we may find it impossible to incorporate other perspectives.
‘This study also demonstrates that we can control the brain’s way of interpreting information with just a few words or with an image,’ explained Mathewson.
‘We should all be mindful of this when we’re reading a news story,’ he said. ‘We’re often interpreting and understanding information the way we want to see it.’
‘What we discovered is that you have to come up with a way to disambiguate the scene, to allow the brain to distinguish between two alternatives.’