Book chapter
The Aftereffects of Visual Illusions (Ponzo and Müller-Lyer): Hand-Dependent Effects in Sensorimotor Domain
We examined the effects of perceptual set on Ponzo and Müller-Lyer illusions, revealing the existence of the illusory aftereffect in a sensorimotor domain. Our findings demonstrate that the effects of exposure to illusory stimuli in a sensorimotor domain are hand dependent and that there is a correlation between the direction of the aftereffect and the variant of illusion as well as a correlation between the speed of the hand movements over the neutral stimuli during test trials and the type of visual illusion shown during the exposure phase. The results support our hypotheses that: (i) the different illusions have their origins at different stages of the processing of visual information and (ii) effects of illusory perceptual set depend on hemispheric-specific mental representations, which might be activated by the movements of the right or the left hand.
The article concerns R. Wollheim’s theory of twofoldness, the one of the most acclaimed analytical theories of pictorial representation. Wohhleim has pointed to the structural distinction of seeing pictures from seeing objects and situations face-to-face, thus proposing the theory of seeing-in and twofoldness. This conception presupposes the split, simultaneous seeing of the picture’s object and material surface. Considering the basic influences, features and shortcomings of Wollheim’s theory, author specifies the question of to what extent the scope of this theory is limited to artistic pictures. Alongside with this theory’s reconstruction and critique, the article provides its interpretation based on spatially-oriented definitions of twofoldness (B. Nanay, J. Kulvicki) coupled with the actualization of the distinction between representational content of a picture and its figurative content. The first one includes all spatial relations that can be seen in it, the second one – all that can be seen in it and described by non-abstract concepts. Wollheim reframed to apply this distinction to his notion on twofoldness. But it gives the possibility to bring out the convincing definition of twofoldness as the simultaneous visual experience of pictorial surface (i.e., some material object in viewer’s egocentric space) and of representational content (i.e., semantically active spatial relations which one sees in the picture). This interpretation may be considered a useful instrument for non-reductionist description of pictorial experience and pictures’ ontological duality, hence it is devoid of Wollheim’s psychologism while maintaining his focus on visuality. Moreover, it provides some opportunities for applying Wollheim’s theory beyond the contexts of analytical philosophy of pictures, thus connecting it to the problems of phenomenological and hermeneutic theories of image.
This paper deals with the perception of English language teaching profession at a secondary school level by university students who specialize in languages. Survey results demonstrate that though respondents find English teaching content appealing, the perceptions of unattractive low pay and high workload stop them from choosing a teaching career. Also, students are uninformed about labor conditions for school teachers. Internal motivation such as personal qualities and preferences is the primary incentive to choose English language teaching profession.
Recent events in Ukraine and Russia and the subsequent incorporation of Crimea into the Russian state, with the support of some circles of inhabitants of the peninsula, have shown that the desire of people to belong to the Western part of Europe should not automatically be assumed. Discussing different perceptions of the Ukrainian-Russian war in neighbouring countries, this book offers an analysis of the conflicts and issues connected with the shifting of the border regions of Russia and Ukraine to show how ’material’ and ’psychological’ borders are never completely stable ideas. The contributors – historians, sociologists, anthropologists and political scientists from across Europe – use an interdisciplinary and comparative approach to explore the different national and transnational perceptions of a possible future role for Russia.
This paper discusses design process as a creative activity along with conceptual correlations of the semiotics developed by Charles Sanders Peirce. The central aim of this paper is to examine one of the most important concepts in Peirce’s theory related to design praxis: the concept of abduction. Abduction is the driving force behind creation and a way of producing new ideas. Peirce’s original concept is fundamental in order to maintain constant commitment to innovation required by design. To transmit messages in a creative way it is more efficient to intensely work with associations by similarity in order to obtain signs rich in information and analogies. Design communicates by all its constituent elements: shape, function, colour, material, technique, technology, etc. Therefore, signs of design share peculiar values of artistic signs as well as those of communicative ones. The associated information is as much aesthetic (shape) as it is semantic (content). The appropriation of Peircean concepts contributes to the understanding of the creative process, which in turn is crucial for understanding new possibilities by means of design.
Plato’s interest in vision and the visual is multifaceted, and complex. Visual words and images are frequent in the dialogues along with many direct and indirect discussions of physiological, intellectual, and social vision. The increased emphasis in recent scholarship on the importance of visuality in Plato is a part of a ‘scopic turn,’ the effect of which was to ground interpretations of the history of western European philosophy and metaphysics in its entirety in certain optical premises.