Abstract
Preliminary study to investigate the Delboeuf illusion in ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta): Methodological Challenges
Highlights
The study of visual illusions in non-human animals has become a useful tool to compare visual perception in human and non-human animals
In some cases, no perception of illusory patterns was found (e.g., Solitaire illusion in chimpanzees and rhesus monkeys, Agrillo, Parrish, & Beran, 2014b; Müller-Lyer illusion in bamboo sharks, Fuss et al, 2014), and a perception of reversed illusions was reported, meaning that subjects were shown to perceive some sort of visual illusion but in the opposite direction to that typically perceived by human observers [e.g., Ebbinghaus illusion and Zöllner illusion in pigeons (Nakamura, Watanabe, & Fujita, 2008; Watanabe, Nakamura, & Fujita, 2011); Zöllner illusion in bantams (Watanabe, Nakamura, & Fujita, 2013)]
Control trials showed that dogs tried to maximize food intake, but no preference for either plate was shown in test trials with the illusory pattern, suggesting that dogs do not perceive the Delboeuf illusion (Miletto Petrazzini, Bisazza, & Agrillo, 2017)
Summary
The study of visual illusions in non-human animals has become a useful tool to compare visual perception in human and non-human animals. Control trials showed that dogs tried to maximize food intake, but no preference for either plate was shown in test trials with the illusory pattern, suggesting that dogs do not perceive the Delboeuf illusion (Miletto Petrazzini, Bisazza, & Agrillo, 2017) This conclusion was supported by another study in which dogs underwent an extensive training requiring size discrimination: Subjects proved able to discriminate between two circles differing in size in control trials, but they did not select one array more than chance in test trials with the illusory pattern, reinforcing the idea that the perceptual biases affecting size judgments might differ between humans, apes, monkeys and other mammals (Byosiere et al, 2017)
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