You’ve probably seen the “duck or rabbit” optical illusion before. However, it seems that how this illusion is perceived may depend on what part of the year you are in.
It is not surprising that the perception of some optical illusions (or just objects in general) is dependent on biases and associations. For example, the perception of the following optical illusion may vary depending on your age. Sometimes we can see a young woman, sometimes an old woman.
An Australian study found that young people tend to see a younger woman first, while older respondents are much more likely to see an older woman first. The researchers conclude that “own age biases influence the initial interpretation of an image on a subconscious level.”
Similarly, the way you see the “duck or rabbit” image can be influenced by associations with the time of year.
In a study published in the journal Perceptual and Motor Skills, researchers say, “To examine the effect of motivational anticipation on perception, a vague drawing of a duck/rabbit was shown to 265 subjects at Easter and to 276 subjects in October.”
Subjects were interviewed upon entering the Zurich Zoo, and only those entering the zoo were included in the survey to avoid prejudice to any creatures they encountered during their visit. “To rule out further bias due to clouds resembling animal shapes, the skies were cloudless on both test days,” the researchers say.
The ambiguous drawing was most often identified as a rabbit at Easter, although in October it was perceived as a bird by most of the subjects. This bias effect of expectation on perception was observed for younger children (2 to 10 years old) and older subjects (11 to 93 years old).
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