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Monkeys fall for visual illusion
bbc ^ | 25 June 2009 | Victoria Gill

Posted on 06/26/2009 6:12:12 PM PDT by JoeProBono

A visual illusion has provided clues about how monkeys recognise faces. In a study, rhesus monkeys responded to the "Thatcher effect", a strange phenomenon that makes it difficult to detect changes in an upside down face.

The study, in the journal Current Biology, is the first to show this effect in non-human animals. The authors say this suggests that the ability to identify a familiar face may have evolved in an ancestor common to humans and rhesus monkeys. The Thatcher effect is named after Margaret Thatcher, because images of the former UK prime minister's face were used its first demonstration, in experiments with humans. A "thatcherised" image of a face has its mouth and eyes inverted relative to the rest of the face.

(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Pets/Animals
KEYWORDS: illusion; monkey
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1 posted on 06/26/2009 6:12:12 PM PDT by JoeProBono
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To: JoeProBono

Just reading the title, I thought this thread was going to be about all of the idiot RINOs that voted for the energy tax bill today.


2 posted on 06/26/2009 6:16:46 PM PDT by KoRn (Department of Homeland Security, Certified - "Right Wing Extremist")
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To: KoRn

Humans fall for buzzwords.


3 posted on 06/26/2009 6:20:49 PM PDT by omega4179 (Obamaphobe)
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To: JoeProBono

The study originally used pictures of Nancy Pelosi until PETA complained.


4 posted on 06/26/2009 6:25:40 PM PDT by Roscoe Karns
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To: KoRn

5 posted on 06/26/2009 6:29:41 PM PDT by JoeProBono (A closed mouth gathers no feet)
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To: Roscoe Karns

6 posted on 06/26/2009 6:31:25 PM PDT by JoeProBono (A closed mouth gathers no feet)
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To: All

7 posted on 06/26/2009 6:34:21 PM PDT by JoeProBono (A closed mouth gathers no feet)
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To: All

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2183493/posts


8 posted on 06/26/2009 6:36:54 PM PDT by JoeProBono (A closed mouth gathers no feet)
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To: JoeProBono

9 posted on 06/26/2009 6:37:54 PM PDT by Krankor ("Quit talking about the eight men, or there's gonna be nine.")
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To: Krankor

10 posted on 06/26/2009 6:43:20 PM PDT by JoeProBono (A closed mouth gathers no feet)
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To: All
Move back


11 posted on 06/26/2009 6:49:16 PM PDT by JoeProBono (A closed mouth gathers no feet)
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To: JoeProBono

I just want you to know—as I head for a chocolate martini—that the only thing keeping me from a headache with post #6 is I kept my head moving and eyes scanning.


12 posted on 06/26/2009 6:51:20 PM PDT by MHGinTN (Believing they cannot be deceived, they cannot be convinced when they are deceived.)
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To: JoeProBono

The Helen Thomas effect is useful as first aid for swallowing non corrosive poisons or preparation for a colonoscopy depending on individual reactions.


13 posted on 06/26/2009 6:59:21 PM PDT by AZ .44 MAG (A society that doesn't protect its children doesn't deserve to survive.)
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To: JoeProBono

I have monkey thoughts of this woman....
14 posted on 06/26/2009 6:59:56 PM PDT by SERKIT ("Blazing Saddles" explains it all.....)
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To: JoeProBono

15 posted on 06/26/2009 7:02:24 PM PDT by Krankor ("Quit talking about the eight men, or there's gonna be nine.")
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To: AZ .44 MAG
Photobucket
16 posted on 06/26/2009 7:02:25 PM PDT by BattleHymn
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To: JoeProBono

The Thatcher effect or Thatcher illusion is a phenomenon where it becomes difficult to detect local feature changes in an upside down face, despite identical changes being obvious in an upright face. It is named after British former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher on whose photograph the effect has been most famously demonstrated. This was originally created by Peter Thompson, who is a professor at the University of York, England


17 posted on 06/26/2009 7:06:05 PM PDT by Brother Cracker
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To: BattleHymn

Gurrrrrk gurrrrrk .gurrrrrk., gaaaaaaaaack!

Thanks. That was therapeutic.


18 posted on 06/26/2009 7:23:12 PM PDT by AZ .44 MAG (A society that doesn't protect its children doesn't deserve to survive.)
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To: Krankor

Who ever owns that foot needs to wear sox.


19 posted on 06/26/2009 7:58:39 PM PDT by Lockbar (March toward the sound of the guns.)
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To: Brother Cracker

20 posted on 06/26/2009 8:22:07 PM PDT by JoeProBono (A closed mouth gathers no feet)
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