THE BICYCLES IN FRONT OF EMERSON HALL.

THE BICYCLES IN FRONT OF EMERSON HALL. Some years ago, I read about a psychology experiment which involved showing subjects blown up photographs, blown up to the point where they appeared as random collections of dots. The resolution was then gradually increased to the point where each subject could correctly identify that the photograph showed bicycles in front of Emerson Hall in Harvard Yard. The catch to the experiment was that some subjects were asked to give a hypothesis as to what the picture showed at a very early stage. Others were allowed to wait. The subjects who guessed early were unable to identify the bicycles at a resolution where it was obvious to any subject coming to the photo fresh that these were bicycles. The experiment showed that we see by a process of forming hypotheses and drawing inferences, but also that a false inference or hypothesis can interfere with the process of seeing.