The triangles that tell a story
Watch the animation, then say what you saw.
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Try the experiment: your result will appear here, next to what most people do.
What just happened (read it after the experiment)
What most people do: In the 1944 study, 33 people out of 34 told a story.
There are only geometric shapes moving around. Yet almost everyone sees a chase, a bully, a couple, an escape.
In 1944, Fritz Heider and Marianne Simmel showed this short film to students: out of 34, only one described shapes; all the others told a story, with characters and intentions.
Your brain looks for intentions everywhere. That is what lets you understand other people, and cry at the movies.
More experiments
Sources
- Fritz Heider and Marianne Simmel, “An experimental study of apparent behavior,” American Journal of Psychology, 1944.