“This is supposed to happen because our brains are very nicely arranged to recognize faces in an upright position,” said Dr. Julie Smith explained.
London-based clinical psychologist Dr. Julie Smith recently shared a series of unsettling photos that demonstrate something called the Thatcher effect. His video went mega viral with over 33 million views:
Dr. BuzzFeed Talked to Smith, who explained what the Thatcher Effect – also known as the Thatcher Illusion – is. “It’s a phenomenon in which there is a change in facial features that are very obvious in a straight face. It’s more difficult to identify when the face is sideways.”
Dr. Smith said the photographs are vertical so that the eyes and mouth vert are also flipped. He added, “Those changes seem obvious when we look at the photograph in the right way. But, when it is presented side-by-side, we don’t see anything wrong.”
The Thatcher effect was first demonstrated by Peter Thompson, a professor of psychology, in 1980. In the original study, he used images of then-British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, which is why he called it the Thatcher effect.
“This is supposed to happen because our brain faces are also very nicely connected to recognize faces in the state. This enables us to recognize many faces that are very easily identical to unique individuals. It has been speculated that cognitive processes Includes facial recognition. As much as the features depend on the structural relationship between features. For example, the configuration between the eyes, nose and mouth, “he explained.
Dr. The Thatcher effect is an enjoyable illusion to share with your friends, Smith said. “As a psychologist, I’m fascinated by psychology and I love sharing that fascination with people around the world in a fun way.” And it’s clear that people are interested in what she shares! Her latest spinning silhouette has more than 7 million votes:
To see Dr. Smith’s psychology content, you can follow him on Ticket OK or Instagram.
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