A B O U T   T H E   F I G U R E S
(A N D   O T H E R   C U R R E N T   P R O J E C T S)

An example of complementary neon color spreading.
The segments that form the central diamond are perfectly achromatic (grey). They appear greenish because green is the color complementary to that of the external lines (magenta).

If you wish to learn more about complementary neon color spreading, have a look at

Chromatic induction in neon colour spreading.
da Pos, O., and Bressan, P.
Vision Research, 43, 697-706 (2003) Abstract & PDF 

The Christmas wall-of-blocks (Bressan, Psychological Review, 2006, 113, 526-553) is an example of simultaneous lightness contrast with double increments. The thirteen tops of the blocks (the diamonds) are all identically white.
This is a modified version of a figure by Alexander Logvinenko, which is in turn a modified version of a figure by Ted Adelson. What Logvinenko did was fill the sides of the blocks in Adelson's figure with luminance gradients. What I did was use white, rather than grey, for the tops. In Adelson's and Logvinenko's figures, the tops represent luminance increments relative to the dark end of the gradient, and decrements relative to the light end of the gradient. In this figure, all the tops are luminance increments. The occurrence of simultaneous lightness contrast with double increments has important theoretical implications.

If you wish to learn more about lightness illusions with double increments, have a look at

Simultaneous lightness contrast with double increments.
Bressan, P. and Actis-Grosso, R.
Perception, 30, 889-897 (2001) Abstract & PDF

or read the paper where my model of lightness is applied to 22 different lightness illusions:

The place of white in a world of greys: a double-anchoring theory of lightness perception.
Bressan, P.
Psychological Review,113, 526-553 (2006)  Abstract & PDF

The little girl in the bottom-right panel is my maternal grandmother. In the bottom-left panel, her sister; at the top, their parents.
Babies are more often reported to look like their father than like their mother, especially by the mothers themselves, and it has been suggested that such remarks should be viewed as a tactic for reassuring the fathers, thus encouraging paternal investment. We are investigating the issue of (perceived) paternal vs maternal resemblance in a series of experiments.

If you wish to learn more about our work, ask me for a draft of

The 'family effect': a bias in the estimated resemblance of children to their parents.
Bressan, P. and Dal Martello, F. (in preparation),

or

The unfolding of family resemblance.
Bressan, P., Grassi, M., and Dal Pos, S. (in preparation). 

Ariccia (Italy). The stretch of road in the background is erroneously seen as sloping uphill, but it is in fact slightly downhill.
Anti-Gravity Hills (also known as Spook Hills or Magnetic Hills) are natural places where cars put into neutral are seen to roll uphill on a gently sloping road, apparently defying the law of gravity. We show that these effects, popularly attributed to gravitational anomalies, are in fact visual illusions.

If you wish to learn more about our experiments, have a look at

Antigravity hills are visual illusions.
Bressan, P., Garlaschelli, L., and Barracano, M.
Psychological Science, 14, 441-449 (2003) Abstract & PDF