Do You See What I See? A Comparative Investigation of the Delboeuf Illusion in Humans (Homo sapiens), Rhesus Monkeys (Macaca mulatta), and Capuchin Monkeys (Cebus apella)

Studying visual illusions is critical to understanding typical visual perception. We investigated whether rhesus monkeys (Mococa mulatto) and capuchin monkeys (Cebus apello) perceived the Delboeuf illusion in a similar manner as human adults (Homo sapiens). To test this in Experiment 1, we presented monkeys and humans with a relative discrimination task that required subjects to choose the larger of 2 central dots that were sometimes encircled by concentric rings. As predicted, humans demonstrated evidence of the Delboeuf illusion, overestimating central dots when small rings surrounded them and underestimating the size of central dots when large rings surrounded them. However, monkeys did not show evidence of the illusion, To rule out an alternate explanation, in Experiment 2, we presented all species with an absolute classification task that required them to classify a central dot as "small" or "large." We presented a range of ring sizes to determine whether the Delboeuf illusion would occur for any dot-to-ring ratios. Here, we found evidence of the Delboeuf illusion in all 3 species. Humans and monkeys underestimated central dot size to a progressively greater degree with progressively larger rings. The Delboeuf illusion now has been extended to include capuchin monkeys and rhesus monkeys, and through such comparative investigations we can better evaluate hypotheses regarding illusion perception among nonhuman animals.