Demystifying the Poggendorff: A Start

Abstract

As is well known, little or no illusory misalignment occurs in a reduced Poggendorff pattern which consists of only the two acute angles, a failure which has been a problem for various proposed explanations of the misalignment seen in the complete classic pattern. Happily, however, that failure (as well, more important, as the power of the classic pattern) can be explained by a theory which encompasses both pictorial height-in-scene and illusory rotation-of-the-diagonals as contributing factors.