Psychology of Language: Semantic Illusions

Who sent Cinderella a poisoned apple when she became too beautiful?

If you're thinking of the Evil Queen, you'd be right... if the question was about Snow White. Trick words in questions and sentences like this can easily be ignored, and this class will demonstrate this phenomenon and discuss why this may happen.

A semantic illusion, also known as the Moses illusion (because of the question "How many of each animal did Moses* take onto the Ark?"), is a phenomenon where listeners or readers fail to recognize an inaccuracy or inconsistency in a text. Various factors, such as the structure of the sentence, can affect how likely we are to recognise the impostor word.

In this class, learners will (privately) answer some general knowledge questions, using the options 'true', 'false', or 'I don't know this topic'. As a group, we will examine the questions, and start to form hypotheses about why and when we notice words that don't belong. I will then present some data on factors that can affect the likelihood of a word being noticed (such as sentence length, context clues, and word position), and invite learners to discuss possible explanations for this. At the end, learners may have a go at creating their own semantic illusion.

This class is perfect for learners interested in psychology, language and linguistics, or illusions. No specific knowledge is required, but enthusiasm is appreciated!


*In the biblical tale, it was Noah, not Moses, who built the Ark!