Archive for 2019

Research Symposium Fall 2019

Psychology Department showcases work: Psychological Studies department hosts annual research symposium  

Plant Blindness: Our Unintentional Disregard for Flora


Written by Taylor Mac, Madisyn Plumhoff, Julie Terrone, and Lydia Brekke   “Plant blindness is the inability to see or notice the plants in one’s own environment.” (Ro, 2019) Why Does ‘Plant Blindness’ Occur? Our brains detect differences in the world in a formidable fashion, favoring wildlife such as animals with higher rates of recognition than […]

Wait, Look Again: Flat or Round? Real or Imaginary?

Written by Grey Grettum, Amanda Otto, and Katie Velek What is the anamorphosis illusion? Imagine reaching for a baseball, but then realizing that the baseball you perceived is nothing more than just a piece of paper. As shown below, this is an example of the anamorphosis illusion. Anamorphosis is defined as “[the] use of the […]

Mythbusters: Dress Edition

Written by Lauren Casey, Kristen Eggler, and Kjorte Harra Take a look at this dress below. What colors do you see? How about now? Can you see two differently colored dresses? These are the two different colors individuals may see (the white and gold image below shows a flipped striped pattern rather than the actual […]

Just Eyeball It: The Science Behind “Triple Track Technology”

Written by Charity Aultman, Mitaya Johnson, Yesenia Hidalgo, and Jennifer Puchuela Morocho With so many different kinds of golf balls out there, ever wonder what the point of the differences are? Well, we came across one with three lines in an article posted on the website of Golf Digest by Mike Stachura that announced Callaway’s […]

Mirror Mirror on the Wall, Who’s the Fairest Illusion of Them All

Written by Aleese Holst, Lauren Lowe, Leigh Hanefeld, and Taylor Graft In early January of 2019, two brothers entered a department store, and they were taking mirror “selfies” for fun. They definitely did not expect to come out of the store viral sensations. As they were taking selfies, they noticed that an illusion was created. […]

Cochlear Implants: A Step Towards the Hearing Future

Written by Lydia Brekke, Taylor Graft, and Madisyn Plumhoff “The number of people who use cochlear implants keeps growing. More than 324,200 people across the world have cochlear implants. In the United States, over 96,000 people have cochlear implants” (ASHA, 2019). Two weeks after his birth, Patrick from St. Louis, Missouri was diagnosed with profound […]

Becoming Pinocchio: An Examination of the Pinocchio Illusion

Written by Grey Grettum, Taylor Mac, Julie Terrone, and Katie Velek   Pinocchio is a very well known Disney character, and he is cursed with having an enlarged nose every time he tells a lie; however, you may not have heard of the illusion named after his curse! The Pinocchio illusion, also known as the […]

Donald G. Paterson Undergraduate Award in Psychology

Written by Emma Thompson Kristen Eggler, a senior Psychological Science major, is the 2019 recipient of the Minnesota Psychological Association Donald G. Paterson Undergraduate Award in Psychology. An outstanding student, Collegiate Fellow, Sigma Sigma Sigma member, and Chapel Choir singer, Kristen was nominated for the award by the Gustavus Psychological Science Department. Based on several […]

First, it’s Sour, Then it’s Sweet: ‘Flavor Tripping,’ What it is and How it Works

Written by Kristen Eggler, Kjorte Harra, Yesenia Hidalgo, and Jennifer Puchuela Morocho   Ever wanted to sip on pure lemon juice like it’s a sweet glass of lemonade? With the aid of ingesting the newly popularized miracle fruit, people all over are experiencing a temporary but astounding transformation of their taste buds. Ingesting a piece of […]