In 2015, a photo of a dress split the internet because people literally saw different colours.
Some viewers saw the dress as white and gold, others as blue and black. It was in fact blue and black. Millions argued about it, and vision scientists published studies on why.
Why is this true?
The photo gave no clear clue about the lighting. Brains that assumed the dress was in shadow subtracted blue and saw white and gold; brains that assumed artificial light saw blue and black. It is colour constancy, the same trick that makes a white shirt look white at sunset.
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More about psychology
Psychology facts describe the shortcuts your mind takes without asking permission. We misjudge randomness, remember interrupted tasks better than finished ones, and change our answers when a group disagrees with us. The entries here stick to findings that have held up under replication, avoid the pop-science versions that overstate them, and explain what the effect really predicts about everyday behaviour.