I've always thought of myself as more left than right brained, but according to this, I'm definitely right brained (assuming that "clockwise" means the direction when viewed from above). I can't see it going the other way. Which makes me question the validity of the test.

[Update at 10 AM EDT]

Funny, I just went back and looked at it again, and this time it was spinning the other way, but then it stopped, and reversed direction and went clockwise again. Weird.

I can't imagine how anyone could possibly perceive her as turning anything but clockwise. It's almost as if they're messing with us by saying that most people will see it the other way, and concentrating can change how you see it.

I figure there has to be something about the way she is angled that would be what changes how some see it, but that's just weird.

By imagining her shadow rotating ccw, I can see her rotating ccw, but that direction is tougher to imagine than the cw spin. I think Jay may have a point that something about the animation makes it easier to imagine her spinning clockwise.

It takes a while to see it rotating the other way. I'm for sure left brained but when I took a glimpse at it I saw it rotating clockwise. After a moment it changed, and after a while it changed back again.

I was clockwise at first, but now I can make it go either way, although it takes a good bit of effort to "reset" my mind.

I think the key is that the intermediate states (facing forwards and backwards) have so little detail that they can be interchanged, so you can "choose" whether it's left-front-right-back or left-back-right-front. A frame-by-frame analysis would probably confirm this.

I just can't understand how this visual test can be meaningful in any way. I should think it would be random on which side brain saw her clockwise vs counter. Yeah I'm not an expert but this just comes off as bogus.

Neat visual trick though.

For me it was, in the three times I tried, clockwise. But I am an outlier in many ways. I can think quite logically -- possibly better than most people. But I would be quite dishonest if I said I didn't have a strong right brain side as well. What do you want from somebody who managed to get a physics degree, do some grad work in that field, then do some grad work in social psychology and become a rather good visual artist along the way. I do have quite limited patience with people who worship bureaucracies.

All I could see was a nude female. She was rotating?

;-)

All I could see was a nude female. She was rotating?

;-)

If you scroll the page down a bit so that you see only from the knees down you can make it spin either way.

I am not a scientist, but my first thought is that this would be more likely to indicate eye dominance than brain hemisphere dominance.

I made my wife mad, because I can see the turn in either direction whenever I want to. She struggled to see it ccw. I'm with MG though, the shadow was, um, ample.

Interesting visual trick. I am strongly left brain dominant, but initially could only see the figure rotating clockwise. I couldn't get it to change until I looked at the "shadow" on the "floor" at which point it instantly flipped and I could only see her rotating ccw! I've tried it a couple times and I always see her initially rotating cw.

The shadow implies that the rotation is counter clockwise, as the non-pivot leg's shadow should only appear when it's farther back than the pivot leg. We only see a portion of its path because of the clipping, which may be why it's so hard to see that. But I see it clockwise until I forcibly use logic to see it properly. Even then, it can take some effort (and the switch always seems to occur on the left side), glance away and it reverts to clockwise.

Which means this more of a demonstration of why logic is superior to emotional first-impressions, and a demonstraton the ability to accept that reality may not match those perceptions. (A quality that just about anyone who proclaims that they possess The Truth seem to lack.)

(I wonder if the same people who did the M vs. W test came up with this one...)

The CW vs. CCW direction of rotation depends on if you are looking down at the top of her head vs. laying on the floor looking up her non-existant skirt.

Actually the figure does briefly change rotation direction, and I think its intentionally meant to mess with people.

On a related note, did she appear to have a left wing or a right wing to you? :-)

Deiseil.

> I just can't understand how this visual test can be meaningful in any way. I should think it would be random on which side brain saw her clockwise vs counter. Yeah I'm not an expert but this just comes off as bogus.

Indeed. There's no sort of citation or the like which supports the claim that this is somehow a "left brain vs right brain" test. I'm fairly well-versed in vision research, and I've never heard anything which would support the claim. A quick literature search doesn't turn up anything either.

That said, it's certainly a very cool effect to watch.

All I see are 36 D's ...

Try watching the figure with your peripheral vision while reading the comments box. For me, the direction changes every few seconds if I am not looking directly at the the figure.

The thumb of the figure's left hand is leading that hand as the figure moves. Therefore, it has to be moving clockwise.

I could make it spin either way, but then I've practiced on ceiling fans. Seriously -- if you can make the dancer go either way, trying doing the same thing to a ceiling fan. It will rotate slower the wrong way (it's easier under artificial illumination, but can be done under natural lighting as well).

John H.
All I see are 36 D's ...

You must be drinking beer. 34 C, at best.