The brightness-weight illusion: Darker objects look heavier but feel lighter
Walker and colleagues tested whether brightness affects judged weight the way size does. Larger objects look heavier than identical smaller ones but feel lighter once lifted. Participants judged balls that differed only in colour. By sight alone, darker balls were judged heavier, and the judgment reversed when the balls were lifted. The authors could not tell whether this reflects a perceptual association or the fact that English uses the same word, light, for brightness and weight. Journal of record: Experimental Psychology 57(6), 2010.
Walker and colleagues tested whether brightness affects judged weight the way size does. Larger objects look heavier than identical smaller ones but feel lighter once lifted. Participants judged balls that differed only in colour. By sight alone, darker balls were judged heavier, and the judgment reversed when the balls were lifted. The authors could not tell whether this reflects a perceptual association or the fact that English uses the same word, light, for brightness and weight. Journal of record: Experimental Psychology 57(6), 2010.
Written from the abstract, OpenAlex record, 2026-11-03; citation details from the same record.
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Walker, P., Francis, B. J., & Walker, L. (2010). The brightness-weight illusion: Darker objects look heavier but feel lighter. Experimental Psychology, 57(6). doi:10.1027/1618-3169/a000057 https://doi.org/10.1027/1618-3169/a000057