Frequency Illusion: A process that happens to everyone but is often unaware of it
Have you ever had someone tell you that they bought a blue car and then you start seeing cars of the same color everywhere?
Seeing this, you must have thought that the trend of buying a blue car has started and some of your friends have also talked to you about it.
But chances are, your city has always had so many vehicles of this color but you just started to realize it.
It’s called the ‘frequency illusion’, the illusion of repetition, and it’s a fairly common phenomenon.
It affects everyone at some point in their lives and it happens when you focus on things that have recently become important to you.
What is frequency illusion?
This is also called the ‘Bader-Manhoff Phenomenon’ and is related to memory.
The Baader-Manhoff Group was another name for the Red Army Faction (RAF), a German terrorist organization active in the 1970s, consisting of the names of two central leaders.
The term ‘Bader-Manhoff Phenomenon’ began to be used in 1994 when a German forum user described how he was drawn to the group after hearing the group’s name, after which other forum users related the phenomenon. Narrated his experiences which gave him recognition and eventually became famous by this name.
But this was not a new phenomenon. It has always been related to how our brain works in each of us individually.
What parts of the brain operate it?
According to Arnold Zucki, professor of linguistics at Stanford University and the first to coin the term ‘frequency illusion’ in 2005, this phenomenon is the result of two well-known psychological factors.
On the one hand ‘selective attention’ (literally meaning selective attention) comes into play which forces us to focus on the things that are important to us at the moment and ignore the rest. This cognitive process plays a key role in our learning of things and actions.
On the other hand is ‘Confirmation Bias’ (literally meaning confirmation bias) which forces us to look for things that support our thinking at a given moment i.e. seeing more blue cars we think they are more common. Which further confirms our belief that there are more vehicles of this color out there.
‘Confirmation bias’ can also give rise to what are commonly called ‘cognitive biases’ (literally conscious biases) as people seek explanations for how the world works and then adjust themselves accordingly. replaces
This illusion is thus linked to how our brain works in each of us individually.
Speaking to the BBC, Joanna Riera, a doctor in social psychology and clinical psychologist, explains that ‘Frequency hallucinations don’t happen to everyone, or maybe we don’t remember it happening to us because we need to be aware of it. This frequency illusion is not happening to us – it has evolutionary significance.’
“It is common that it occurs in a large part of the population because its evolutionary factors are linked to the survival of the species,” he added.
We have the ability to perceive but this means that our brain cannot pay attention to all stimuli because we can only pay attention to a limited number of elements or we will not be able to adapt to our environment.
This process is that in which we know about some things or elements through our senses and this process of knowing is called perception.
Joanna elaborates that ‘when we’ve focused on a particular stimulus, either we’ve recently encountered it and found it interesting, or we’ve been struck by a bright color or something. Something that triggers us emotionally, or something we’ve recently experienced repeatedly. It makes us more open to that kind of stimulation.”
This is probably because what our mind is holding at a moment is important to us. Because it’s important to us, our brains will tend to grab our attention when we see similar stimuli. Be it a red car of a brand, a blue car or any other kind of motivation.
Joanna Riera says that ‘Thus frequency illusion, the illusion of repetition, is a process related to the perception of different parts of the brain, such as the process of space or space perception is part of the primary senses in the human brain called the parietal lobe. But all elements related to the limbic system in the human brain, the system that generates emotions and behaviors, can also play a role. Such as the hippocampal structure or the amygdala in the human brain that produces human memory or feelings such as fear.’
Thus, by paying more attention to a particular stimulus at a given time, the sensory elements may be linked to the frequency illusion, which explains why not all people respond to the same type of stimulus and object in the same way.
For example, if I look at pregnant women, I start seeing pregnant women again and again, which means that this thing was very important to me at a certain point in my life.
“It’s not just about the emotional elements, it’s also about consciousness,” says Joanna Riera. Maybe my baby was miscarried or not or maybe I want to get pregnant or maybe I am pregnant. So that was very important to me on that particular occasion.
This means that which different parts of the brain will contribute to the frequency illusion depends on the type of stimulus we are exposed to and therefore each of us will respond differently.
It is very basic in psychology that an object or factor we encounter does not itself create our conscious response, in this case frequency (number). There are some conscious biases and irrational beliefs that come with this thing but the thing itself doesn’t bring it up, we bring it through our whole emotional system, the way we perceive it due to repetitive illusions. are made.’
Does Frequency Illusion Have Adverse Effects?
Joanna highlights the importance of adapting oneself to the environment associated with this phenomenon, saying, ‘If, for example, I recently ate a fruit that was bad and then it made me feel bad. done It is likely that I will spend at least a few days observing that this is something that often happens or talking to people who have experienced it. My mind is adapting itself to a dangerous situation, so that’s important.”
“Prejudice is not always a bad thing,” she adds. Sometimes prejudices help in adaptation and survival.
It does not have negative effects unless it is associated with traumatic events such as experiencing a traffic accident.
But according to experts, even in this case, it may have arisen as another symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder. But this way he will not face any problem or problem.