what 's it called when you see something that's not really there?

Question

for instance you look at a picture and stare at it for a long time then you look at a wall then blink your eye and you see something.

Answer 1

In this particular case, you are seeing an afterimage.

Answer 2

The answer to the question is: MIRAGE, but being the question further detailed the answer would be different.

When you stare at a picture for a long time, the picture sequence gets reflected on the retina which chemically transmit it over the optic nerve to the cortex in the brain. The cortex interprets the chemical impression into what you saw. So it is the brain that sees not the eye which is nothing but a means to an end.

Afterimage is a phenomenon that more likely happen after long gazing at an object. Intensity of the sequence imprinted on the retina, and then conveyed to the cortex remains for sometime even though you have directed your eyes to a completely different object.

Some people call it retained memory image, but this is not accurate. It is as aidan42 said: "retinal impressions persist after the removal of a stimulus..."

Thank you.

Answer 3

psychosis!!!!

psychosis is hearing and/or seeing things that aren't really there.

Everyone has psychosis to a certain degree. This is like seeing something out of the corner of your eye.

So when you look at the picture, you have the image of the picture in your shorterm memory, and when you look at the blank wall, your brain may think that your looking at the picture again and give you the general form.

So in a way your tricking yourself into psychosis. It's nothing to worry about. It happens to EVERYONE. Simply put; its your brain playing "tricks" on you.

Answer 4

It could be an afterimage....which is a visual illusion in which retinal impressions persist after the removal of a stimulus, believed to be caused by the continued activation of the visual system. The afterimage may be positive, corresponding in colour or brightness to the original image, or negative, being less bright or of colours complementary to the original.

Answer 5

A Mirage

Your Imagination

Fantasy

Answer 6

well try to look at somebodies eyes for a long time and not to blink. you will see image over your friends. It is very funny.

Answer 7

And it is in a negative image!
You can tell a colours opposite if you stare at a colour then look at a white surface.
You are burning an image onto your retina!

Answer 8

Hallucination

Answer 9

It's called "Reality." Did you know that if you stare at one thing long enough, like the leg of a chair or something, it will disappear?

Answer 10

An optical illusion.