Akiyoshi Kitaoka

Akiyoshi Kitaoka (born August 19, 1961 in Kochi, Japan) is a Professor of Psychology at the College of Letters, Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto, Japan.

In 1984 he received a BSc from the Department of Biology, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan, where he studied animal psychology (burrowing behavior in rats) and (at the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute for Neuroscience) neuronal activity of the inferotemporal cortex in Macaque monkeys.

After his 1991 PhD from the Institute of Psychology, University of Tsukuba he specialized in visual perception and visual illusions of geometrical shape, brightness, color, in motion illusions and other visual phenomena like Gestalt completion and perceptual transparency, based on a modern conception of Gestalt Psychology.

He became renowned through his Rotating snakes illusion (see below).

In 2006 he received the Gold Prize of the 9th L'ORÉAL Art and Science of Color contest.

In 2007 he reiceived the Award for Original Studies from the Japanese Society of Cognitive Psychology.

Web links

• http://platform.visiome.neuroinf.jp/modules/xoonips/detail.php?item_id=6291 "Rotating snakes" can be downloaded for non-commercial purposes from the website (RIKEN institute project)]
• Akiyoshi's illusion pages

References