Versions of the figure proved to be popular and the image was frequently reprinted; however, perceptual biases started to occur in the image, unbeknownst to the plagerizing artists and psychologists who were reprinting the images. Variations have appeared in the literature that unintentionally are biased to favor one interpretation or another, which defeats its original purpose as a truly ambiguous figure.
In the three versions shown above, can you tell which one is biased toward the young girl, the old woman?
In 1961, J, Botwinick redesigned this figure once again, and entitled it, "Husband and Father-in-Law."
Boring, E. G., 1930. "A New Ambiguous Figure," American Journal of Psychology, 42, 444.
Botwinick, J. 1961. "Husband and Father-in-law: a Reversible Figure," American Journal of Psychology, 74, 312-113.
Fisher, Gerald, 1968. "Mother, Father, and Daughter: A Three-aspect Ambiguous Figure," American Journal of Psychology, 81, 274-277.
Hill, W. E., 1915. "My Wife and My Mother-in-law," Puck, November 16, 11.
Wright, E., 1992. "The Original of E. G. Boring's Young Girl/Mother-in-law Drawing and its Relation to the Pattern of a Joke," Perception, 21, 273-275.
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