Distortions of space and time in and around objects and events

Our perceptual experience is not a veridical representation of the world around us. We perceive structure in the form of objects and events , and this structure has consequences. Like gravity distorts space and time in the physical world, objects and events distort space and time in our minds, resulting in a plethora of illusions that observers can readily appreciate for themselves. Moreover, many of these distortions of space (caused by objects) and time (caused by events) appear to be perfect analogs of one another—suggesting a deep relationship between the representation of space and time, objects and events. Here we review dozens of illusions of space and time, discussing how they relate to one another and what these relations reveal about the organization of perceptual and mnemonic systems in the human mind.