Editing Contrast effect (section)

==Domains==
The contrast effect was noted by the 17th century philosopher [[John Locke]], who observed that lukewarm water can feel like hair or feel cold depending on whether the hand touching it was previously in hot or cold water.<ref name="Kushner2008">{{cite book|last=Kushner|first=Laura H.|title=Contrast in judgments of mental health|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TYn5VHp9jioC&pg=PA1|accessdate=24 March 2011|year=2008|isbn=978-0-549-91314-6|page=1}}{{Dead link|date=December 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> 

In the early 20th century, [[Wilhelm Wundt]] identified contrast as a fundamental principle of perception, and since then the effect has been confirmed in many different areas.<ref name="Kushner2008" /> Contrast effects can shape not only visual qualities like color and brightness, but other kinds of perception, including the perception of weight.<ref name="Plous1993">{{cite book|last=Plous|first=Scott|title=The psychology of judgment and decision making|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xvWOQgAACAAJ|accessdate=24 March 2011|year=1993|publisher=McGraw-Hill|isbn=978-0-07-050477-6|pages=38–41}}</ref> Whether a piece of music is perceived as good or bad can depend on whether the music heard before it was unpleasant or pleasant.<ref name="Popper2010">{{cite book|last=Popper|first=Arthur N.|title=Music Perception|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZYXd3CF1_vkC&pg=PA150|accessdate=24 March 2011|date=30 November 2010|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-1-4419-6113-6|page=150}}</ref> For the effect to work, the objects being compared need to be similar to each other: a television reporter can seem to shrink when interviewing a tall basketball player, but not when standing next to a tall building. Furthermore, the contrast effect has been argued to apply to foreign policies of states. For example,<ref name="Ndzendze2017">{{cite news|last=Ndzendze|first=Bhaso.|title=Choosing 'the better evil'? The contrast effect and the relative nature of soft power|url=http://moderndiplomacy.eu/2017/03/23/choosing-the-better-evil-the-contrast-effect-and-the-relative-nature-of-soft-power/|accessdate=30 April 2017|date=23 March 2017|publisher=Modern Diplomacy}}</ref> African countries have increasingly looked to China and India as opposed to the US, the EU and the World Bank because these Asian states have highlighted their lack of "interference" and "conditionality" in exchange for foreign aid and FDI.[[File:Checker shadow illusion.svg|thumb|The checker shadow illusion]]