You’ve seen it. Everyone has. It’s that sketch of a woman where, if you squint, she’s a glamorous socialite with a feather in her hat, but if you blink, she’s an elderly woman with a large nose tucked into her fur coat. People call it the old and young woman picture, but in the world of psychology, it’s actually known as "My Wife and My Mother-in-Law."
It’s frustrating.
You stare at the lines. You try to force your brain to toggle between the two images like a light switch. Sometimes it works; sometimes you're stuck looking at the "old woman" for five minutes wondering where the "young" one went. This isn't just a fun parlor trick or a way to kill time on social media. It is one of the most studied pieces of perceptual psychology in history.
Where the Old and Young Woman Picture Actually Came From
A lot of people think this was some viral internet meme from the early 2000s. It wasn't. While it definitely made the rounds on MySpace and early Reddit, the image is way older than the internet.
The most famous version was drawn by British cartoonist William Ely Hill. He published it in Puck magazine back in 1915. He titled it "My Wife and My Mother-in-Law," and the caption was pretty clever: "They are both in this picture — Find them." Honestly, Hill wasn't even the first to come up with the concept. The imagery actually traces back to 19th-century German postcards. It was a "dual-image" trend long before we had digital filters or AI-generated illusions.
But why did Hill’s version stick? It’s the linework. The way the young woman's jawline doubles as the old woman's nose is a stroke of genius. The young woman’s ear is the old woman’s eye. It’s a perfect overlap.
Your Brain is Lazy (And That’s Why This Works)
The old and young woman picture works because of something called "perceptual ambiguity."
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Your brain hates being confused. When it looks at a mess of lines, it tries to organize them into a recognizable pattern as fast as possible. Once it decides, "Okay, that's a young woman looking away," it locks that interpretation in. Switching to the other view requires a massive amount of cognitive flexibility. You literally have to tell your neurons to stop firing in one pattern and start in another.
Some researchers, like those in a 2018 study published in the journal Scientific Reports, found that your age might actually dictate which version you see first. The study, led by psychologists at Flinders University, looked at 393 participants. The results were kinda wild. Younger people were much more likely to see the young woman first, while older participants defaulted to the elderly woman.
It’s not just about your eyes. It’s about social bias. Your brain is conditioned to look for "people like you."
How to Finally See the Other Version
If you’re stuck seeing only one, don’t feel bad. It happens. Basically, you need a "reset" for your visual cortex.
If you see the young woman:
Look at the "necklace" she's wearing. That black line is actually the mouth of the old woman. The young woman’s chin? That’s the old woman’s nose. Try to see the entire left side of the young woman’s face as a giant nose. It sounds weird, but once you see it, the elderly woman usually snaps into focus.
If you see the old woman:
Look at the big nose. That’s actually the cheek and jawline of the young girl. The eye of the old woman is the ear of the young girl. Focus on the idea of someone looking away from you, toward the background.
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The Boring Science Behind the Magic
Let’s talk about "bistable perception." This is the fancy term for when an image provides two equally valid interpretations to the brain, but the brain can only process one at a time. It’s the same reason the "Necker Cube" or the "Rubin Vase" (the one that looks like two faces or a candlestick) works.
Interestingly, you can’t see both at the same time. It is physically impossible for the human brain to hold both the "young" and "old" interpretations simultaneously. You can flip between them quickly, sure, but there is always a tiny fraction of a second where your brain "reloads" the image.
The old and young woman picture is a reminder that reality is subjective. What you see isn't necessarily what's "there"—it's just what your brain decided to show you.
Why This Still Matters in 2026
You might think we’d be over optical illusions by now. We have VR, we have hyper-realistic CGI, and we have generative AI that can create anything. Yet, the old and young woman picture remains a staple in psychology classrooms and viral "brain test" videos.
Why?
Because it’s a humbling experience. It proves that our first impression can be 100% right and 100% wrong at the same time. In an era where everyone is arguing about their "truth," this 100-year-old drawing shows that two people can look at the exact same set of facts—or lines—and see two completely different things.
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It’s a lesson in empathy, disguised as a doodle.
Actionable Takeaways for Using Visual Illusions
If you’re using images like these for presentations, social media, or just to impress your friends, keep these points in mind:
- Context matters. If you tell someone they are looking at a "picture of a girl," they will almost never see the old woman first. You’ve "primed" their brain.
- The "Flip" is a Skill. Practicing with the old and young woman picture can actually help with cognitive flexibility. It’s like a workout for your frontal lobe.
- Don't Force It. If someone can't see the other version, pointing at it rarely helps. They need to look away, blink, and re-approach the image from a different angle.
- Check the Age. Try showing the image to different generations in your family. See if the Flinders University study holds up in your own life. It’s a great conversation starter for dinner.
To get the most out of these visual exercises, stop trying to "solve" the picture. Instead, focus on the transition. Notice the exact moment your brain gives up on the young woman and accepts the old woman. That "click" is your neural pathways rerouting in real-time. It's a glimpse into how your mind constructs the world around you every single day.
Next time you're certain about something you saw, remember the lady in the fur coat. You might be missing half the story.
Step-by-Step Exercise for Cognitive Flexibility:
- Open the old and young woman picture on a screen.
- Set a timer for 60 seconds.
- Every time the image "flips," tap the table.
- Try to increase the frequency of the flips by consciously focusing on the "shared" lines (the nose/jawline).
- If you get stuck, look at a blank wall for five seconds to "clear the cache" of your visual cortex, then look back.
This simple drill is used by some memory experts to help people move past "set shifting" blocks, where the mind gets stuck on a single solution to a problem. It’s a literal way to train yourself to see things from a different perspective.