As you can see, although the portions are the same, the plating of the food on the right creates the illusion that it is a whole portion, whereas the left leaves you with the feeling that it is incomplete. The above picture is basically the textbook version of the illusion, and it is very apparent that the effect works.

Since the early 1900's, the American dinner plate has increased in size by quite a bit, growing by at least 25% to be specific. In the 60's the average plate was 9 inches in diameter and by the year 2000 it was 11 inches. Perhaps this is one of the reasons that the United States has a weight problem, but let's stay on topic.

I personally had a noticeable experience with the illusion over summer break. I had gone to a buffet style restaurant for lunch, and before even entering the building I knew that they would probably be using this technique.

*Note: the picture isn't of the buffet I went to, but I thought it looked delicious, also it has small plates.