Ogden, RS, Makin, ADJ, Palumbo, L and Bertamini, M (2016) Symmetry lasts longer than random, but only for brief presentations. i-Perception, 7 (6). ISSN 2041-6695

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Abstract

Previous research has shown that explicit emotional content or physical image properties (e.g. luminance, size and numerosity) alter subjective duration. Palumbo et al. (2015) recently demonstrated that the presence or absence of abstract reflectional symmetry also influenced subjective duration. Here, we explored this phenomenon further by varying the type of symmetry (reflection or rotation) and the objective duration of stimulus presentation (less or more than one second). Experiment 1 used a verbal estimation task in which participants estimated the presentation duration of reflection, rotation symmetry or random square-field patterns. Longer estimates were given for reflectional symmetry images than rotation or random, but only when the image was presented for less than 1 second. There was no difference between rotation and random. These findings were confirmed by a second Experiment using a paired-comparison task. This temporal distortion could be because reflection has positive valence or because it is processed efficiently be the visual system. The mechanism remains to be determined. We are relatively sure, however, that reflectional patterns can increase subjective duration in the absence of explicit semantic content, and in the absence of changes in the size, luminance or numerosity in the images.

Item Type:	Article
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
Divisions:	Natural Sciences & Psychology (closed 31 Aug 19)
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Date Deposited:	11 Oct 2016 10:12
Last Modified:	20 Apr 2022 09:30
DOI or ID number:	10.1177/2041669516676824
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/4277

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