Body Size Judgments at 17 ms: Evidence From Perceptual and Attitudinal Body Image Indexes

Evidence related to temporal control for stimuli presentation of whole-body image is generally associated with attentional bias to ideal thin bodies. Few studies present evidence concerning whole-body stimuli recognition during fast visual exposure intervals. The aim of this study was to evaluate th...

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Main Authors: Ana Clara de Paula Nazareth, Vinícius Spencer Escobar, Thiago Gomes DeCastro
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2020-01-01
Series:Frontiers in Psychology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.03018/full
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author Ana Clara de Paula Nazareth
Vinícius Spencer Escobar
Thiago Gomes DeCastro
author_facet Ana Clara de Paula Nazareth
Vinícius Spencer Escobar
Thiago Gomes DeCastro
author_sort Ana Clara de Paula Nazareth
collection DOAJ
description Evidence related to temporal control for stimuli presentation of whole-body image is generally associated with attentional bias to ideal thin bodies. Few studies present evidence concerning whole-body stimuli recognition during fast visual exposure intervals. The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy and reaction times for the judgment of different sized body silhouettes presented at 17 ms in a non-clinical sample. Thirty-one participants were divided in attitudinal and perceptual body image groups based on Figure Rating Scale output and performed two experiments. First experiment assessed perception and the clarity of visual experience for human and non-human body stimuli at 17 ms. A general accuracy of 69.17% was registered with no differences between perceptual and attitudinal body image groups. These results indicated that the way participants perceive their own bodies does not influence the recognition of general visual silhouette stimuli. It was also observed that the clarity of visual experience is positively correlated to stimuli recognition accuracy. In the second experiment participants had to respond in a seven-point Likert scale if the presented image of body silhouettes were bigger, equal or thinner than their own bodies. Trials were divided in two blocks based on spatial rotation, half at 0° and half at 180°. General accuracy for body silhouettes recognition was 41.1%. Greater accuracy recognition for regular positioned stimuli was observed. Attitudinal dimension of body image was not a predictor of differential performance whereas perceptual body image groups recorded contrasting recognition performance. Distorted body image participants presented higher accuracy than undistorted body image participants, with greater accuracy to thinner silhouette figures. Women had significantly higher overall accuracy than men considering both experimental blocks. When comparing the cumulative accuracy curves across experimental trials, an exposure effect was registered only for the first experiment. Results showed that body silhouette stimuli were judged in a fast exposure interval with differential accuracy rates only for perceptual body image groups. Such evidence signals that conscious body image can be associated to implicit detection of visual human body stimuli. Future studies should further test how traditional explicit body image outputs perform within experimental approaches.
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spelling doaj.art-96d9b9a701d34d2c92f783635534bfa42022-12-21T18:41:44ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782020-01-011010.3389/fpsyg.2019.03018491408Body Size Judgments at 17 ms: Evidence From Perceptual and Attitudinal Body Image IndexesAna Clara de Paula NazarethVinícius Spencer EscobarThiago Gomes DeCastroEvidence related to temporal control for stimuli presentation of whole-body image is generally associated with attentional bias to ideal thin bodies. Few studies present evidence concerning whole-body stimuli recognition during fast visual exposure intervals. The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy and reaction times for the judgment of different sized body silhouettes presented at 17 ms in a non-clinical sample. Thirty-one participants were divided in attitudinal and perceptual body image groups based on Figure Rating Scale output and performed two experiments. First experiment assessed perception and the clarity of visual experience for human and non-human body stimuli at 17 ms. A general accuracy of 69.17% was registered with no differences between perceptual and attitudinal body image groups. These results indicated that the way participants perceive their own bodies does not influence the recognition of general visual silhouette stimuli. It was also observed that the clarity of visual experience is positively correlated to stimuli recognition accuracy. In the second experiment participants had to respond in a seven-point Likert scale if the presented image of body silhouettes were bigger, equal or thinner than their own bodies. Trials were divided in two blocks based on spatial rotation, half at 0° and half at 180°. General accuracy for body silhouettes recognition was 41.1%. Greater accuracy recognition for regular positioned stimuli was observed. Attitudinal dimension of body image was not a predictor of differential performance whereas perceptual body image groups recorded contrasting recognition performance. Distorted body image participants presented higher accuracy than undistorted body image participants, with greater accuracy to thinner silhouette figures. Women had significantly higher overall accuracy than men considering both experimental blocks. When comparing the cumulative accuracy curves across experimental trials, an exposure effect was registered only for the first experiment. Results showed that body silhouette stimuli were judged in a fast exposure interval with differential accuracy rates only for perceptual body image groups. Such evidence signals that conscious body image can be associated to implicit detection of visual human body stimuli. Future studies should further test how traditional explicit body image outputs perform within experimental approaches.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.03018/fullbody imageimplicit cognitionperceptual awarenessexperimental psychologysize judgment
spellingShingle Ana Clara de Paula Nazareth
Vinícius Spencer Escobar
Thiago Gomes DeCastro
Body Size Judgments at 17 ms: Evidence From Perceptual and Attitudinal Body Image Indexes
Frontiers in Psychology
body image
implicit cognition
perceptual awareness
experimental psychology
size judgment
title Body Size Judgments at 17 ms: Evidence From Perceptual and Attitudinal Body Image Indexes
title_full Body Size Judgments at 17 ms: Evidence From Perceptual and Attitudinal Body Image Indexes
title_fullStr Body Size Judgments at 17 ms: Evidence From Perceptual and Attitudinal Body Image Indexes
title_full_unstemmed Body Size Judgments at 17 ms: Evidence From Perceptual and Attitudinal Body Image Indexes
title_short Body Size Judgments at 17 ms: Evidence From Perceptual and Attitudinal Body Image Indexes
title_sort body size judgments at 17 ms evidence from perceptual and attitudinal body image indexes
topic body image
implicit cognition
perceptual awareness
experimental psychology
size judgment
url https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.03018/full
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