Eye of the beholder: Symmetry perception in social judgments based on whole body displays

External bilateral symmetry is a biological marker of normal development and is considered a signal of health and attractiveness across species. Because most human interactions are dynamic, it was hypothesized that observers would be able to perceive spatiotemporal symmetry—symmetry in motion—in hum...

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Autores principales: Brown, Jennifer Rees, van der Zwan, Rick, Brooks, Anna
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Pion 2012
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3485838/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23145290
http://dx.doi.org/10.1068/i0495sas
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author Brown, Jennifer Rees
van der Zwan, Rick
Brooks, Anna
author_facet Brown, Jennifer Rees
van der Zwan, Rick
Brooks, Anna
author_sort Brown, Jennifer Rees
collection PubMed
description External bilateral symmetry is a biological marker of normal development and is considered a signal of health and attractiveness across species. Because most human interactions are dynamic, it was hypothesized that observers would be able to perceive spatiotemporal symmetry—symmetry in motion—in human point-light walkers. It was also hypothesized that observers would rate symmetrical walkers as healthy and attractive. Symmetrical and asymmetrical figures were presented to adult participants (n = 22) in motion and as static images with motion implied. Static symmetry was readily perceived, and symmetrical figures were judged significantly healthier and more attractive than asymmetrical figures. However, observers were unable to discriminate symmetry in dynamic presentations. These data provide preliminary evidence of a temporal summation window for a dynamic symmetry perception.
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spelling pubmed-34858382012-11-09 Eye of the beholder: Symmetry perception in social judgments based on whole body displays Brown, Jennifer Rees van der Zwan, Rick Brooks, Anna Iperception Short and Sweet External bilateral symmetry is a biological marker of normal development and is considered a signal of health and attractiveness across species. Because most human interactions are dynamic, it was hypothesized that observers would be able to perceive spatiotemporal symmetry—symmetry in motion—in human point-light walkers. It was also hypothesized that observers would rate symmetrical walkers as healthy and attractive. Symmetrical and asymmetrical figures were presented to adult participants (n = 22) in motion and as static images with motion implied. Static symmetry was readily perceived, and symmetrical figures were judged significantly healthier and more attractive than asymmetrical figures. However, observers were unable to discriminate symmetry in dynamic presentations. These data provide preliminary evidence of a temporal summation window for a dynamic symmetry perception. Pion 2012-06-15 /pmc/articles/PMC3485838/ /pubmed/23145290 http://dx.doi.org/10.1068/i0495sas Text en Copyright © 2012 J R Brown, R van der Zwan, A Brooks http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ This open-access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Licence, which permits noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction, provided the original author(s) and source are credited and no alterations are made.
spellingShingle Short and Sweet
Brown, Jennifer Rees
van der Zwan, Rick
Brooks, Anna
Eye of the beholder: Symmetry perception in social judgments based on whole body displays
title Eye of the beholder: Symmetry perception in social judgments based on whole body displays
title_full Eye of the beholder: Symmetry perception in social judgments based on whole body displays
title_fullStr Eye of the beholder: Symmetry perception in social judgments based on whole body displays
title_full_unstemmed Eye of the beholder: Symmetry perception in social judgments based on whole body displays
title_short Eye of the beholder: Symmetry perception in social judgments based on whole body displays
title_sort eye of the beholder: symmetry perception in social judgments based on whole body displays
topic Short and Sweet
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3485838/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23145290
http://dx.doi.org/10.1068/i0495sas
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