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Fear in the eye of the beholder: Fear and the perception of spatial layout

旁观者眼中的恐惧：恐惧与空间布局的感知

基本信息

批准号：
7617737
负责人：
DENNIS R PROFFITT
金额：
$ 35.81万
依托单位：
UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
财政年份：
2007
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2007-04-01 至 2011-03-31
项目状态：
已结题

项目摘要

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The aim of the proposed research is to investigate emotional influences on the perception of spatial layout, and more specifically, how fear influences the perception of heights. In a representative study, participants would stand on a high balcony and would provide indices of the apparent distance to the ground. This research is based on recent work, which showed that the perception of spatial layout was influenced by the physiological state of the observer (Proffitt, Bhalla, Gossweiler, & Midgett, 1995; Bhalla & Proffitt, 1999; Proffitt, Stefanucci, Banton, & Epstein, 2003). For instance, observers who wore a heavy backpack saw slants as steeper and distances as farther than those who did not wear a backpack. Recent work has shown that fear also influences the perception of relevant spatial layout. Steep hills, which would be impossible to descend on foot, appear steeper when viewed from the top than from the bottom. Steep hills also appear steeper when viewed from the top while standing on a skateboard as opposed to standing on a box of equivalent height. Establishing a relationship between emotion and perception would not only extend our understanding of perception, but would also provide insights into the nature and treatment of fears and phobias. Traditionally, the focus has been on relatively higher-level cognitive processing, such as biases in attention and memory. In a sense, we seek to show that fearful individuals literally see the world through a "distorted lens." To test this hypothesis, we will conduct three sets of studies. First, we will determine the parameters for normative height perception. We will employ various methodologies to obtain assessments of perceived height in both the real world and virtual reality. Assessments of fear and postural sway will also be collected and correlated with the apparent height measures. The norms and measures established will be used in the subsequent studies. Next, we will conduct a series of studies to determine if increases and reductions in state-level fear produce differences in height estimation. We will also test alternative hypotheses by introducing arousal and alternative mood manipulations. We predict that perceived height will increase when participants are frightened, but not when they are aroused for different reasons or in different moods. These experiments will allow us to better understand the underlying mechanisms by which fear affects perception of height. Finally, we will assess whether phobias influence estimates of height. Specifically, we will investigate whether individuals with a specific phobia toward heights (termed acrophobia) show larger changes in height estimation relative to other-fear and control groups. We will also test whether fear reduction (after habituation of fear through exposures) attenuates the overestimation of heights expected in persons with acrophobia.

描述（由申请人提供）：拟议研究的目的是调查情绪对空间布局感知的影响，更具体地说，恐惧如何影响对高度的感知。在一项具有代表性的研究中，参与者将站在一个高高的阳台上，并提供到地面的表观距离指数。这项研究是基于最近的工作，这表明空间布局的感知受到观察者的生理状态的影响（Proffitt，Bhalla，Gossweiler，& Midgett，1995; Bhalla & Proffitt，1999; Proffitt，Stefanucci，Banton，& Epstein，2003）。例如，背着沉重背包的观察者比不背着背包的人看到的倾斜度更陡，距离更远。最近的研究表明，恐惧也会影响相关空间布局的感知。陡峭的山，这将是不可能的步行下降，似乎更陡峭时，从顶部比从底部看。当站在滑板上从顶部观看时，陡峭的山丘也会显得更陡峭，而不是站在同等高度的盒子上。建立情感和感知之间的关系不仅可以扩展我们对感知的理解，还可以提供对恐惧和恐惧症的本质和治疗的见解。传统上，重点一直放在相对较高层次的认知处理上，例如注意力和记忆的偏差。从某种意义上说，我们试图表明，恐惧的人确实是通过一个“扭曲的透镜”来看待世界的。“为了验证这一假设，我们将进行三组研究。首先，我们将确定标准高度知觉的参数。我们将采用各种方法来获得在真实的世界和虚拟现实中的感知高度的评估。还将收集对恐惧和姿势摇摆的评估，并将其与表观身高测量值相关联。所制定的规范和措施将用于以后的研究。接下来，我们将进行一系列研究，以确定国家级恐惧的增加和减少是否会导致身高估计的差异。我们还将通过引入唤醒和替代情绪操纵来测试替代假设。我们预测，当参与者受到惊吓时，感知高度会增加，但当他们因不同原因或不同情绪而被唤醒时，感知高度不会增加。这些实验将使我们更好地理解恐惧影响高度感知的潜在机制。最后，我们将评估恐惧症是否会影响对身高的估计。具体来说，我们将调查是否有特定的恐高症（称为恐高症）的个人显示更大的变化，相对于其他恐惧和控制组的高度估计。我们还将测试恐惧减少（通过暴露使恐惧习惯化后）是否会减弱恐高症患者对高度的高估。