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Updated: Jul 15, 2026
07:13
A Two-interval Forced-choice Task for Multisensory Comparisons
Published on: November 9, 2018
Affective stimulus properties influence size perception and the Ebbinghaus illusion
Niek R van Ulzen1, Gün R Semin, Raôul R D Oudejans
1Department of Social Psychology, Vrije Universiteit, Van der Boechorststraat 1, 1081 BT, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. NR.van.Ulzen@psy.vu.nl
Psychological Research
|April 6, 2007
Summary
Affective content influences size perception. Negatively loaded stimuli, like negative pictures, were perceived as larger, impacting judgments and the Ebbinghaus illusion. This suggests negative stimuli demand more attention.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Visual Perception
- Affective Science
Background:
- Early research suggested a link between affective content and size judgments.
- This hypothesis was largely dismissed due to methodological limitations and conflicting results.
Purpose of the Study:
- To re-examine the influence of affective content on size perception.
- To investigate if affective stimuli alter the Ebbinghaus illusion.
Main Methods:
- Experiment 1: Assessed size judgments of circles presented with positive, neutral, or negative images versus no image.
- Experiment 2: Examined the Ebbinghaus illusion with affectively loaded target and flanker circles.
Main Results:
- Circles with images were judged smaller than those without.
- Negative images led to larger perceived target sizes, supporting the initial hypothesis.
- The Ebbinghaus illusion was weakest when a negative target was surrounded by positive or blank flankers.
Conclusions:
- Affective content, particularly negative stimuli, influences size perception.
- Negatively loaded stimuli may capture more attention, affecting perceptual judgments.
- Findings suggest a nuanced relationship between emotion, attention, and visual size estimation.
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