Social contingency modulates the perceived distance between self and other

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Social Neuroscience
• Perception Science

Background:

• Social contingency, defined as contingent reactions to one's actions, is crucial for attachment.
• Prior research suggests social contingency may influence the perceived distance between self and other.
• Previous studies faced methodological challenges, questioning the validity of observed top-down perceptual effects.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whether social contingency modulates the perceived distance between self and other.
• To overcome limitations of previous studies and demonstrate true top-down effects on perception.
• To explore the influence of social interaction on spatial perception and size constancy.

Main Methods:

• Participants viewed faces that responded contingently or non-contingently to their actions.
• The perceived size of afterimages was measured, utilizing Emmert's law (perceived size correlates with perceived distance).
• Experiments were conducted at varying viewing distances to assess the salience of the effect.

Main Results:

• Afterimages of contingently responding faces were perceived as smaller than those of non-contingent or unresponsive faces.
• This reduction in perceived afterimage size indicates a decreased perceived distance between self and other.
• The effect was more pronounced at greater viewing distances, supporting the role of perceived distance.

Conclusions:

• Social contingency significantly reduces the perceived distance between self and other.
• This perceptual modulation occurs independently of task demands, confirming genuine top-down influence.
• Prior knowledge of social interaction modulates online perceptual processing, specifically size constancy, via perceived distance.