The immediate positive "size" of negative emotions: are older adults less prone to visual illusions?

Individuals organize visual sensations into meaningful information according to physiological mechanisms as well as experience, motivation and expectations when interacting with the environment. However, few studies have focused on age differences and the influence of affective information on visual perception.Accordingly, 200 younger (n= 200) and 200 older adults viewed a classical and an affective version of the Ebbinghaus illusion. In the affective version, participants saw a happy, angry, or neutral black and white face (Experiment 1 and 2). Subsequently, participants were asked to remember the size of the target circle (Experiment 2). Older adults were less subject to the Ebbinghaus illusion compared to younger adults when comparing negative configurations. In addition, older adults made more errors with the size of the positive configurationson the later size judgment test. Results highlight a role of affective valence in perceptual illusions and the interaction between aging and emotion during online and offline use of perceived size information.

Author(s): Beth Fairfield, Alberto Di Domenico, Alessia Marini, Teresa Di Fiore,Alessia Capasa,Nicola Mammarella

Abstract | Full-Text | PDF

Share This Article