Unit:
Department of History and Philosophy of ScienceLibrary of the School of Science
Author:
Sgouramani Helena
Dissertation committee:
1. Konstantinos Moutoussis, Professor, Department of Philosophy and History of Science, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
2. Athanassios Protopapas, Professor, Department of Special Needs Education, University of Oslo, Norway
3. Vasillia Hatzitaki, Associate Professor, Department of Physical Education and Exercise Science, Aristostle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
4. Argiro Vatakis, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences, Athens, Greece
5. Stavroula Samartzi, Professor, Department of Psychology, Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences, Athens, Greece
6. Irini Skaliora, Professor, Department of Philosophy and History of Science, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
7. Eleni Ziori, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, Education & Psychology, University of Ioannina, Greece
Original Title:
Time to act: The relationship of time perception, action and expertise
Translated title:
Time to act: The relationship of time perception, action and expertise
Summary:
Complex biological motion (e.g., dance) represents a unique, multifactorial domain that is rapidly gaining the interest of cognitive scientists and timing researchers in particular, given its spatiotemporal complexity and embodied nature. The study of timing through dance can provide valuable insight in remaining open questions and methodological discrepancies, via a more complex and ecologically valid perspective, extending the existing paradigms. This thesis is divided in to three chapters in an effort to further investigate the connection of complex biological motion (e.g., dance) and timing either by thoroughly reviewing the related literature of the past 15 years (Chapter 1) or by conducting original experiments combining these two elements (Chapters 2 & 3). Chapters 2 and 3 could potentially be included in our review’s first aforementioned section, investigating the connection of dance and duration estimation in particular.
Chapter 1 is a narrative review that consolidates current literature on dance and a) duration estimation, b) synchronization/entrainment, c) temporal aspects of social interaction, and d) modality contribution in temporal perception. Thus, aiming to put together, for the first time, a complete picture of the knowledge gained to date on the interaction of dance and timing in regards not only to basic research findings but also potential clinical and technological applications. This overview hopefully, can also serve as a primer for questions that have yet remained unanswered both in timing and dance research.
Chapter 2 focuses on the different effect real vs. implied dance motion might have on duration perception, inspired by the notion of our timing estimates being often prone to distortions from non-temporal attributes. It has been argued that movement can be implied by static cues of images depicting an instance of a dynamic event. Instances of implied motion have been investigated as a special type of stimulus with common processing mechanisms to those of real motion. Timing studies have reported a lengthening of the perceived time for moving as opposed to static stimuli and for stimuli of higher as compared to lower amounts of implied motion. However, the actual comparison of real-versus-implied motion on timing has never been investigated. In the present study, we compared directly the effect of two hypothetically analogous ballet steps with different amounts of movement and static instances of the dynamic peak of these events in a reproduction task. The analysis revealed an overestimation and lower response variability for real as compared to implied motion stimuli. These findings replicate and extend the apparent duration lengthening for moving as compared to static stimulation, even for static images containing implied motion, questioning whether or not the previously reported correspondence between real and implied motion transfers in the timing domain. This lack of correspondence was further supported by the finding that the amount of movement presented affected only displays of real motion.
In Chapter 3 we describe a series of experiments investigating the effect of motion direction on duration judgments. Motion direction has been considered as a modulating factor of timing as well. Relevant research shows an interval dilation when the movement is towards (i.e., looming) as compared to away from the viewer (i.e., receding). This perceptual asymmetry has been interpreted based on the contextual salience and prioritization of looming stimuli that allows for timely reactions to approaching objects. This asymmetry has mainly been studied through abstract stimulation with minimal social relevance. Focusing on the latter, we utilized naturalistic displays of biological motion and examined the aforementioned perceptual asymmetry in the temporal domain. In Experiment 1, we tested visual looming and receding human movement at various intervals in a reproduction task and found no differences in the participants’ timing estimates as a function of motion direction. Given the superiority of audition in timing, in Experiment 2, we combined the looming and receding visual stimulation with sound stimulation of congruent, incongruent, or no direction information. The analysis showed an overestimation of the looming as compared to the receding visual stimulation when the sound presented was of congruent or no direction, while no such difference was noted for the incongruent condition. Both looming and receding conditions (congruent and control) led to underestimations as compared to the physical durations tested. Thus, the asymmetry obtained could be attributed to the potential perceptual negligibility of the receding stimuli instead of the often-reported salience of looming motion. The results are also discussed in term of the optimality of sound in the temporal domain.
Main subject category:
Science
Other subject categories:
Philosophy - Psychology
Keywords:
Reproduction task, Duration estimation, Biological motion
Number of references:
354
