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The perceptual homunculus: the perception of the relative proportions of the human body

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

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The perceptual homunculus: the perception of the relative proportions of the human body. / Linkenauger, Sally; Wong, Hong Yu; Geuss, Michael et al.
In: Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, Vol. 144, No. 1, 02.2015, p. 103-113.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

Harvard

Linkenauger, S, Wong, HY, Geuss, M, Stefanucci, J, McCulloch, KC, Bülthoff, HH, Mohler, BJ & Proffitt, DR 2015, 'The perceptual homunculus: the perception of the relative proportions of the human body', Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, vol. 144, no. 1, pp. 103-113. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000028

APA

Linkenauger, S., Wong, H. Y., Geuss, M., Stefanucci, J., McCulloch, K. C., Bülthoff, H. H., Mohler, B. J., & Proffitt, D. R. (2015). The perceptual homunculus: the perception of the relative proportions of the human body. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 144(1), 103-113. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000028

Vancouver

Linkenauger S, Wong HY, Geuss M, Stefanucci J, McCulloch KC, Bülthoff HH et al. The perceptual homunculus: the perception of the relative proportions of the human body. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. 2015 Feb;144(1):103-113. doi: 10.1037/xge0000028

Author

Linkenauger, Sally ; Wong, Hong Yu ; Geuss, Michael et al. / The perceptual homunculus : the perception of the relative proportions of the human body. In: Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. 2015 ; Vol. 144, No. 1. pp. 103-113.

Bibtex

@article{a6e1edd597d14e70a20ce822e8f6f0e7,
title = "The perceptual homunculus: the perception of the relative proportions of the human body",
abstract = "Given that observing one{\textquoteright}s body is ubiquitous in experience, it is natural to assume that people accurately perceive the relative sizes of their body parts. This assumption is mistaken. In a series of studies, we show that there are dramatic systematic distortions in the perception of bodily proportions, as assessed by visual estimation tasks, where participants were asked to compare the lengths of two body parts. These distortions are not evident when participants estimate the extent of a body part relative to a noncorporeal object or when asked to estimate noncorporal objects that are the same length as their body parts. Our results reveal a radical asymmetry in the perception of corporeal and noncorporeal relative size estimates. Our findings also suggest that people visually perceive the relative size of their body parts as a function of each part{\textquoteright}s relative tactile sensitivity and physical size",
author = "Sally Linkenauger and Wong, {Hong Yu} and Michael Geuss and Jeanine Stefanucci and McCulloch, {Kathleen Cameron} and B{\"u}lthoff, {Heinrich H.} and Mohler, {Betty J.} and Proffitt, {Dennis R.}",
year = "2015",
month = feb,
doi = "10.1037/xge0000028",
language = "English",
volume = "144",
pages = "103--113",
journal = "Journal of Experimental Psychology: General",
issn = "0096-3445",
publisher = "AMER PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOC",
number = "1",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - The perceptual homunculus

T2 - the perception of the relative proportions of the human body

AU - Linkenauger, Sally

AU - Wong, Hong Yu

AU - Geuss, Michael

AU - Stefanucci, Jeanine

AU - McCulloch, Kathleen Cameron

AU - Bülthoff, Heinrich H.

AU - Mohler, Betty J.

AU - Proffitt, Dennis R.

PY - 2015/2

Y1 - 2015/2

N2 - Given that observing one’s body is ubiquitous in experience, it is natural to assume that people accurately perceive the relative sizes of their body parts. This assumption is mistaken. In a series of studies, we show that there are dramatic systematic distortions in the perception of bodily proportions, as assessed by visual estimation tasks, where participants were asked to compare the lengths of two body parts. These distortions are not evident when participants estimate the extent of a body part relative to a noncorporeal object or when asked to estimate noncorporal objects that are the same length as their body parts. Our results reveal a radical asymmetry in the perception of corporeal and noncorporeal relative size estimates. Our findings also suggest that people visually perceive the relative size of their body parts as a function of each part’s relative tactile sensitivity and physical size

AB - Given that observing one’s body is ubiquitous in experience, it is natural to assume that people accurately perceive the relative sizes of their body parts. This assumption is mistaken. In a series of studies, we show that there are dramatic systematic distortions in the perception of bodily proportions, as assessed by visual estimation tasks, where participants were asked to compare the lengths of two body parts. These distortions are not evident when participants estimate the extent of a body part relative to a noncorporeal object or when asked to estimate noncorporal objects that are the same length as their body parts. Our results reveal a radical asymmetry in the perception of corporeal and noncorporeal relative size estimates. Our findings also suggest that people visually perceive the relative size of their body parts as a function of each part’s relative tactile sensitivity and physical size

U2 - 10.1037/xge0000028

DO - 10.1037/xge0000028

M3 - Journal article

VL - 144

SP - 103

EP - 113

JO - Journal of Experimental Psychology: General

JF - Journal of Experimental Psychology: General

SN - 0096-3445

IS - 1

ER -