A percepção visual é adaptada para compreender melhor os movimentos da própria espécie do que aqueles de outras espécies. O objetivo deste estudo foi verificar se a percepção temporal seria afetada por fotografias de diferentes espécies de animais levando em consideração a escala evolutiva. Imagens sem (“S”) e com movimento implícito (“M”) de um cachorro, guepardo, chimpanzé e homem foram expostas a estudantes universitários. As imagens S e M de cada espécie foram apresentadas em ordem aleatória ou uma após a outra (S-M ou M-S) para dois grupos de participantes. Escalas Semânticas para Movimento, Velocidade e Arousal foram utilizadas para a caracterização de algumas propriedades das imagens. O movimento implícito afetou a percepção do tempo: as imagens M foram superestimadas. Os resultados foram discutidos em termos da percepção visual de movimento relacionada a um processamento de tempo biológico que pode ter sido estabelecido cedo em termos de adaptação do homem ao meio ambiente.

Visual perception is adapted toward a better understanding of our own movements than those of non-conspecifics. The present study determined whether time perception is affected by pictures of different species by considering the evolutionary scale. Static (“S”) and implied movement (“M”) images of a dog, cheetah, chimpanzee, and man were presented to undergraduate students. S and M images of the same species were presented in random order or one after the other (S-M or M-S) for two groups of participants. Movement, Velocity, and Arousal semantic scales were used to characterize some properties of the images. Implied movement affected time perception, in which M images were overestimated. The results are discussed in terms of visual motion perception related to biological timing processing that could be established early in terms of the adaptation of humankind to the environment.

La percepción visual es adaptada para comprender mejor los movimientos de la misma especie que aquellos de otras especies. Este estudio examinó si la percepción del tiempo se vería afectada por fotografías de diferentes especies de animales, teniendo en cuenta la escala evolutiva. Imágenes sin (“S”) y con movimiento implícito (“M”) de un perro, guepardo, chimpancé y hombre fueron expuestas a estudiantes universitarios. Las imágenes S y M de cada especie se presentaron en orden aleatorio, o una después de la otra (MS o MS), para 2 grupos de participantes. Escalas semánticas para Movimiento, Velocidad y Arousal fueron utilizadas para la caracterización de las imágenes. Movimiento implícito afectó la percepción del tiempo: M imágenes fueron sobreestimadas. Los resultados se discutieron en términos de la percepción visual del movimiento relacionada con lo procesamiento biológico del tiempo que pueda haberse fijado al principio de la adaptación del hombre con el medio ambiente.

Time perception can be affected by real emotional pictures of people that evoke different levels of arousal. Figurative artwork images of body postures that imply movement with different intensities and evoke different levels of arousal can modulate the perception of time. The present study investigated whether abstract paintings that represent motion in different ways affect the perception of time when subjects are exposed to the paintings for different durations. Undergraduate students observed 20 abstract paintings from different artistic schools (i.e., cubism, constructivism, expressionism, and futurism). They observed for 3 s each painting and estimated the time of exposure (reproduction method). After the time estimations, the subjects completed different semantic Movement, Arousal, Complexity, and Recognition scales to obtain information about how the painting compositions were perceived. Time distortions were observed for only two cubist paintings that represented human forms, which were related to both evoked arousal and implied movement (Experiment 1). Experiment 2 further verified whether these time distortions were related to implied movement perception or arousal. Different groups of participants were exposed for 3 and 9 s to only four cubist paintings that represented human forms. These time exposures (3 and 9 s) were used because the arousal-evoking effects may be transient for exposure times that are longer than 2-3 s. The data analysis revealed overestimation of time for the cubist painting that had greater arousal and movement scores only when the subjects were exposed for 9 s, showing that implied movement in abstract human figures is more effective than images with emotional content. We discuss the effect of durations of exposure to pictorial characteristics of artwork on time perception, emphasizing aspects of the visual perception of human forms in cubist paintings and arousal effects in an aesthetic episode.

The present study investigated the influence of body movement implied by artwork on time estimation and its relationship with eye movement. In Experiment 1, the participants were presented with static photographic images of Edgar Degas sculptures that implied different movements. The participants were asked to estimate their exposure times. Overestimation was found for the dancer who represented the greater movement. Eye movements were more directed to legs and arms in the ballerina that implied more movement, indicating more dynamic eye movements for this dancer, which was also overestimated. Experiment 2 further investigated whether this effect was specific to body representation or whether it was linked to the perceptual feature of the images. The participants were presented with drawings that mimicked global shapes (lines) of the Degas sculptures. Differences in time estimation were not obtained under this experimental condition. The results suggest an embodied perception of body movement that modulates eye movements and time estimation.

O estudo de imagens em movimento e de imagens estáticas que representam algum movimento contribui para o esclarecimento do papel do tempo como modulador da experiência humana. Diferentes formas de representar ou induzir movimento em estímulos ou distintas obras das artes visuais devem envolver não somente técnicas específicas, mas diferentes formas de interação que só ocorrem quando se dá o encontro entre obra e expectador. A percepção de movimento, muito provavelmente, não está confinada a uma simples decomposição ou soma das suas grandezas constituintes (tempo, espaço e velocidade), pois na sua cognição estão combinadas sensações e percepções internas e externas, que ocorrem em sistemas e níveis perceptuais distintos. Entretanto, processos correlatos devem responder pela percepção de movimentos reais, induzidos e representados. Sendo oriundo da intersecção espaço-temporal, a utilização do movimento em pesquisas de estética experimental pode contribuir para o esclarecimento dos processos que atuam na percepção subjetiva de tempo.

The study of images in movement as well as those static images, which represent some movement, contributes to the understanding of the role of time as a modulator of the human experience. Different forms of representing and inducing movement in stimuli or in distinct works of visual art shall involve not only specific techniques, but different forms of interaction which only occur when there is an encounter between the work of art and the spectator. The perception of movement, probably, is not confined to a unique decomposition or sum of its constituent greatnesses (time, space and speed), thus in its cognition the internal and external sensations and perceptions are combined, which occur in distinct systems and perceptual systems. Nevertheless, correlated processes shall respond by the perception of real movements, induced and represented ones. Having come from the intersection of temporal space, the utilization of movement in studies of experimental aesthetics can contribute to the understanding of the processes that act in the subjective perception of time.

O estudo da percepção de movimento e de tempo subjetivo pode ser ampliado com a utilização de imagens como estímulos visuais. Este trabalho teve como objetivo verificar se duas imagens estáticas com diferentes representações de movimento afetariam distintamente a percepção temporal. Participantes universitários não treinados em artes visuais submetidos a imagens com diferentes sugestões de movimento reproduziram o tempo de apresentação dos estímulos sob o paradigma prospectivo. Os resultados mostraram que a fotografia com menor sugestão de movimento (Estímulo A) foi julgada mais curta que aquela com maior sugestão de movimento (Estímulo B), embora ambas tenham sido subestimadas em relação à duração real. A análise dos dados das escalas de diferencial semântico, referentes a 4 critérios de julgamento de movimento em imagens estáticas, mostrou que o Estímulo A foi julgado possuindo menos movimento que o Estímulo B. Conclui-se que a sugestão de movimento numa imagem estática alonga a experiência temporal.

The study of the perception of movement and subjective time can be expanded with the utilization of images as visual stimuli. The aim of this work was to verify if two static images with different representations of movement would affect distinctly temporal perception. University students not trained in visual arts submitted to images with different suggestions of movement reproduced the time of presentation of the stimuli under the prospective paradigm. The results showed that the picture with the lesser suggestion of movement (Stimulus A) was judged shorter than the one with more suggestion of movement (Stimulus B), although both have been underestimated in relation to real duration. The analysis of the data of semantic differential scales, referred to 4 criteria of movement of judgment in static images, showed that stimulus A was judged having less movement than stimulus B. The conclusion was that the suggestion of movement in a static image extends the temporal experience.