What can you perceive?

What would the world be like, if we are devoid of the capacity to perceive? We are students of perception, who aim to explore different studies made on the aforementioned topic. Through this blog, we want to know new information, reflect on our experiences and apply the things that we have learned and how it affects each and everyone of us.

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On Sex and Scents: The role of olfaction in sexual attraction

Hi again, this is Aila! Just a quick disclaimer. For this blog, I’m not focusing on perfumes and related stuff because there are some complicated terms in the fragrance industry that I just can’t understand haha. 

When you consider the characteristics of a potential partner, what do you consider? Appearances? Financial stability? Political ideology? Family background? Ethnicity? Clothing style? Kissing abilities? Sexual abilities? These are all things that we consider when we want to find a partner for life (or a boyfriend/girlfriend/fling). However, another thing that is seldom considered but it an important determinant in attraction is body odor. 

According to Grammer, Fink and Neave, an attraction based on scent is an attraction based on pheromones, and these play a very important role in mammalian and human attraction (2004). However, they also said that this is oftentimes underestimated because humans are ‘microsmatic’, or poor smellers, and rely more on their sense of hearing and sight when it comes to attraction (2004). The sense of sight, yes, it helps us to discern whether one is attractive or not when we see him/her from far away. The sense of hearing, yes, it helps us gauge how intelligent a person is in an actual conversation (and sometimes we gauge how attractive the person’s voice is). However, we often ignore the sense of smell. When the person gets close, sometimes too close for your own personal space, you can already smell the other person. It also contributes to how you would decide whether you want the person or not. Because, we don’t keep a person in a relationship with us just to stare at him/her or to listen to his/her ideas and to his/her voice. Sometimes we tend to do intimate things with them as well (like hugging, kissing, cuddling, and of course, sex) and these wouldn’t be as fulfilling if we don’t like the body odor of the person we are with. 

Smelling a person, especially when we are doing other things, becomes an unconscious experience for many of us. However, despite the lack of awareness regarding the process, we still become aware of the olfactory stimulus. According to Grammer, Fink and Neave, this is because smells can induce emotional responses even though they are not actively attended to. Units of olfaction go to the neocortex for processing, but they also go to limbic system, which contains the amygdala. This triggers emotional processing (memories, feelings, etc.) (2004). 

Now that I’ve introduced the important role of scent in attraction, I will be mentioning some studies made on them. I would like to apologize because these studies are highly heteronormative and only considers heterosexual attraction. I haven’t discovered any investigations on homosexual attraction and smell, but I would like to read one someday. 

Much of the research focused on the body odor that women “emit” during the ovulation period, though there were some on the body odor of men. According to Grammer, Fick and Neave, men emit an odor called ‘androstenone’, and this odor comes from their armpits. Unlike women, men do not have a monthly cycle, so this odor is generated depending on physical activity. However, if kept at control levels, research has shown that women found the smell of androstenone more pleasant during ovulation periods (2004). Thus, it shows that males, in general, smell better for females during ovulation. 

Likewise, males also think that women smell better when they ovulate. In a study conducted by Gildersleeve, Haselton, Larson and Pillsworth, forty-one female college students from the US, who had regular menstrual cycles, agreed to give scent samples to the researchers. One of the scent samples was taken during the high-fertility period of women (ovulation), while the other was taken during the low-fertility period (most likely the first week after menstruation). These samples were then given to men who were asked to undergo a discrimination and preference task. It was found out that men can discriminate between the body odor of a woman with high-fertility and low-fertility. This implies that a male can actually smell whether a female is fertile or not. It was also found out that men preferred the scent of women in their high-fertility period than those in their low-fertility period. This means that scent is a key to sexual attraction (2012). 

Scents play a very important, though underrated role in sexual attraction. I would definitely love it if there were to appear studies on scent and homosexual attraction, or whether pheromonal attraction only works in heterosexual attraction. 

Anyway, you can also read on these two studies! 

Grammer, K., Fink, B., Neave, N. (2004). Human pheromones and sexual attraction. In European Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, in press. 

Gildersleeve, K., Haselton, M., Larson, C., Pillsworth, E. (2011). Body odor attractiveness as a cue of impending ovulation in women: Evidence from a study using hormone-confirmed ovulation. In Hormones and Behavior, 61 (2012), 157-166. doi:10.1016/j.yhbeh.2011.11.005

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Spoonful of Taste

As self-confessed foodie, it is only natural to say that I consider it as a hobby to try out different places to eat. My family and I go to the most random of places simply for our love of food. We go restaurant hopping in the provinces, try out a carinderia offering breakfast food, or even dine in Spanish restaurants with names we can’t even pronounce. Even on my own, I make it a point to try out new dishes that I have never heard of before or try out new places even inside the campus. I guess what I’ve been trying to say is that…I LOVE TO EAT! (Who doesn’t anyway?)  Since for most of us, eating is a daily experience—something that we do so often. We simply think that eating involves our tongue and our taste buds but we may not fully appreciate that there are multiple senses and so different factors involved in an eating experience. 

Naturally, when we think of dining as an experience, we tend to equate it with simply eating or an experience focusing on the taste and flavor of food. But, come to think of it, what do actually affect our perception of a food’s taste and flavor? Luckily, numerous studies in the past have already explored this idea. Moa Strandberg (2014), for example, found that food coloring can influence the perception of a food’s flavor intensity and deliciousness. Interestingly, another study even found that presenting food in a manner inspired by an artwork also positively affects diners’ perception of its tastiness. Michel, Velasco, et al. (2014) presented participants with no ordinary salad for it was plated in a way that resembles the painting of a well-known artist named Kandinsky (check out the pic below- r: painting l:salad) . The tastiness of the dish was compared with a salad that was plated ordinarily and another that was plated in an organized but not artistic way. It turns out, the Kandinsky-inspired dish won the votes of most of the participants! So, our concept of aesthetics can not only be applied in works of art but even in food presentation. Michel and his team mates (2014) proved this as they found that the aesthetic appeal enhances the experience of eating a dish.  How cool is that?!

Interestingly, another factor that was found to influence taste perception is the type of cutlery that we use in eating. Yes! The kind of spoon, fork, or knife that you use can also affect our judgement of a food’s taste.

Interestingly, another factor that was found to influence taste perception is the type of cutlery that we use in eating. Yes! The kind of spoon, fork, or knife that you use can also affect our judgement of a food’s taste.

Vanessa Harrar and Charles Spence (2013) have done an interesting research on this using yogurt and cheese placed in spoons of various colors, weight, size, and shape. They explored this by conducting three experiments.

For the first experiment, they asked participants to sample yogurt in a teaspoon, tablespoon, and “fancy spoon” and asked them about their perception of its density, expensiveness, and sweetness. While there were no significant findings in terms of density and expensiveness, they have found that the perceived weight and size of a spoon affects perception of sweetness. The yogurt placed in a teaspoon scored to be the sweetest among the others. Harrar and Spence (2013) explains that this may be because we associate small spoons with desserts and so we think that when food is placed in one it tastes sweeter.

The pair then played on the colors of the spoons for the second part of their study. They used a red, blue, green, white, and black spoon and a blind test to see how it can affect the perception of saltiness, sweetness, expensiveness, and liking. They found that the color contrast of food placed in the spoon influences the perception of these factors. For example, they found that yogurt placed in a blue spoon was rated as saltier than that which was not. 

For the final phase of the study, they explored how the shape of the cutlery may affect the perception of saltiness, sweetness, sharpness, expensiveness, and liking across two groups: experienced (with cheese) and non-experienced. The cheese (aged and young) was placed in either a fork, spoon, knife, or toothpick. They found that the experienced tasters accurately rated the aged cheese as more expensive than the young one. Though there was no effect in sharpness, they found that it has an effect on saltiness. Cheese sampled using a knife was perceived as saltier than those that were sampled using a spoon or a toothpick. 

So the next time you want to show off your cooking skills to your friends, choose your cutlery wisely! Or you may even consider plating your pasta creation similar to the Mona Lisa ;) 

Blogged by Gail 

References

Harrar, V., & Spence, C. (2013). The taste of cutlery: how the taste of food is affected by the weight, size, shape, and colour of the cutlery used to eat it.Flavour, 2(1), 1-13.

Michel, C., Velasco, C., Gatti, E., & Spence, C. (2014). A taste of Kandinsky: assessing the influence of the artistic visual presentation of food on the dining experience. Flavour, 3(1), 1-11.

Strandberg, M. (2014). Food coloring influences taste and flavor perception. Retrieved November 2, 2015 from http://www.ungaforskare.org/sites/default/files/files/food_coloring_influences_taste_and_flavor_perception.pdf

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“DANS LE NOIR”

by Andrea Espino

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Tasty!: Effects of Appetizing Foods on Taste Perception and Reward Association

Don’t these pictures just make your mouth water?

I’m guessing you’re thinking about rushing to the nearest food place already.

Did you know that concepts such as foods are represented as distributed circuits of information across different areas of our brain? These varied modality-specific responses by our brain create our food knowledge. It’s no wonder that a mere picture of a yummy food drive us to immediately eat, savor relish from its taste!

Different and relevant modalities represent different sets of information during perception and action. As the object is processed, its properties are captured by our senses so that this information can be reactivated during conceptual processing and whenever the object is unavailable. This perceptual reenactment is different from mental imagery for mental imagery results from attempts of consciously recovering a vivid image from our working memory. On the other hand, perceptual reenactment is a conceptual processing that often lies outside our awareness and so, it’s is said to be relatively automatic and implicit. 

In a study conducted by Simmons, Martin and Barsalou entitled Pictures of Appetizing Foods Activate Gustatory Cortices for Taste and Reward the researchers explored the distributed properties of foods. They focused on high-caloric, high-fat processed foods such as cheeseburgers and cookies because they are the usual diet of people nowadays. Inevitably, it will have a strong gustatory and appetitive responses that will lead to immediate consumption (Yum!).  

They further hypothesized that if there is indeed a distributed circuit for food knowledge then, viewing a food picture won’t stimulate the visual areas alone but also brain areas on taste and rewards. Furthermore, the researchers hold that once a part of the distributed circuit becomes activated, it will have a domino effect in the sense that the remainder of the parts will become activated via conceptual and inference processing of that particular food. 

The study is experimental in nature. The researchers had sixteen native-English-speaking volunteers from Emory University where ten of which are female while six were male. The participants’ ages range from 19-46 years old. These first set of subjects, participated in the stimulus selection of the study. And then, the researchers presented the food and location pictures that resulted from the selection process to the second set of subjects that underwent an event-related fMRI and they look on to the active and distributed circuit of brain areas. Nine right-handed, native-English-speaking volunteers from the same university participated in the scanning study. Six of which were female while the remaining were male. All of the participants’ ages range from 18-45 years old. 

During the scanning procedure, subjects viewed food, location and scrambled pictures (as shown below). They instructed the subjects to respond whether the picture that they are viewing is similar or different from the preceding photo with the help of a response pad. The subjects were given 2 seconds of viewing time for each picture. 

The researchers confirmed through a simple picture-matching task that viewing pictures activated gustatory cortex. Food pictures, relative to location pictures, activated the insula/operculum which represents the tastes of foods. Moreover, it also activated two regions in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) which represent the reward values for tastes. Food pictures also produced an activity in the occipitotemporal cortex. 

These finding support the hypothesis of the researchers that there is a distributed circuit across brain areas that represent food knowledge:  

“Food pictures activated the insula/operculum very near regions that become active when people actually taste glucose, sucrose, salt, or umami. (See Figure a) Food pictures also activate OFC very near regions that become active when people experience taste stimuli directly. The close proximity of the regions active for food pictures to well-established gustatory areas suggests that food pictures automatically activate gustatory areas to produce conceptual inferences about taste properties (See Figure b.) ... The insula/operculum receives projections from the ventroposterior medial nuclues of the thalamus which has been associated with tastes per se. The OFC, in contrast, receives projections from the insula/operculum and has been associated with the reward values of specific tastes only.” 

It was further discovered that the firing rate of neurons in insula/operculum of monkeys is independent of hunger and satiety. On the other hand, firing rate of neurons in OFC are regulated by hunger and satiety which said to suggest the reward value of tastes:

“Thus, when a monkey is hungry, the firing rate of OFC neurons is high, given that the reward value of food is high. Similarly in humans, greater activation occurs in gustatory OFC before participants are satiated than after.”

To end, due to a distributed coding of our modalities in our brain that produce our food knowledge, it activates our gustatory system both in mere viewing pictures of food and when we actually eat them. So better be careful and try out a healthy diet! 

By: Char Bustamante

Reference:

Simmons, W. K., Martin, A., & Barsalou, L. W. (2005). Pictures of appetizing foods activate gustatory cortices for taste and reward. Cerebral Cortex, 15(10), 1602-1608.

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“Let it go” by Dominic Liao

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It’s Just Emotion Taking You Over: Music, Emotion and Its Physiological Effects

Magandang araw!

Ito muli si Aila at narito na naman ang isang makabuluhang blog tungkol sa perception. Last time, nagfocus ako sa visual perception and kung paano tayo makakakuha ng magagandang display photos gamit ang Gestalt principles. Ngayon, magcocomment ako tungkol sa isang study na ginawa nina Patrick Gomez at Brigitta Danuser noong 2007 tungkol sa musical structure (such as tempo, timbre, etc.) at ‘yong mga psychopsychological measures of emotion (tulad ng heart rate, at measures ng arousal at valence). 

Bago tayo magsimula, may mga ipaparinig muna ako. While listening, close your eyes. 

So, anong nafeel mo habang nakikinig sa kanta? 

Ito naman pakinggan mo. Pikit mata ulit. 

Anong nadama mo no’ng tumutugtog ang kanta? 

Ang ganitong approach sa pag-aaral ng music and emotion, sabi nina Gomez at Danuser, ay phenomenological. Ito ay dahil may pokus ito sa nadaramang emosyon ng mismong kalahok. Pinuna nilang dalawa na sa pag-aaral ng ugnayan ng music and emotion, super kaunti lang talaga ng nagagawang pananaliksik sa pagitan ng musika at nga physiological manifestations ng emotion, tulad ng heart rate, and recorded levels of arousal and valence (2007). Ito ‘yong gustong italakay ng study natin ngayon. 

Gusto ni Gomez at Danuser na i-examine ang 11 properties ng music. Ito ay ang sound intensity, tempo, rhythm, accentuation, rhythmic accentuation, melodic direction, pitch level, pitch range, mode, complexity, consonance. Gumamit sila ng 16 musical pieces na puro mga excerpts mula sa Western music. Pagkatapos nito, sinukat nila ang level of valence (or emotion associated with the song) and level of arousal (like gaano ba siya nakakastimulate or nakakaalerto) through self-reports na ginamitan ng 9-point Self-Assessment Manikin. Bukod pa rito, mineasure din ‘yong ibang physiological measures such as respiration (na na-measure via a respiratory inductive plethysmograph), skin conductance level and heart rate (both of these were measured via the Varioport Measurement System (2007). 

Anyway, very interesting naman ‘yong findings. Palagi talagang na-aaassociate ang mabilis na tempo sa high arousal and positive valence (Gomez and Danuser, 2007), which seems pretty obvious. Kadalasan talaga na mabilis ang tempo ng mga happy songs, like songs sa clubs and parties. Isa pa, naugnay ang sound intensity sa high arousal (Gomez and Danuser, 2007). Kapag mas malakas talaga ang isang kanta, mas napapansin natin siya and mas lalo siyang nakakainvoke ng emotions, lalo na kapag nasa concert or nasa club ka and damang dama mo na ‘yong kanta dahil sa sobrang lakas niya. Isa pang observation nina Gomez and Danuser, mas mataas ang arousal kapag staccato articulation. Ito ‘yong kapag paputol-putol ang tunog and mabilis ‘yong sequence. Low arousal naman kapag legato articulation, which denotes the opposite (2007). 

Sinasabi na ang music, kaya niyang mag-induce ng emotion, and there is a fine line na nagdidikta ng difference berween induction and perception ng emotion through music (Gomez and Danuser, 2007). Kapag induction of emotion kasi, the music can have the ability to make you feel things. Kapag perception naman, ito ‘yong pagtukoy ng isang kanta na malungkot o masaya, pero hindi naman nangyayari ‘yong induction. 

Very interesting ang study kasi tinry niyang iexplore ang isang relatively unexplored field when it comes to music and emotion. Medyo mahirap lang ang preparation since kailangan ng maraming tools, pero it has very interesting results. Siguro try din na gumamit ng ibang genres, hindi lang Western music, para maging relevant din sa application sa ibang cultures. 

Wanna know more? Read this. 

Gomez, P., Danuser, B. (2007). Relationships Between Musical Structure and Psychophysiological Measures of Emotion. In Emotion, 7(2), 377-387. 

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LISTEN BEFORE YOU PROCEED

Who could possibly forget the most memorable song of 2009-2010?

PHILIPPINES, 2015—The filing of certificate of candidacy is closed and soon campaign season will be in full swing. Be sure to expect that in the near future, campaign jingles will be as ever-present in local media as your typical Surf or Ariel commercial jingles.

If you’ve noticed, commercials have been dominated by music, whether by jingles or the background music which accompany the message companies want to portray. It might not even matter if it’s a political candidate they are advertising because in the end, they too are products, and the intent is to ‘sell’ them to us. And as for music, it is part of the persuasion. This begs the question: is music in advertising effective? That question, along with some others that might pop up along our discussion, is what we aim to answer.

When we talk of music in advertising, we tend to look at the effects of music on the perception of the product. Researches tend to study our attitudes toward a certain product or brand, or how the music affects the consumer’s mood (Wallace, 1991). For example, this tune—

—might elicit a calm, happy mood and a generally positive attitude toward the McDonalds brand, but is it effective? This depends on what our measure of effectiveness is. 

If effective = higher sales, then maybe it is (or it isn’t). McDonalds sales team can be the judge of that.

But what of effective = better recall of the brand? We are supposed to be the judge of that.

Recall Manny Villar’s campaign jingle. If we base the success of his campaign solely on his jingle, then his jingle might not be effective because he did not win the presidential elections of that year. However, it was a success when it came to establishing his brand. Hearing the melody or just the first few lines of the song is enough to strongly associate it with Manny Villar. Isn’t that some sort of success? After all, part of the advertising process is to build a memorable brand for the company or product. In other words, what use is the positive attitude induced by the music if the consumer (us) can’t remember what or who the product was? If you can’t remember it, then you can’t buy it. If you can’t buy it, that’s one less sale or vote for the brand.

In McDo’s case, do we recall it more when we’re presented with the above tune (”Hooray for Today”) or is it still the “pa-para-pa-pa-love-ko-’to” jingle that comes to mind?

Although it might be commonly believed that music is effective in creating positive associations and a better recall of information about a brand, research do not always support this belief. For example, 

do you sometimes find yourself remembering the music in an advert but not necessarily the message it conveyed? 

This phenomenon be particularly prominent when adverts use background music when an endorser is speaking. Sometimes the music just distracts us from the whole thing. It’s a different case, however, when the message is presented as lyrics in a song (i.e. as a jingle). 

Yalch (1991) conducted a study to test the effectiveness of jingles against simple tag lines. His experiments consisted of recognition tasks and aided recall tasks. In recognition tasks, the participants were provided the sponsor’s name and a set of possible slogans and they were tasked to recognize the correct match. In aided recall tasks, the participants were given the slogan and were tasked to retrieve the brand name from memory. In all experiments, the participants were either presented with jingles or with simple tag lines.

Lo and behold, his experiments revealed that:

There is greater recall of the brand name (associated with slogans) when it was presented in the form of a musical jingles.

Hey, it worked for Manny Villar didn’t it?

However, they Yalch (1991) did specify some limitations to its effectiveness. He said that:

Jingles are only beneficial when provided with minimal clues for retrieval (i.e. in aided recall tasks).

In other words, jingles only help when we lack other clues which facilitate recognition. When we’re presented with other information (or options for slogans) that might help recall, jingles did not exactly improve memory accuracy. What does this mean? It means that jingles are useful for their mnemonic value. Its usefulness diminishes as verbal information becomes more elaborate.

Jingles are beneficial when individuals have minimal exposure to the advertising.

In other words, jingles are more useful for low-exposure advertisements. This has big implications for brands that have low budget for advertising. It suggests that if an advert for a product is not frequently shown in media, incorporating the slogan in a tune might be the way to go for improved brand recall.

So does this mean that jingles should be avoided for high-exposure campaigns?

Not necessarily! Remember how we were bombarded with Manny Villar’s political ad? It seemed effective enough for bran association, right? That’s because music might have other beneficial effects. It might not aid learning and remembering, but it can alleviate wearout. Wearout is the effect of diminished attention because of the lack of new information presented. Enjoyable music, in this case, might be beneficial to forestall the effect of wearout.

So there you have it, folks! Let this serve as a reminder for advertisers and politicians to use jingles wisely.

BY Andrea Espino

References:

Wallace, W. (1991). Jingles in Advertisements: Can They Improve Recall? Advances in Consumer Research, 18, 239-242. Retrieved October 16, 2015, from http://www.acrwebsite.org/search/view-conference-proceedings.aspx?Id=7167

Yalch, R. (1991). Memory in a Jingle Jungle: Music as a Mnemonic Device in Communicating Advertising Slogans. Journal of Applied Psychology, 76(2), 268-275. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.76.2.268

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Posted by Dominic Liao 

in reference to this post: http://onethreeandfive.tumblr.com/post/130180414704/posted-by-dominic-liao

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Posted by Dominic Liao

See part 2 here yey! http://onethreeandfive.tumblr.com/post/130203547449/posted-by-dominic-liao-in-reference-to-this

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Hipster Filters: The Science Behind its Hipsterness

If I’m going to be honest, I know for a fact that one of the main reasons why I joined the instagram bandwagon was to follow celebrities. I guess it makes a good past time to catch a glimpse of the seemingly wonderful lives of my favorite actresses, singers, and models. I know...pathetic.

Lately, though, I have been noticing an interesting trend when it comes to the photos of my instagram feed. People tend to post photos that are quite unsaturated, faded, and pretty much organic. Celebrities like Beyonce and Taylor Swift are definitely in on the trend. 

Of course, it’s a no brainer how these photos rake likes by the millions. But try scrolling through the accounts of mere human beings like you and me, and you can say for yourself that celebrities are not the only ones who are into this trend. I don’t know about you but it seems to me that photos that get the most likes on instagram (and probably on any social media site for that matter) are those that follow into this thing they call hipster filters. 

This trend is so legit that a company is now developing sunglasses that make you see the world through “hipster eyes”. They are now accepting pre-orders for these shades that makes instagram filters come to life. 

If this filter craze is getting this serious, maybe its time to wonder...maybe there’s more to this trend than meets the eye. What is it with these photos that get them so many likes? I mean come on, they’re just filters! 

According to this latest research by Yahoo Labs, filtering photos really do have an effect on the engagement of photo consumers. It seems that how we see the colors in a picture influences its aesthetic appeal to us.  A group of researchers namely, Saeideh Bakhshi, David A. Shamma, Lyndon Kennedy, & Eric Gilbert, explored this timely phenomenon in their research entitled, “Why we filter our photos and how it impacts engagement” which was done only this April 2015. 

The researchers employed a mixed method design wherein they made use of both qualitative (interviews) and quantitative (Flickr mobile data) methods. First, they aimed to know how photographers perceive and use filters. Secondly, they also devised a way to measure viewers’ engagement by analyzing the mobile data of the famous photo-sharing site, Flickr. They equated engagement with a photo’s total number of views and comments. 

The photographers interviewed in the study reported that they use filters as a way to improve the aesthetics of their photos, manipulate its color, or even highlight certain objects in the picture. Well, probably just like everyone else, they also use filters to make their photos look fun and unique. 

For the quantitative aspect of their study, the researchers used a whopping 7.6 million photos and their respective data which were all collected from Flickr. Here comes the part we really wanted to know, what kind of photos got the most number of views and comments? The millions-worth of data showed that in order to increase the chances of getting popular photo posts, your pictures must: 

highlight the contrast of the image

increase the photo’s exposure

have filters with warm temperatures 

It was found that filters can increase the number of views of a picture by at least 21%. More than that, filtered photos are also 45% more likely to receive comments than unfiltered ones. Interestingly, though, the aging effect brought about by filters which make pictures look much warmer tend to increase its number of views but decrease its number of comments. They also found that filters which basically auto-enhance a photograph by correcting its contrast and exposure result to higher viewer engagement. Heads up tough! There are also some filters which were found to decrease the chances of engagement. These are filters which  make exaggerate the features of a photo and/or lessens the effect of highlighted details. Check out this comparative view of filtered photos from the study itself: 

So if you want to be instagram’s next big hipster, you better make sure to choose your filters wisely! Remember CEW: Contrast, Exposure, and Warm colors. Apply these tips and you’ll surely be a happy hipster in no time! 

Posted by Gail Zabala

Reference:  

Bakhshi, S., Shamma, D. A., Kennedy, L., & Gilbert, E. (2015, April). Why We Filter Our Photos and How It Impacts Engagement. In Ninth International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media.

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Gora with Aila E01: How to take the best profile picture

Maraming Pilipino ang gumagamit ng Facebook at Twitter halos araw-araw. Minsan ilang oras pa per day ‘yong nagagamit natin para sa social media. Isa sa mga mahahalagang features sa Facebook at Twitter ay ang news feed. Dito kasi nakikita ‘yong mga hanash (or thoughts) ng mga tao, like kung anong nashashare nilang news, anong pinopost nila, ano pinapanood nila, anong kinakain nila, saan sila pumupunta, sino kasama nila, anong hanash nila about specific stuff. Kasama na rin dito kung anong photos ang ginagamit nila bilang display pictures.

Hindi lang basta-basta ang pagseset ng profile picture. Ako, personally, super hirap magset ng profile picture kasi pinipili ko talaga kung anong maganda (huhu call me narcissist keri lang!). Kasi siyempre, people want to have an attention-catching display photo. Self-gratifying kasi siya kapag may naglalike (lalo na kapag lumagpas ng 200, ego booster di ba!!!). Pero kasi maraming obstacles on how to make your DP very very noticeable and very very likeable!! Sa news feed kasi, malamang hindi lang ikaw ‘yong makikita ng tao (except kung ikaw lang ‘yong friend niya, which is highly unlikely hahaha). So kadalasan, nasscroll-an lang ng ibang tao ‘yong DP mo.  

As I mentioned earlier, you have to make your DP likeable para mapansin siya kahit sobrang liit lang ng thumbnail. So paano ba? Para madiscuss siya nang maayos, gagamit ako ng psychological concepts on how principles in scene perception and object perception can help you achieve the perfect DP!!!

This be your typical news feed!!! Aling DP pinakamagandiz? 

1. CHOICE: Saan ka magpipicture? Sa dagat? Sa gubat? Sa BGC?

Everything starts with a choice, opkors. Kailangan mo piliin kung anong concept ba gusto mong i-pull off. Sa kalye, sa mall, sa dagat, sa gubat, sa ibang bansa, sa ilalim ng dagat, sa ilalim ng table, habang lumilindol, etc. Kailangan loyal ka sa concept mo. Mahirap kapag dalawa-dalawang concepts, at ambiguous ‘yong peg mo. Hindi magegets, hindi rin magugustuhan.

So yep I chose the sea!!

Pero kasi according to a research conducted by Tinio and Leder, dalawang psychologists from Austria na nagsspecialize sa aesthetics and evolutionary psych, mas prefer ng mga tao ang mga photos ng natural scenes (tulad ng dagat o gubat) kaysa sa man-made scenes (streets, cosmopolitan areas like BGC). May evolutionary roots daw ‘to kasi mas maraming panahon ang na-spend natin bilang isang species kasama ang nature kaysa kasama ‘yong mga man-made things. Nakakatulong din daw kasi siya na i-restore ang ating physical and mental health, mostly dahil sa aesthetic value and meditative value na binibigay ng scenic photos. Finally, may naaactivate daw na receptors for pleasure kapag tumitingin sa scenic photos (2009). How nice ‘di ba!

Thus, mas likeable ang isang photo kapag kinuha mo siya mula sa isang scenic view kaysa kapag kinuha mo sa isang cosmopolitan area. Kaya mag-beach or punta kang bundok para kumuha ng photo! Maeffort pero it will pay off!

Pero as I said earlier, it starts with a choice. Choose the natural view over the man-made one. Ano namang next step?

2. QUALITY: 1080p is da best!!

Remember how people called you soshal everytime you use an SLR? Yep, so mag-aapply din siya sa pag-post ng DP. Sabi kasi nina Tinio and Leder (super fave ko sila!), may impact ang image quality sa preference sa natural scenes (2009). So kung kumuha ka ng dalawang photos of the same thing using two different devices, mas preferable ‘yong photo from the device na may magandang camera. Yay!

Pero ‘di mo rin naman kailangang bumili ng SLR para mag-DP. ‘Di naman tayo gano’n kadesperado. Marami pang techniques on how to snap the perfect DP! Gamitin natin ang principles ng Gestalt psychology, and some discoveries on scene perception.

3. SCENE STRUCTURE: Let them know!

Kapag magd-DP ka ng photo, kailangan nakakacapture agad kung nasaang lupalop ka ba ng mundo. Ito ‘yong pwede nating tawagin na scene gist. Sabi ni Castelhano and Handerson, ang scene gist ang magagawa mong inferences on a particular scene. Kasama na sa inferences na ito ‘yong mga bagay na pwede mong makita sa loob ng scene and kung anong layout niya (2008). Medyo halata siya actually. Like kapag sinabi sa’yo ng isang tao na magdrawing ng beach, may nafoform ka nang concept and kayang kaya mo siyang i-drawing nang hindi namomroblema. Parang generalized concept ng isang beach.

Ang scene structure naman ang “shape” ng isang scene (Castelhano and Handerson, 2008). For example, kung kukuha ka ng isang larawan sa beach, may particular textures na dapat present doon, na hindi mo makikita sa isang larawan ng gubat. For example, nandiyan ‘yong sand, nandiyan ‘yong mismong dagat, and open ang space. ‘Yong ganitong mga textures, hindi makikita sa gubat, kasi sa gubat, maraming puno, and medyo masikip ang space.

Magandang pumili ng isang DP na halata ang scene structure ng isang lugar para marecognize agad ng isang friend (or crush). Haha.

Typical details of a beach: the water, the sand, the sky, and some distant islands. 

4. COLOR: Different scenes, different shades

Aside from the scene structure (or texture), important din i-consider ang color. Ayon sa research na kinonduct nina Castelhano at Handerson, may epekto ang kulay sa perception ng isang scene. Pero napansin din nila na may inconsistency sa findings when it came to color and scene perception na gusto nilang malaman kung mayroon ba talagang effect or wala. So they conducted an experiment on color. Gumamit sila ng wide variety ng scenes (hindi lang puro natural scenes) saka monochrome and original versions ng photos. Nalaman nila na nakaka-influence ang color sa gist dahil may nabubuong relationship between color and gist (Castelhano and Handerson, 2008). Like for example, ‘pag green, naaassociate siya sa gubat. Kapag blue, naaassociate siya sa dagat or sa sky (Goldstein, 2014).

Nalaman din nila sa research nila na nagpapakita ang effects ng color sa scene perception 80ms after exposure. So mabilis siya pero hindi instant. Ang gist kasi ng scene, the details surrounding scene structure, lumalabas siya 50ms after exposure. Therefore, mas mabilis magsettle ang scene structure kaysa sa color ng isang scene.

Pero kahit na mas late siya magsettle, important global property pa rin ang color kasi it implies something about the nature of the scene. Kaya if you want to have a photo na nasa beach ka or nasa bundok ka or nasa gubat ka, don’t use black and white. Hindi kasi siya mahahalata if ever.

Very blue. Very beach. 

5. FIGURE-GROUND: Top or bottom?

In Gestalt psychology, isang issue ang figure-ground segregation. Like, ano bang features ‘yong macoconsider mong figure and ano bang features ‘yong macoconsider mong ground? Pero si Goldstein, nag-offer siya ng guidelines sa kung ano ang macoconsider mo na isang figure and ano ang macoconsider mo na isang ground. Sabi niya, ang figure mas “thing-like” kaysa sa ground and mas memorable din siya. Siya ‘yong mapeperceive mo as an object. Sabi din niya, ang figure palaging nasa harap ng ground, at ang ground ay background lang talaga na walang specific shape unlike the figure (2014).

Pero meron pa actually na additional issues sa issue ng figure-ground segregation and photography. May mga research na na-conduct kung meron ba talagang orientation kung saan very obvious ang isang figure. And sabi ni Goldstein, ayon sa isang experiment na kinonduct n Shaun Vecera et al noong 2002, ‘pag nasa baba ang isang figure, mas maganda siyang tingnan. Ang sinasabi nilang reason behind this is the fact na typically nasa bottom part ‘yong mga figures. Like ang dagat, palaging nasa horizon. Ang landscape, palaging nasa horizon.

So another worthy advice would be to take a picture na ikaw ang figure, at nasa ilalim ka. Like take a picture of the sky with you below it. Take a picture of the beach with you immersed in it. Mas aesthetically pleasing daw kasi siya.

Located closer to the bottom. If I were a few centimeters near the top of the photo, baka di na siya betty.

6. PRINCIPLE OF PRAGNANZ: Simple is best

Ito na siguro ang favorite ko hahaha, and the last advice I could give. Sa principle of pragnanz, also called principle of good figure or principle of simplicity, “every stimulus pattern is seen in such a way that the resulting structure is as simple as possible” (Goldstein, 2014). Makikita dito, apart from its main point, that the human eye has a bias towards simplicity. We don’t like to see complicated things kasi nakakadagdag pa ng unnecessary details. So it’s best to keep your display photos simple and straightforward. Sinabi rin ni Tinio and Leder na although a lot of people may think otherwise, original or unretouched high quality images of natural scenes are much more preferable than degraded images. Therefore, tama na masyadong photoshop, beh! It’s best to keep it simple. I-push ang #NoFilter. ‘Pag napush mo na lahat, you might just receive the award for best Facebook and Twitter DP!!

Walang masyadong details, wala ring filter. Gandiz. 

THIS CORNER IS FOR ADDITIONAL HANASH

But we really do have to ask ourselves: gaano ba kaimportant magkaroon ng magandang Facebook or Twitter DP? Ito lang ba ang point ng ilang oras na pag-engage natin sa social media? Of course not. Social media is a platform; it is a starting point for ideas, for mobilization, for movement, for change. Through one share, through one retweet, naipapamahagi mo sa buong mundo ang iba’t ibang kaisipan or ideologies na kinakampihan mo. It’s powerful, and it’s taken for granted sometimes. I hope more people realize that.

But I’m not trashing the arguments I have raised earlier. Maganda magkaroon ng maayos na FB and Twitter DP. It’s aesthetically pleasing, as I have said. But we have to go beyond the pictures and posts of each and every thing we do daily. We have to promote change.

SO YEY!!! Super daming magagawa sa social media. As in, sobrang dami. Try natin na i-tap lahat ng magagawa natin outside the realm of profile pictures.

Habang nag-iisip ka, pwede mo rin silang basahin since very helpful sila! :)

Castelhano, M., Handerson, J. (2008). The influence of color on the perception of scene gist. In Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 34 (3), 660-675. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0096-1523.34.3.660

Goldstein, E.B. (2014). Sensation and Perception, 9th edition. USA: Wadsworth/Cengage.

Tinio, P., Leder, H. (2009). Natural scenes are indeed preferred but image quality might have the last word. In Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts, 3 (1), 52-56. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0014835

By: Aila Abellanosa

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FACEption: On Faces and Visual Perception

Faces are special (Goldstein, 2014) because: 

1) ”Faces are pervasive in the environment”

They are important sources of information such as the person’s identity, mood and the like.

2) They are necessary for social interactions

3) It triggers a widespread activity in the brain

Faces are said to initiate distributed processing starting from the occipital cortex that sends signals to the fusiform gyrus which in turn, results to face identification. 

In a study by Kanwisher, McDemott and Chun (1997), the researchers found an area in the fusiform gyrus that was more active when subjects viewed faces compared to common objects. The study was conducted using a functional magnetic resonance imaging  (fMRI) and the researchers also mentioned that their data allowed them to demonstrate that this region, an area in the fusiform gyrus, is “selectively involved in perception of faces” by running multiple tests applied to the same region within the individuals. 

Furthermore, this area responded more significantly to:

1) Intact than scrambled two-tone faces.

2)  Full front-view face photos than front-view photos of houses 

3)  Three-quarter-view face photos than photos of human hands

Our fascination with faces may well be translated in our obsession in taking selfies.

On the Culture of Self(ie) (n.d.),

“Besides using our modern devices to photograph outwards, towards the world, we increasingly use our cameras to record ourselves with selfies, in a self-centered act of pointing the camera inward. In the past years the use of social media services has encouraged us to profile ourselves all the time and the frequency of taking photographs has gradually intensified. As a consequence a rather narcissistic cult of the self is promoted by descriptions, instant messaging, ratings, staging and outward appearances”

We, as social creatures, interact daily with others. We interpret and respond to other people’s faces and facial expressions. On the contrary, we have limited experience looking at our faces (Kilner, 2014),

“Our perception of our own facial expression comes from our sense of feeling our faces move. This lack of visual knowledge about our own faces means we have a very inaccurate representation of what our own faces look like at any given time…This might in part explain our obsession with selfies. For the first time we are able to take and retake pictures of ourselves until we can produce an image that come closer to matching our perception of what we think we look like.”

In addition, in the study made by Kanwisher, et.al, (1997), they discovered that humans are so face-hungry that our FFA (Fusiform Face Area) activates with a mere sight of cartoon, cat faces, and photographs with faces and just about anything that resembles a face. It’s probably the reason why we can go on scanning photos of our relatives or friends posted in our news feed on Facebook or liked selfies posted in Instagram for hours.

Today, photos became a means of modern communication. According to Bakhshi, et. al (2014), photos of people and photos with faces are 38% more likely to receive likes and 32% more likely to receive comments regardless of age and gender. These photos including selfies, therefore, signifies social engagement in an online platform.

By: Char Bustamante

References:

Bakhshi, S. S. (2014). Faces Enagage Us: Photos with Faces Attract More Likes and Comments on Instagram . Session: Personal Values and Preferences, 965-974.

Goldstein, E. (2014). Sensation and Perception. USA: Wadsworth/Cengage.

Kanwisher, N. M. (1997). The Fusiform Face Area: A Module in Human Extrastriate Cortex Specialized for Face Perception. The Journal of Neuroscience, 4302-4311.

Kilner, J. (2014, January 17). The Curated Ego: What Makes a Good Selfie. Retrieved from BBC New: http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-25763704

Selfie. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://thedetachedgaze.com/tag/selfie/

[onethreeandfive-blog]

Aya, I need your help!! I think my Papa P is cheating on me!! Nasa mall ako namimili ng #OOTDs for our LaBoracay trip nung nakita ko siya na may kasamang ibang baklita!! Halos magdilim ang paningin ko nung nakita so sila sa elevator!! Sigurado na ko na siya yon pero sakto nagsara bigla yung pinto ng elevator kaya saglit ko lang sila nakita. Ayoko namang mangbintang kasi baka sabihin kung anu-ano lang iniimbento ko. Ategirl, pano na?? :( Nagmamahal, ur #1 fan.

Dear fan,

Nakakaloka. Remember na against the Sosyal Etiquette ang pagiging mistress or ang iwanan for another woman. Kung ako ang nasa kalagayan mo, iiwanan ko agad si Papa P at magiging strong, independent single lady ako sa #LaBoracay. Pero dahil mabait akong tao, tutulungan kita para maliwanagan ang isip mo. ♥

Una, tandaan mo na saglit mo lang sila nakita. Sa tingin mo enough na ba ‘yon para ma-gets kung ano yung nangyayari? Pwedeng sabihin ng iba: “hindi, imposible!”, at kung iisipin, may point naman sila. Ang daming bagay na kailangan mong tutukan sa isang pangyayari diba? Pano mo sila makikita ng sabay-sabay, sa saglit na panahon lang? Pero ang sabi naman ng iba, “pwede na!”. Sapat na ang ilang segundo para ma-gets mo kung ano ang nangyayari, at ito ang totoo ayon sa mga experto. Halimbawa, habang nasa Facebook ka, diba ang daming pictures ang nakikita mo sa feed mo? Pero habang nagso-scroll down ka sa iPhone 6plus mo, nagegets mo na agad na “uy, si mare nasa beach! soshal!”, kahit hindi mo na titigan pa ng matagal yung bagong profile picture niya. Ang tawag ng mga psychologists dito ay gist of the scene. Huwag matakot sa ingles! Ang ibig sabihin lang nito ay ang pangkalahatang kahulugan mo sa isang larawan. Kung ‘gets’ mo ba, kumabaga. Sadyang may mga larawan ka lang na nakikita at sa isang kisapmata pa lang, alam mo na agad kung ano ang ibig sabihin nito. At nangyayari ito nang mas mabilis pa sa isang segundo! ¼ lang ng isang segundo, promise!

Pero kung iisipin, ang gist of the scene ay mas angkop para sa mga larawan ng lugar. Yung tipong mga soshal na landscape and iba pang travel shots sa Instagram. Ang mas angkop para sa kalagayan mo ay ang tinatawag ng mga gist of an event. Ngayon, ano ‘yan? Anong pagkakaiba niya sa nauna? Simple lang, ang event ay may action na nagaganap. May kinalaman ito sa oras at sa pakikipag-ugnayan ng isang tao, hayop, o bagay sa kanyang kapaligiran. Hindi ba kapag sinabing “event” ay may nangyayari. Sa problema mo, ang nangyayari ay nahuli mong may kasamang iba ang jowa mo. Maaaring magka-holding hands sila sa elevator or kung ano pa man ang pwede nilang gawing PDA para manghinala ka na. In your case, sabihin natin na na may halik na nangyari. 

Ngayon, wala akong panahon para mag-imbestiga sa sitwasyon mo. Kaya tutulungan na lang ako ng tatlo pang experts (sa psychology, hindi sa love) na sina Hafri, Papafragou, at Trueswell. Gumawa sila ng isang pag-aaral noong 2013 na pwedeng maipaliwanag kung tama ba ang nakita mo. O diba, soshal! At kagaya ng nangyari sa iyo ang ginawa nila sa mga kalahok nila sa kanilang mga experiment. Nagpakita lamang sila ng mga larawan ng dalawang tao (lalaki at babae) na nagpapakita ng mga events tulad ng pagsuntok, pagsipa, pagpipicture, at iba pa. Ang mga larawang ito ay pinakita sa loob ng 37 milliseconds o kaya naman ay 73 milliseconds, pagkatapos ay pinalitan ng ibang larawan upang maihinto (o mai-mask) ang pagtingin sa larawan.

Hindi na tayo magpapaliboy-liboy pa, sasagutin na namin ang mga tanong mo!

Ang tanong: Maari mo nga bang makilala o maunawaan ang mga nangyayaring aksyon sa loob ng isang segundo? 

Ang sagot: Oo.

Paano: Sa unang pag-aaral ng tatlong experto, nagpakita sila ng mga larawan na nabanggit at tinanong ang mga kalahok kung nakita ba nila ang pangyayari (hal. ”Did you see ‘pushing’?”). Ang resulta? Oo! Nagawang maunawaan ng mga kalahok ang ginawang aksyon sa larawan, kahit sa pinakamaiksing pagkakataon lang!

Ano ngayon?: Girl, ikinalulungkot kong sabihin na malaki ang pagkakataong tama ang nakita mo. Kung mas matagal pa sa isang segundo mo nakita ang nangyari, maaring mas marami kang nakitang detalye para mabuo ang pagkakaintindi mo sa pangyayari. Mas maraming detalye, mas tumpak. Kaya naman malaki ang pagkakataon na tama nga ang nakita mo.

Sige, sabihin nating tama ang nakita mo. Baka may kasamang iba si Papa P. Pero baka naman hindi rin siya ang humalik! Baka naman sinamahan niya lang yung babae at sadyang may gusto lang yung babae sa kanya at di nakapagpigil. Kasalanan ba ni Papa P ‘yon? 

Ang tanong: Maari mo bang makilala kung sino ang gumagawa ng aksyon at sino ang nakatatanggap ng aksyon sa loob ng isang segundo?

Ang sagot: Oo.

Paano: May tinatawag sina Hafri, Papafragou, at Trueswell na “Event Role Features”. Eto yung mga katangian ng katawan kapag may ginagawa tayo. Halimbawa na nito ang mga extremities o ang mga kamay o braso mo (kung outstretched ba ito o conctracted), ang body lean (kung nakahilig ka ba papunta o palayo sa isang tao), body orientation (papunta o palayo), at head orientation (papunta o palayo). Nakakatulong raw ang mga ito para malaman kung sino ang gumagawa ng kilos. 

Sa pag-aaral ng tatlong psychologist, tinanong nila kung sino ang agent (ang gumagawa ng aksyon) at kung sino ang patient (ang nakatatanggap ng aksyon). Ang mga resulta?

Kayang malaman ng mga kalahok kung sino ang mga Agent sa loob ng maiksing panahon (37 at 73 ms). Kaya rin nilang malaman kung sino ang mga Patient sa loob ng maiksing panahon. 

But wait, there’s more! Di tulad ng sa pagtutukoy kung sino ang Agent, sa pagtutukoy ng Patient, natuklasan nila na may epekto ang gender sa pagpeperceive natin. Sa palagay ng mga eksperto, maaring naapektuhan ng stereotypical gender knowledge ang pagsagot ng mga kalahok. Maaring mas naniniwala ang mga kalahok na ang mga lalaki ang mas madalas na gumagawa ng aksyon sa loob ng isang event. Sexism ba ito?! Ang sabi ng mga eksperto, baka hindi naman. Baka ang mas nakakaapekto ay ang size ng mga aktor. Mas malaki nga naman ang mga lalaki kaysa sa babae sa mga litrato.

Ano ngayon?: Gaya ng sagot ko sa nauna, malaki ang pagkakataong tama ang hinala mo kung sino man ang gumawa ng aksyon. Si other woman man ito o si Papa P. Ngunit tandaan na maaring naapektuhan ng size ng aktor ang nakita mo.

Sure ba sila Hafri, Papafragou, at Trueswell sa mga sinabi nila? 

Ang tanong: Nakakatulong nga ba ang mga sinasabi nilang “Event Role Features”?

Ang sagot: Mukhang oo.

Paano: Kung wala ang mga event role features na nabanggit nila, malamang magbabago ang mga sagot ng kalahok sa experiment diba? Para malaman kung ito ang mangyayari, mayroon uli silang isa pang experiment. Tinanong nila ang mga kalahok kung nakita ba nila ang mga nabanggit na event role features sa mga larawan. Ang resulta? May ibang role feature na maaring makatulong (ngunit hindi direktang nakakapagsabi!) sa mabilis na pagkilala sa mga Agents (tulad ng extremities at body lean). Ang mga agents nga naman ay madalas nakahilig papunta sa ibang tao at ang mga kamay at braso nila ay madalas na outstretched. Kabaligtaran naman ang sa mga Patients. 

THE FINAL VERDICT

Girl, ‘eto na ang mga pag-aaral nina Hafri, Papafragou, at Trueswell na nagsasabing (1) maari mong matukoy ng tama ang gist ng isang event kahit sa sandaling segundo lamang. Malaki ang pagkakataon na tama ang nakita mo. Malaki rin ang pagkakataon na (2) tama ang natukoy mong gumawa ng aksyon. Maaring (3) nakatulong rito ang mga “event role features” na nabanggit kanina.

MY ADVICE

Confront him! Mayroon ka nang scientific info para maging back-up sa mga sasabihin mo. At least kung mali ka, you sounded smart. Charot. 

Nagmamahal,Snobbera ng Malabon, Aya

Reference (if you don’t believe me):

Hafri, A., Papafragou, A., & Trueswell, J. (2012). Getting the Gist of Events: Recognition of Two-Participant Actions From Brief Displays. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 142(3), 880-905. doi:10.1037/a0030045

[onethreeandfive-blog]

Who are we?

We are students of UP Diliman who study perception, with the course name Psych 135. We seek to learn and understand the perceptual process through reading a variety of journal entries that revolve around perception. We seek to reflect on these discoveries and see how the perceptual process affects our daily life. We seek to apply what we have learned on how perception and societal issues can be closely interlinked. 

MEET THE GROUP!

AILA ABELLANOSA: Aila is a fourth year BA Psychology student who wants to become a social psychologist in the future. She is most interested on how emotions can affect perception. 

CHAR BUSTAMANTE: Char is a fourth year BS Psychology student who aspires to be a physician someday. 

AYA ESPINO: (description)

DOM LIAO: (description)

GAIL ZABALA: (description)