Moving to maintain perceptual and social constancy

ABSTRACT Past research on object constancy has tended to treat the viewer as a passive observer. Here we examine viewers’ body and eye movements when they are asked to view photos of people in a gallery setting. Participants considered one individual in each photo, before indicating how socially connected they felt toward them and then moving to a spot in the gallery where they would be most comfortable when talking to them. Photographed individuals varied in their projected distance from the camera (near, far) and in their image resolution (sharp, slightly blurred). Results showed that participants looked more directly at near versus far individuals and at sharp versus blurred individuals. They also rated their social connection as stronger when the images were near versus far and sharp versus blurred. Where participants stood when making these ratings was strongly correlated with the projected distance of the images and with their ratings of social connection. These findings are discussed with regard to brain mechanisms for maintaining stability in our perceptions of geometric and social aspects of our world. They also highlight our inherent tendency to attribute qualities of our perceptual experiences to objects in that world.