Abstract
The evocative power of the unfamiliar but expressive stimulus “taketa,” considered to be a prototypical example of physiognomy, led to the perception of its enhanced size (Experiment 1) and increased distance (Experiment 2). Comparisons were made of taketa and three other unfamiliar stimuli, one of which was also physiognomic (“maluma”), and six familiar and meaningful shapes. In Experiment 1 (N = 55), a size-matching study was conducted; comparison stimuli were lines of different sizes. The aggressive-seeming taketa was seen as larger than the peaceful-seeming maluma, the two other unfamiliar stimuli, and at least one other meaningful shape. In Experiment 2 (N = 21), predictions about the apparent distance of a large-appearing taketa were supported. A card on which taketa was printed was set farther away, on both ascending and descending trials, than several other stimuli. The results were interpreted as favoring a perceptual basis for physiognomy.
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A summary of portions of Experiment 1 on size was presented at the 26th Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Boston, MA, November 22-24, 1985. A briefer version of Experiment 2 on distance was presented at the 56th Annual Meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association, Boston, MA, March 21-24, 1985. The coauthor on that paper was Terrence F. Tully, to whom I am indebted for his fresh ideas and hard work.
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Lindauer, M.S. Size and distance perception of the physiognomic stimulus “taketa”. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 26, 217–220 (1988). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03337292
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03337292