Not So Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Visual Perspective and Imagined Social Interaction

Bibliographic Data

ID21209293
AuthorsLynden K Miles (0000-0002-4164-3470, University of Aberdeen, corresponding author), Brittany M Christian (University of Aberdeen), Nomita Masilamani (University of Aberdeen), Luiza Volpi (Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro), C Neil Macrae (0000-0002-8659-6778, University of Aberdeen)
Year2014
Volume5
Issue5
Pages558-565
Publication date2014-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial Psychological and Personality Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1948-5506 • E-ISSN: 1948-5514
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/1948550613511500
OpenAlexW2065472526
LanguageEN
Citations received9
References cited59

Via mental simulation, future previews have been shown to optimize behavioral selection and enhance task performance. Yet little is known about the critical factors that determine exactly how and when imagination impacts behavior. Noting the theoretical importance of vantage point (i.e., field vs. observer perspective) during mental imagery, here we explored the possibility that spatial visual perspective influences the real-time behavioral correlates of simulated (i.e., imagined) events. Participants were instructed to imagine positive and negative social encounters from either a field or an observer vantage point. Throughout each imagined interaction, postural movement in the anterioposterior (i.e., front–back) plane served as a real-time index of approach–withdrawal behavior. The results revealed that mental simulations were accompanied by functionally adaptive behavior (i.e., approach or withdrawal) but only when events were imagined from a field perspective. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are considered

Cognition · Cognitive psychology · Mental image · Action Observation and Synchronization · Computer Science · Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies · Psychology · Social and Intergroup Psychology · Social Psychology · Artificial Intelligence

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub