1
|
Gumančík J, Cornelissen PL, Brokjøb LG, Ridley BJ, McCarty K, Tovée MJ, Cornelissen KK. Testing the validity of online psychophysical measurement of body image perception. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0302747. [PMID: 38857270 PMCID: PMC11164378 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0302747] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2024] [Accepted: 04/10/2024] [Indexed: 06/12/2024] Open
Abstract
This body image study tests the viability of transferring a complex psychophysical paradigm from a controlled in-person laboratory task to an online environment. 172 female participants made online judgements about their own body size when viewing images of computer-generated female bodies presented in either in front-view or at 45-degrees in a method of adjustment (MOA) paradigm. The results of these judgements were then compared to the results of two laboratory-based studies (with 96 and 40 female participants respectively) to establish three key findings. Firstly, the results show that the accuracy of online and in-lab estimates of body size are comparable, secondly that the same patterns of visual biases in judgements are shown both in-lab and online, and thirdly online data shows the same view-orientation advantage in accuracy in body size judgements as the laboratory studies. Thus, this study suggests that that online sampling potentially represents a rapid and accurate way of collecting reliable complex behavioural and perceptual data from a more diverse range of participants than is normally sampled in laboratory-based studies. It also offers the potential for designing stratified sampling strategies to construct a truly representative sample of a target population.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jiří Gumančík
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
| | - Piers L. Cornelissen
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
| | - Lise Gulli Brokjøb
- Department of Psychology, The Artic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway
| | - Bethany J. Ridley
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
| | - Kristofor McCarty
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
| | - Martin J. Tovée
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
| | - Katri K. Cornelissen
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Turnbull G, Alexi J, Mann G, Li Y, Engel M, Bayliss DM, Farrell S, Bell J. EXPRESS: The Influence of Three-Dimensional Cues on Body Size Judgements. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2022; 75:2318-2331. [PMID: 35034530 DOI: 10.1177/17470218221076850] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Research has shown that body size judgements are frequently biased, or inaccurate. Critically, judgement biases are further exaggerated for individuals with eating disorders, a finding that has been attributed to difficulties integrating body features into a perceptual whole. However, current understanding of which body features are integrated when judging body size is lacking. In this study, we examine whether individuals integrate three-dimensional (3D) cues to body volume when making body size judgements. Computer-generated body stimuli were presented in a 3D Virtual Reality (VR) environment. Participants (N = 412) were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: in one condition the to-be-judged body was displayed binocularly (containing 3D cues to body volume), in the other, bodies were presented monocularly (2D cues only). Across 150 trials, participants were required to make a body size judgement of a target female body from a third-person point of view using an unmarked visual analogue scale (VAS). It was found that 3D cues significantly influenced body size judgements. Namely, thin 3D bodies were judged smaller, and overweight 3D bodies were judged larger, than their 2D counterpart. Furthermore, to reconcile these effects, we present evidence that the two perceptual biases, regression to the mean and serial dependence, were reduced by the additional 3D feature information. Our findings increase our understanding of how body size is perceptually encoded and creates testable predictions for clinical populations exhibiting integration difficulties.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Georgia Turnbull
- School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia (M304), 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley WA 6009, Australia 2720
| | - Joanna Alexi
- School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia (M304), 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley WA 6009, Australia 2720
| | - Georgina Mann
- School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia (M304), 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley WA 6009, Australia 2720
| | - Yanqi Li
- School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia (M304), 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley WA 6009, Australia 2720
| | - Manja Engel
- Utrecht University, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Experimental Psychology/Helmholtz Institute. Heidelberglaan 1, 3584 CS Utrecht, Netherlands 8125
| | - Donna M Bayliss
- School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia (M304), 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley WA 6009, Australia 2720
| | - Simon Farrell
- School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia (M304), 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley WA 6009, Australia 2720
| | - Jason Bell
- School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia (M304), 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley WA 6009, Australia 2720
| |
Collapse
|