Geometrical Factors in the Perception of Sacredness

Visual Tension

Although tension perception is well investigated in the music domain, its determinants in visual displays are still largely unexplored. Furthermore, the distinctive role of tension and arousal in affect theory is still debated. The study aimed to assess how geometrical and graphical transformations of basic visual shapes can affect perceived tension and arousal. The geometrical transformations were angle amplitude, rotation, position within a frame, symmetry, verticality, angularity, size, and regularity in spacing, while the graphical transformation regarded contrast. The sample included 122 participants. Perceived tension was significantly higher in angles with small amplitude, squares that were slightly rotated and not in the upright position, the upper and right areas within a rectangle, angular shapes, high-contrasted graphical transitions, asymmetrical shapes, vertical shapes, and dot patterns with irregular spacing. Overall, there was a moderate correlation between perception of tension and perception of arousal, although in some specific features, tension exhibited a dissociation from arousal, suggesting a distinctive role of tension in affect theory.

Linear Perspective and Framing in the Vista Paradox

The vista paradox is the illusion in which an object seen through an aperture appears to shrink in apparent size as the observer approaches the aperture. In four studies, we tested the effect of framing and fixating on the target object. The first two studies assessed the vista paradox in a large scale naturalistic setting in which a 162.26 -m long corridor was aligned to a 97.2 -m high tower (1,407 m away). In the first study, the results showed, for each 16 m section, a mean 9.95% tower enlargement in the moving backward condition, and a mean 11.62% shrinking in the moving forward condition. In the second study, participants had to compensate perceived width change adjusting the focal length of a photographic zoom lens. The results showed, for each 16 m section, a mean change in optical size of 26.37% in the experimental condition, and of 53.08% in the control condition. In the third study, we presented an identical vertical rectangle inserted within five frames differing in size. In the fourth study, linear perspective was added to the images. The results showed that both frame size and linear perspective cues were critical factors for the vista paradox illusion.