The present study used eye-tracking to investigate whether a model’s gaze direction influences the way observers look at the entire body of the model and how this interacts with the observer and the model’s gender. Participants viewed individual male and female computer agents during both a free-viewing task and a rating task to evaluate the attractiveness of each character. The results indicated that both male and female participants primarily gazed at the models’ faces. Participants also spent more time scanning the face when rating the attractiveness of each model. Observers tended to scan faces with a direct gaze longer than faces with an averted gaze for both the free-viewing and attractiveness rating tasks. Lastly, participants evaluated models with a direct gaze as more attractive than models with an averted gaze. As these results occurred for pictures of computer agents, and not actual people, this suggests that direct gaze, and faces in general, are powerful for engaging attention. In summary, both task requirements and gaze direction modified face viewing preference.

The present study used eye-tracking to investigate whether a model’s gaze direction influences the way observers look at the entire body of the model and how this interacts with the observer and the model’s gender. Participants viewed individual male and female computer agents during both a free-viewing task and a rating task to evaluate the attractiveness of each character. The results indicated that both male and female participants primarily gazed at the models’ faces. Participants also spent more time scanning the face when rating the attractiveness of each model. Observers tended to scan faces with a direct gaze longer than faces with an averted gaze for both the free-viewing and attractiveness rating tasks. Lastly, participants evaluated models with a direct gaze as more attractive than models with an averted gaze. As these results occurred for pictures of computer agents, and not actual people, this suggests that direct gaze, and faces in general, are powerful for engaging attention. In summary, both task requirements and gaze direction modified face viewing preference.

Three studies examined the impact of social stimuli on visual attention. Chapter two confirmed that, hands, feet, and bodies exhibited equivalent attentional pull in a dot probe detection, two-alternative forced choice paradigm. Chapter three utilized a Posner style covert attentional cueing paradigm to examine the impact of directed human action (throwing a ball) on spatial attention. We manipulated the effect of context by including social (humans) or non-social (trees) flanking images and probed the uniquely social nature of the processing in this task by including individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a group with known social deficits, as a comparison group. We also manipulated predictability using predictive and non-predictive cue blocks between subjects. Participants with and without ASD demonstrated similar cueing effects when cues were predictive. ASD participants showed no cueing advantage when cues were non-predictive while neurotypical participants experienced cueing only in social contexts when cues were non-predictive – consistent with automatic social processing. Intelligence as measured by the FSIQ from the WAIS 4 was also analyzed. Unexpectedly, higher IQ resulted in slower RTs with the ASD group. We examined this relationship further by examining severity of diagnosis measured by ADOS-G and FSIQ in participants with ASD. In a final study we looked at the relationship between RT and eye movements in visual search for social stimuli like faces and bodies. Consistent with previous results, faces resulted in faster RTs when they were the targets. They also elicited more first fixations and shorter fixation durations. Faces were not, however, more distracting when they appeared in irrelevant singleton frames. Unexpectedly, the bodies images used in this experiment did not result in attentional capture. Possible reasons for this are discussed. / Dissertation / Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) / As humans, other humans are among the most important things we visually perceive. They are sources of threat, alliance, uncertainty, and love. Because we cannot attend to all of the things we see at once, evolution has prepared us with mental traits that favour rapid processing of complex social scenes. Across three studies, we examine how other humans affect our attention. In the first study we confirm that human bodies and their parts (like feet or hands) are equally capable of drawing our attention. Our second study examines the ability of dynamic human poses to direct our attention in the direction of the depicted action. We note that an implied social interaction leads to better performance among typically developing individuals, but leads to deficits in individuals with autism spectrum disorder, a condition characterized by social delays and impairments. Finally, we look at how important social images, like human faces or bodies, unconsciously attract and influence our eyes movements when searching among distracting images.

This study intends to gain understanding of how mothers in the two first years postpartum feel about and relate themselves to the ideal of thinness. The empirical material is based on new mothers’ perceptions and experiences. The data is collected through a qualitative method based on interviews.   The study is interpreted by a social constructive perspective and the theoretical framework has been objectification theory and Connell’s theory of gender. Some of the theoretical concepts we have used to understand the mothers’ experiences are “norms”, “normative femininity” and “social stigma”. We also have used the thematic concept “the social body”, which is an understanding of the body as a carrier of social meaning   The results of the study show that new mothers have a problematic relation to their own bodies. This problematic approach to the body arises from the constant presence of the ideal of thinness and comments from the surroundings, as the norms of interpersonal relationships are modified during pregnancy and the postpartum period. The bodies of the new mothers become objectified by the comments from the surroundings and their bodies are therefore under social control.   The ideal of thinness has a big impact on the new mothers’ body perception. We have therefore identified four strategies that the mothers use to manage the ideal: 1. With the help of clothes the new mothers precede the social pressure that the ideal of thinness generates by concealing their bodies that they experience does not comply with the ideal; 2. The new mothers adapt their bodies to the ideal by physical exercise; 3. The new mothers adapt their bodies to the ideal by diet; 4. The new mothers use cognitive strategies to feel more at ease with their postpartum bodies, by thinking kind thoughts about themselves and their own bodies.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-05T20:04:15Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 24 / Nenhuma / O estudo se propõe a conhecer a percepção de reação do sujeito frente à doença osteomuscular e os fatores que influenciam essa reação. Uma entrevista semiestruturada captou os relato de 15 sujeitos com doença osteomuscular, a maioria mulheres, de 20 a 40 anos. As entrevistas gravadas e transcritas foram analisadas a partir de quatro categorias principais: reação, aspectos sobre a doença, percepção do corpo e fatores sociais. As reações à doença osteomuscular são seletivas. Quando negativas os quadros característicos foram de irritação e depressão. Quando positivas foram demonstradas pela autopoiese, ressignificação do sujeito, valorização de si e busca por saúde como dignidade. Os apoios afetivos, como a religiosidade, a família e o convívio com outras pessoas apresentaram-se como fatores de influência positiva. E as condições sociais, como o fator econômico relacionado à escolaridade, ao trabalho e ao acesso aos serviços de saúde influenciaram negativamente. O fisioterapeuta pode auxiliar na reação positiva / The Study aim to know the Perception of subjectif Reaction face to a Osteomuscular Disease and the Factors which influence these Reaction. The Research interviews 15 Subjects with Osteomuscular Desease, most of them Wemen 20 to 40 years old. Four Categories were used to analyse the registered and transcripted Interviews: Reaction, Desease aspects, Body Perception and Social Factors. The Reactions to Osteomuscular Desease are selectives. The Display of negative Reaction are Irritation and Depression. Positive Reaction appeared by Autopiesis, subjectif Reframe, self Valuation and Search of Health with dignity. Affectives Supports, as Religiosity, Family, Living together with other Persons showed as Factors of positive Influence. The Social Conditions, as economic Income, Educational Level, Job, Access to Health Services, demonstrated negative Influence. The Physioterapist can improve the positive Reaction through the Health Education, the good Relation with the patients and the Incentive to the Body Perception

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of sexual abuse on body image of United States military service members and veterans. Participants completed an online questionnaire (n = 63) that measured their demographics, military status, sexual abuse experiences, combat experiences, relationships during deployment, and body image. Average scores on body image measures from participants who experienced sexual abuse (n = 10) were compared with average scores on body image measures from participants who did not experience sexual abuse (n = 49). Results indicate that there was not a significant difference in body image between service members who have and who have not experienced sexual abuse; however, results approached statistical significance for analyses evaluating whether service members lower in rank were at an increased risk for experiencing more sexual abuse than service members of higher rank. Implications include intervention that focuses on overall military body perception and treatment of alternative effects of sexual abuse. This research contributes to the literature as one of the first studies to assess the relationship between body image and sexual abuse in service members of the U.S. military.

Bakgrund: Ett behandlingsalternativ vid bröstcancer kan vara mastektomi som innebär borttagning av hela bröstet. Kvinnan har en dynamisk och personlig uppfattning om sin kropp som omfattar tre olika komponenter, kroppens verkliga utseende, kroppens ideal och kroppens presentation. Kroppsuppfattningen förändras vid hälsa såväl som vid sjukdom eller skada. Misslyckande i någon av komponenterna kan resultera i att personen upplever sig få en förvriden kroppsbild relaterat till sjukdom. Syfte: Syftet var att beskriva kvinnors upplevelser med bröstcancer som genomgått mastektomi med fokus på kroppsuppfattningen. Metod: Studien genomfördes som en systematisk litteraturstudie och baserades på 11 vetenskapliga artiklar som både var kvalitativa och kvantitativa. Resultat: Ur analysen framkom tre kategorier: Kvinnornas visuella syn på sig själva, som handlar om hur kvinnorna ser sin kropp och dess förändringar samt hur detta påverkar dem. Kvinnornas emotionella upplevelser, som beskriver kvinnornas känslor runt mastektomi. Kvinnornas upplevelser av en förändrad kvinnlighet som tar upp hur mastektomi har påverkat deras känsla av kvinnlighet. Slutsats: Kvinnor som genomgått mastektomi upplevde ofta en förändrad kroppsuppfattning. Över lag upplevde kvinnorna negativa känslor kring självbilden. Det visade även att brister i kommunikationen mellan patient och sjuksköterska hade en inverkan på kvinnornas upplevelser av vården. / Background: One treatment option for breast cancer is mastectomy, removing the whole breast .Women have a dynamic and personal perception of their bodies that can be divided in to three different components, real appearance of the body,ideal of the body and the presentation of the body. Body perception changes by health as well by sickness or injury. Failure in one of the components can lead to a changed body perception related to sickness. Aim: The aim was to describe women’s experiences with breast cancer who had undergone mastectomy with focus on their body perception. Method: It was carried out as a systematic literature review and was based on eleven qualitative and quantitative articles. Results: The analysis formed three categories, Women’s visual sight on themselves: how women look at the changed body and how it affects them.Women’s emotional experiences: the women’s feelings about the mastectomy and Women’s experience of a changed femininity: how mastectomy affects the femininity. Conclusion: Women that underwent mastectomy often experienced a change body perception. Overall the women experienced negative thoughts about their self-image. It also showed that lack of communication between patient and nurse had an impact on the women’s experiences around their healthcare.

Mémoire (M.A.)-- Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, 1994. / Résumé disponible sur Internet. Diapositives à la fin du v. en pochette. CaQCU CaQCU Document électronique également accessible en format PDF. CaQCU

Embodiment is the experience of one's own body. It is often studied using the Rubber Hand Illusion (RHI). This illusion varies the consistency between visual, tactile and proprioceptive signals to elicit a change to embodiment. Changes to embodiment are typically measured using a single sensory outcome measure of proprioceptive drift, which is interpreted as a proxy measure of embodiment. This approach obscures the unique contribution of other modalities such as vision and touch. The work presented in this thesis uses a mixed method approach to investigate the unique contribution of visual, tactile and proprioceptive modalities within the multisensory process of embodiment. In study one, a qualitative analysis showed that when visual-tactile discrepancies were present in the RHI, participants described both body ownership and body extension type changes to embodiment, and changes to tactile perception. In study two, psychophysical measurements of the RHI showed changes to visual, tactile and proprioceptive aspects of embodiment, suggesting that embodiment in the RHI could be measured using multiple sensory outcomes. Studies three and four assessed the utility of measuring multiple sensory outcomes of the RHI, by exploring changes to embodiment following internal and external forms of body perception training. Study three showed that brief body scan meditation, as a form of internal body perception training, reduced the longevity of the visual sensory outcome of the RHI and that this reduction was negatively correlated with improvements in interoceptive sensitivity. Study four showed that learning about the body through anatomical dissection training, as a form of external body perception training, reduced the longevity of the visual sensory outcome measure and decreased interoceptive sensitivity, but only in medical students who were high in trait personal distress. Collectively, these findings suggest that aspects of the multisensory processes of embodiment can become specialised and identify some unique contributions of individual sensory modalities to embodiment. The proprioceptive sensory outcome appears to be stable over time but the visual sensory outcome is a longer-term change to embodiment, which is susceptible to interference from body perception training. In study five, confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess the psychometric properties of an embodiment change questionnaire measuring body ownership, body extension and perceived causality in the RHI. Factor scores from the questionnaire were correlated with visual and proprioceptive outcome measures of the RHI and measures of trait empathy. The results suggested factor scores had better convergent validity than the standard illusion score used in previous research. This work has improved subjective and perceptual measures of the RHI and specified ways that individual sensory modalities provide a unique contribution to embodiment. The methods developed have further applications for studying the multisensory process of embodiment and investigating embodiment in a number of clinical groups.

Este trabalho de dissertação de Mestrado em Design da UFRGS (2008-2011) visou a atender algumas exigências das mulheres em relação ao conforto no uso de sutiãs. O processo de design de sutiãs deve compreender não somente as características físicas do sutiã e do corpo humano, mas também as interações entre os sutiãs e as mulheres que os vestem. O ato de vestir sutiãs afeta a fisiologia e a psicologia humana, as quais, por sua vez, influenciam a sensação de conforto e até a saúde das mulheres. Sutiãs brasileiros e japoneses têm distintos aspectos, devido às diferenças nas características culturais, psicológicas e físicas de suas usuárias. Neste trabalho, uma investigação foi conduzida sobre a percepção do próprio corpo e da roupa íntima por jovens universitárias brasileiras e japonesas na faixa etária entre 17 e 29 anos. Questionários online foram aplicados e seus resultados tratados por análises estatísticas para extrair percepções fundamentais das brasileiras e das japonesas. Além disso, medidas foram realizadas nos laboratórios da Kyoto Women’s University no Japão. Seis sutiãs comerciais fabricados no Brasil e no Japão com conceito de conforto foram utilizados como amostras. Dados tridimensionais dos corpos das participantes vestindo sutiãs foram obtidos através de 3D scanners. A pressão exercida pelos sutiãs no corpo foi medida através de sensores de pressão. Estas variáveis foram empregadas para verificar a influência dos materiais e da estrutura dos sutiãs no desempenho geral deles. Um teste sensorial também foi aplicado em forma de um questionário baseado no método do diferencial semântico adaptado para levantar os fatores mais importantes em relação às sensações ao se vestir sutiãs. Todos os resultados das investigações foram considerados para a análise da relação entre desempenho dos sutiãs e a sensação ao vesti-los. Foi observado que as percepções e as sensações das usuárias brasileiras e japonesas são diferentes e devem ser levadas em consideração no processo de design de sutiãs bem sucedidos. Parâmetros-chave foram recomendados para melhorar o desenvolvimento do design de sutiãs com foco no conforto que buscam se adequar às características apontadas pelo público alvo deste trabalho. / This study of dissertation of Master’s degree in Design at UFRGS (2008-2011) aimed at attending some demands of women related to comfort when wearing brassieres. The design process of brassieres must grasp not solely physical characteristics of brassieres and human body, but also interactions between brassieres and women who wear them. Wearing brassieres affects the human physiology and psychology, which in turn influence the sensation of comfort and even women’s health. Brazilian and Japanese brassieres hold different features due to differences in cultural, psychological and physical characteristics of their users. In this work, an investigation was conducted about perception on own body and underwear of young undergraduate Brazilian and Japanese women, in the age group from 17- to- 29-year-old. Online questionnaires were applied and results were treated by statistical analysis in order to extract fundamental perceptions of Brazilians and Japanese. Measurements were carried out at the laboratories of Kyoto Women’s University in Japan. Six commercial brassieres produced in Brazil and Japan with concept of comfort were used as samples. 3D data of participants’ body wearing brassieres were obtained by means of 3D scanners. Clothing pressures exerted by brassieres on body were measured by pressure sensors. These variables were utilized to verify the influence of materials and structure of brassieres on the general performance of brassieres. Sensory test was also applied in form of a questionnaire based on an adapted semantic differential method to find the most important factors related to the sensations felt when wearing brassieres. All results of investigations were considered to analyze the relationship between performance of brassieres and sensation felt. It was found that perception and sensations of Brazilians and Japanese are different and should be taken into account in the design process of successful brassieres. Key parameters were recommended for improving the development of brassieres design with focus on comfort seeking to match the characteristics stressed by the target audience of this study.