Upright faces seem to have longer duration of presentation than inverted ones

Abstract

Nontemporal variables were shown to influence subjective duration. Some of these variables are known to alter recognition performance. We suggested that the ease of pattern recognition underlies the effect exerted by some nontemporal stimuli characteristics on brief duration estimation. In order to test this assumption, recognition was manipulated by presenting facial stimuli in upright and inverted position. Upright faces are known to be recognized easier than inverted ones. The results showed that the upright faces were judged to last longer than the invprted ones when presented for the same time intervals within the range of 10 to 70 ms. It was concluded that recognition performance might play an essential role in the effect of some nontemporal variables on brief duration perception.