magazine issue 4 2014 / Issue 20

Seeing mountains in molehills: Embodied visual perception of the environment

• written by Shana Cole & Emily Balcetis
• edited by Simone Schnall

To test the concept, we again enlisted participants to complete a weighted walking test, but before they did, they drank a cold cup of tea (Cole & Balcetis, 2013). We told some the tea was a special energy-producing tea containing a stimulant that enhances alertness and energetic feelings. We told others that the tea contained a sedative that increases relaxation and reduces energetic feelings. All of the participants actually drank the same, non-caffeinated, Lipton herbal tea. The tea contained no stimulants or calories and was not able to influence physical energy. Nonetheless, those participants who drank the tea that they thought would energize them reported feeling more awake, invigorated, and energized than those participants who drank the tea they thought would calm them. And their distance estimates reflected the difference. Participants who believed they drank the energy tea perceived the distance to the finish line to be shorter than participants who believed they drank the calming tea. Feeling energized had the same effect on perception as actually being physically energized. The mind, as well as the body, exert a powerful influence over how people see the world around them.

Seeing is for doing

Why would energy, regardless of whether physical or psychological in nature, influence perception? One theory is that it may help to guide action (Proffitt, 2006; Cole & Balcetis, 2013). Visual perception may take cues from physical and psychological states in order to inform decisions about how and whether to act. When people are tired, unfit, or unmotivated, the environment may appear more cumbersome or monstrous. If it appears difficult to traverse, people may subsequently forego attempts at moving within it. Conversely, when people are well-rested, fit, or motivated the environment may appear easier to traverse and people may be more likely to act within it. The embodied nature of visual perception is likely to be, for the most part, an adaptive and important step in the regulation of behavior as people look around the environment and weigh the costs and benefits of moving within it.

However, it is possible that this process may actually backfire in some cases. If perception is influenced by energy and helps to regulate action, this process may help to explain some alarming trends. Consider the current worldwide obesity epidemic. More than 1.4 billion adults, and 40 million children under the age of five, are overweight or obese around the world (WHO, 2013). One primary cause of obesity is insufficient exercise. Less than half of American adults get the recommended amount of daily activity prescribed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2012). In addition, obese individuals are approximately 28 percent less likely than average-weight Americans to exercise frequently (Mendes, 2011). It is possible that obese or overweight individuals aren’t exercising enough because they literally see the world in ways that may be disastrous to good health. The distance to the end of the block may look more daunting or the hill may appear more precipitous. The visual cues that physically unfit individuals receive from their environment suggest their travels may be more difficult and they may choose then to refrain. In such cases, the embodied nature of visual perception, which may usually help regulate our behavior in beneficial ways, might actually be hurting people who are overweight or obese. It may perpetuate a cycle of inactivity that leads to further weight gain.  

To counter the effect, people may need to learn to rein in, overcome, or counteract their embodied visual experiences. Researchers can use what they know from recent studies to develop effective strategies for shifting people’s experiences of their environment. For example, people see things they consider desirable as closer to them than things that are actually equally far away but undesirable. A $100 bill that people had the chance to win appeared closer than a $100 bill they had no shot at winning (Balcetis & Dunning, 2010). The same distance can look shorter the more appealing, desirable, exciting, or pleasant the thing at the end of the space. Based on this finding, it seems possible to design strategies that might change perceptions of the environment. For instance, one might increase the appeal of either getting to the finish line or the allure of the metaphoric carrot at the end of the stick. Such mental trickery, aimed at increasing the charm, appeal, or magnetism of the goal, might result in it appearing closer.  These and other suggestions might induce perceptual experiences that encourage action, exercise, and movement.