Feeling Blue And Seeing Blue: Sadness May Impair Color Perception
~!~ The world might seem a little grayer than usual when we*re down in the dumps and we often talk about *feeling blue* new research suggests that the associations we make between emotion and color go beyond mere metaphor// The results of two studies indicate that feeling sadness may actually change how we perceive
color// http://ukcanadaus.blogspot.com/
~!~ **Our results show that mood and emotion can affect how we see the world around us,** says psychology researcher Christopher Thorstenson of the University of Rochester, first author on the research// **Our work advances the study of perception by showing that sadness specifically impairs basic visual processes that are involved in perceiving color//**
~!~ Previous studies have shown that emotion can influence various visual processes, and some work has even indicated a link between depressed mood and reduced sensitivity to visual contrast// Because contrast sensitivity is a basic visual process involved in color perception, Thorstenson and co authors Adam Pazda and Andrew Elliot wondered whether there might be a specific link between sadness and our ability to perceive color//