title: Intersection of reality and fiction in art perception: pictorial space, body sway and mental imagery.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The thesis of embodied cognition claims that perception of the environment entails a complex set of multisensory processes which forms a basis for the agent's potential and immediate actions. However, in the case of artworks, an agent becomes an observer and action turns into a reaction. This raises questions about the presence of embodied or situated cognition involved in art reception.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The study aimed to assess the bodily correlates of perceiving fictional pictorial spaces in the absence of a possibility of an actual physical immersion or manipulation of represented forms.
  
  
  METHODS
  The subjects were presented with paintings by Vermeer and De Hooch, whilst their body sway and eye movements were recorded. Moreover, test and questionnaires on mental imagery (MRT, VVIQ and OSIQ) were administered.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Three major results were obtained: (1) the degree of pictorial depth did not influence body sway; (2) fixations to distant elements in paintings (i.e. backgrounds) were accompanied by an increase in body sway; and (3) mental rotation test scores correlated positively with body sway.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest that in certain cases--despite the fictional character of art--observers' reactions resemble reactions to real stimuli. It is proposed that these reactions are mediated by mental imagery (e.g. mental rotation) that contributes to the act of representing alternative to real artistic spaces.
authors.affiliation: Pedagogical University of Cracow, ul. Podchorazych 2, 30-084, Cracow, Poland, joganczarek@yahoo.it.
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ganczarek
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ruggieri
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Nardi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Olivetti Belardinelli
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003867:Depth Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D005133:Eye Movements; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007092:Imagination; D008297:Male; D010151:Paintings; D004856:Postural Balance / Q000502:physiology; D011187:Posture; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult