Affectivity as a factor in the apparent size of pictured food objects.

lated objects has been the concern of many recent studies (1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9). In addition to the methodological flaws found in many of these studies which were pointed out by Gilchrist and Nesberg (4), they have, almost without exception, reported results based upon differences in the per-ceived size of various objects between or among groups separated on the basis of inferred needs. It might be assumed that a more fruitful method of investigation would concern itself with intra-individual differences in the perceived size of various objects, when these objects had been demonstrated to have different need properties for the individual. In addition to increas-ing the precision of the experimental design by allowing the use of each S as his own control, this method has the advantage of placing the locus of the investigation in the individual S, rather than in the group. The following study was designed to examine the general hypothesis that affectivity plays a determining role in perceptual organization by testing a specific aspect, namely, the effect of a childs liking or dislike for certain food objects upon his perception of the magnitude of these food objects. 1 The present paper is a condensed form of a