Watching More Closely: Shot Scale Affects Film Viewers’ Theory of Mind Tendency But Not Ability
Recent research debates the effects of exposure to narrative fiction on recognition of mental states in others and self, referred to as Theory of Mind. The current study explores the mechanisms by which such effects could occur in fictional film. Using manipulated film scenes, we conducted a between...
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Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02349/full |
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doaj-1650c09de7114f34a8872c87f2a9211b2020-11-25T01:06:48ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782018-01-01810.3389/fpsyg.2017.02349281376Watching More Closely: Shot Scale Affects Film Viewers’ Theory of Mind Tendency But Not AbilityBrendan Rooney0Katalin E. Bálint1Katalin E. Bálint2School of Psychology, University College Dublin, Dublin, IrelandTilburg Center for Cognition and Communication, Tilburg University, Tilburg, NetherlandsInstitute for Media, Knowledge and Communication, University of Augsburg, Augsburg, GermanyRecent research debates the effects of exposure to narrative fiction on recognition of mental states in others and self, referred to as Theory of Mind. The current study explores the mechanisms by which such effects could occur in fictional film. Using manipulated film scenes, we conducted a between subject experiment (N = 136) exploring how film shot-scale affects viewers’ Theory of Mind. Specifically, in our methods we distinguish between the trait Theory of Mind abilities (ToM ability), and the state-like tendency to recognize mental states in others and self (ToM tendency). Results showed that close-up shots (compared to long shots) of a character was associated with higher levels of Theory of Mind tendency, when the facial expression was sad but not when it was neutral. And this effect did not transfer to other characters in the film. There was also no observable effect of character depiction on viewers’ general Theory of Mind ability. Together the findings suggest that formal and content features of shot scale can elicit Theory of Mind responses by directing attention toward character mental states rather than improving viewers’ general Theory of Mind ability.http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02349/fulltheory of mindshot scaleclose up shotfacial expressioncharactersfilm |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Brendan Rooney Katalin E. Bálint Katalin E. Bálint |
spellingShingle |
Brendan Rooney Katalin E. Bálint Katalin E. Bálint Watching More Closely: Shot Scale Affects Film Viewers’ Theory of Mind Tendency But Not Ability Frontiers in Psychology theory of mind shot scale close up shot facial expression characters film |
author_facet |
Brendan Rooney Katalin E. Bálint Katalin E. Bálint |
author_sort |
Brendan Rooney |
title |
Watching More Closely: Shot Scale Affects Film Viewers’ Theory of Mind Tendency But Not Ability |
title_short |
Watching More Closely: Shot Scale Affects Film Viewers’ Theory of Mind Tendency But Not Ability |
title_full |
Watching More Closely: Shot Scale Affects Film Viewers’ Theory of Mind Tendency But Not Ability |
title_fullStr |
Watching More Closely: Shot Scale Affects Film Viewers’ Theory of Mind Tendency But Not Ability |
title_full_unstemmed |
Watching More Closely: Shot Scale Affects Film Viewers’ Theory of Mind Tendency But Not Ability |
title_sort |
watching more closely: shot scale affects film viewers’ theory of mind tendency but not ability |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
series |
Frontiers in Psychology |
issn |
1664-1078 |
publishDate |
2018-01-01 |
description |
Recent research debates the effects of exposure to narrative fiction on recognition of mental states in others and self, referred to as Theory of Mind. The current study explores the mechanisms by which such effects could occur in fictional film. Using manipulated film scenes, we conducted a between subject experiment (N = 136) exploring how film shot-scale affects viewers’ Theory of Mind. Specifically, in our methods we distinguish between the trait Theory of Mind abilities (ToM ability), and the state-like tendency to recognize mental states in others and self (ToM tendency). Results showed that close-up shots (compared to long shots) of a character was associated with higher levels of Theory of Mind tendency, when the facial expression was sad but not when it was neutral. And this effect did not transfer to other characters in the film. There was also no observable effect of character depiction on viewers’ general Theory of Mind ability. Together the findings suggest that formal and content features of shot scale can elicit Theory of Mind responses by directing attention toward character mental states rather than improving viewers’ general Theory of Mind ability. |
topic |
theory of mind shot scale close up shot facial expression characters film |
url |
http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02349/full |
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