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Voluntary actions are associated with both a sense of agency of the action, and with distortions of perceived duration. The present study conducted four pre-registered experiments using virtual reality to investigate whether and how perceived duration and sense of agency during voluntary action are modulated by sensorimotor coupling and visual perspective. Participants performed hand movements while observing a virtual hand moving (a)synchronously with their own hand, estimated the duration of the movements, and rated their sense of agency over the movements. Pre-registered analyses revealed that sensorimotor coupling provided by synchronous visual feedback dilates perceived duration, compared to delayed feedback or pre-recorded feedback of other’s movements (sensorimotor decoupling) in Experiments 1 and 2. Visual perspective (Experiments 1 and 2), anatomical configuration (Experiment 3), and visual eccentricity of the virtual hand (Experiment 4) did not influence duration perception. Sense of agency was also modulated by sensorimotor coupling, suggesting that sensorimotor coupling could be a shared foundation for duration perception and sense of agency. Our findings and the virtual-reality technique we developed shed new light on how humans experience time and self-agency during voluntary action.

Color and emotion are metaphorically associated in the human mind. This color–emotion association affects perceptual judgment. For example, stimuli representing colors can affect judgment of facial expressions. The present study examined whether colors associated with happiness (e.g., yellow) and sadness (e.g., blue and gray) facilitate judgments of the associated emotions in facial expressions. We also examined whether temporal proximity between color and facial stimuli interacts with any of these effects. Participants were presented with pictures of a happy or sad face against a yellow-, blue-, or gray-colored background and asked to judge whether the face represented happiness or sadness as quickly as possible. The face stimulus was presented simultaneously (Experiment 1) or preceded for one second by the colored background (Experiment 2). The analysis of response time showed that yellow facilitated happiness judgment, while neither blue nor gray facilitated sadness judgment. Moreover, the effect was found only when the face and color stimuli were presented simultaneously. The results imply that the association of sadness with blue and gray is weak and, consequently, does not affect emotional judgment. Our results also suggest that temporal proximity is critical for the effect of the color–emotion association (e.g., yellow–happiness) on emotional judgment., Visual perception; Color; Emotion; Facial expression; Conceptual metaphor.

Background: Sensory differences are related to the autistic traits, and previous studies have shown a positive correlation between sensory differences and internalizing problems. In this study, we hypothesized that sensory differences and suffering due to sensory differences mediates the relationships between autistic traits and internalizing problems. Methods: A total of 346 female Japanese university students completed questionnaires regarding their autistic traits, suffering due to sensory differences, and internalizing problems. Moreover, 114 participants completed a questionnaire related to sensory differences.Results: Autistic traits were correlated with Low Registration and Sensation Avoiding. These sensory differences were also correlated with suffering due to sensory differences and internalizing problems. Moreover, path analysis indicated that the higher the suffering due to Low Registration and Sensation Avoiding was, the greater the internalizing problems in those who showed these sensory differences.Conclusions: Female university students with serious suffering due to sensory differences may need support in managing their suffering and internalizing problems. Further research will help suggest support that these people require, at school and elsewhere.