Speed Overestimation in Chasing Events

Many studies show an association between speed and animacy: objects moving faster tend to be judged as more animated. We explored the effect of different contexts on speed perception of objects with different degrees of animacy. Paired-comparisons were used to compare the perceived speed of a square moving on the screen alone or in the context of a second square. The context element was either static or moved showing an animate-like or a physical-like trajectory, and the target moved toward it or away from it, always at the same physical speed. Results showed that the target perceived speed was greater in some of the contexts in which it was seen as more alive. The effect, however, was only significant when the target was moving away from the context square and the context square showed an animate-like trajectory, suggesting a specific association between speed and chasing, but not between speed and animacy tout court.