Feeling moody? It may alter what you see

Arecent study by the Association for Psychological Science has found that our emotional state in a given moment may influence what we see. In two experiments, researchers found that participants saw a neutral face as smiling more when it was paired with a positive image.

The research shows that humans are active perceivers. We do not passively detect information in the world and then react to it – we construct perceptions of the world as the architects of our own experience. Our feelings are a critical determinant of the experience we create.