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The influence of facial affect on the perception of temporal order was examined in the context of the temporal order judgment (TOJ) paradigm. Two schematic faces were presented either simultaneously, or separated by varying stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs; -100 ms, -34 ms, -17 ms, 17 ms, 34 ms, 100 ms), and participants had to judge which face appeared first. Each schematic face displayed one of three emotions; happy, neutral, or angry. Facial affect was found to influence judgments of temporal order at short SOAs (-17 ms, 0 ms, and 17 ms) but not at the longest SOAs (-100 ms and 100 ms), consistent with the hypothesis that facial affect influences relative onset judgments when they are difficult to make.

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Have you ever felt like you got to know a character in a story, or felt like you could imagine the world she lived in? Have you ever wondered why the books we read seem to come to life in our minds? Studies from laboratories around the world are beginning to unravel this mystery. These studies show that when we read stories, our minds actually act like they are participating in the events in the story. This can make us feel like we can see what the characters see and feel what the characters feel. These findings help to tell us why people love reading fictional stories so much. The findings may also help us to find new ways to teach children who are having difficulty with reading. "She was lost in her book, " "He couldn't put the book down, " "I was on the edge of my seat. " These are all common phrases that we may use to describe the experience we have when we read books. In the middle of a good book, we may feel as though we have left the real world behind to be swept away to Hogwarts, Middle Earth, or Wonderland. Have you ever stayed awake at night to finish a good story like the girl in Figure 1? When you think about it, though, our favorite novels are really just a series of little black shapes on a page, much like the text you are reading in this article.