Figure 1. Female Body Shape Stimuli and experimental design.

A): Sample images ranged from a low value of PAR (left) to a high value (right). There were 40 such images with different PAR values spanning a range corresponding to the full range of body shapes typical of the normal BMI range for young female adults. B): The stimulus sequence: Fixation cross (1, 2 or 3s); Body image appears with empty rating bar; after 2s of body attractiveness assessment the rating bar started to fill in red alerting participant to the approaching reporting phase; 200ms later the fill colour changed to green after which a rating of attractiveness could be made by pressing a response button, short green segments signalling low attractiveness ratings, and long green segments signalling high attractiveness ratings, the green bar filled completely in 2s; 7s after first appearing the stimulus offset to a blank screen followed by a random delay before the next trial started, indicated by fixation re-appearance. Total trial durations were, 16, 18 or 20 s.