---
title: Does the menstrual cycle affect the ability to find hidden shapes in pictures?
description: Maybe, but it depends. Psychology students made more errors during the middle of their cycle, but nursing students didn't show this pattern.
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/menstrual-cycle-influences-on-perceptual-disembedding-ability-1983/
---

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- Does the menstrual cycle affect the ability to find hidden shapes in pictures?

Study, 1983

# Does the menstrual cycle affect the ability to find hidden shapes in pictures?

Maybe, but it depends. Psychology students made more errors during the middle of their cycle, but nursing students didn't show this pattern.

 Early or limited evidence

44 psychology undergraduates and 49 nursing students

## What they did

44 psychology undergraduates and 49 nursing students took a test of visual perception (finding shapes hidden in complex pictures) and reported their menstrual cycle stage.

## What they found

Psychology students tested during days 11-17 of their menstrual cycle made more errors than those tested earlier or later in the cycle. This pattern did not appear in nursing students, whether on oral contraceptives or not. Psychology students' beliefs about menstrual cycle effects may have affected their performance.

## What it means for you

The menstrual cycle may affect visual perception in some women but not others. Beliefs about how the cycle affects performance matter. The different results between the two groups make it hard to know if cycle phase truly affects perception.

44

psychology students

49

nursing students

days 11-17

when psychology students made more errors

## About the study

Original title Menstrual cycle influences on perceptual disembedding ability Authors Hughes RN Journal Perceptual and motor skills Year 1983 Study design Study Participants 49 What was tested None Read the paper [doi.org/10.2466/pms.1983.57.1.107](https://doi.org/10.2466/pms.1983.57.1.107)

## Topics

[Oral contraceptives and drospirenone](https://niyora.com/research/topics/treatment-hormonal-contraceptives/)[Students and academic performance](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-education/)

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