A decade after Berlyne: New directions in experimental aesthetics

Abstract

Scientific aesthetics offers an organized approach to the study of processes involved in the creation and appreciation of aesthetic objects. The experimental approach to aesthetics can be traced back to Gustav Fechner (1801–1889) and the founding of general experimental psychology. Fechner's ‘psychometric’ approach focused on the effects of isolated stimulus properties on viewer's preference responses. Daniel Berlyne (1924–1976) added conceptual and methodological sophistication to Fechner's approach. Berlyne was behavioural in his orientation, treating aesthetic activity as a kind of intrinsically motivated form of exploration. His notion of ‘collative’ stimulus properties provided a means of quantifying the complexity and orderliness of stimulus structure. The central finding of this approach is that viewers prefer moderate levels of aesthetic complexity, relative to their own aesthetic sophistication. This line of research has been criticized for its narrow emphasis on quantification and lack of sensitivity to the cognitive processes involved in appreciating the meaning of aesthetic objects. A resolution of this ‘crisis’ is proposed which stresses: reflection on assumptions underlying the Fechner-Berlyne approach; in-depth observation of phenomena in the lived-world; and interdisciplinary communication.