Abstract
The present study was conducted to investigate whether the calming effect induced by viewing traditional Chinese landscape paintings would make disengagement from that mental state more difficult, as measured by performance on a cognitive control task. In Experiment 1 we examined the subjective experience of viewing traditional Chinese landscape paintings vs. realistic oil landscape paintings in a behavioral study. Our results confirmed that, as predicted, traditional Chinese landscape paintings induce greater levels of relaxation and mind wandering and lower levels of object-oriented absorption and recognition, compared to realistic oil landscape paintings. In Experiment 2 we used functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging to explore the behavioral and neural effects of viewing traditional Chinese landscape paintings on a task requiring cognitive control (i.e., the flanker task)—administered immediately following exposure to paintings. Contrary to our prediction, the behavioral data demonstrated that compared to realistic oil landscape paintings, exposure to traditional Chinese landscape paintings had no effect on performance on the flanker task. However, the neural data demonstrated an interaction effect such that there was greater activation in the inferior parietal cortex and the superior frontal gyrus on incongruent compared with congruent flanker trials when participants switched from viewing traditional Chinese landscape paintings to the flanker task than when they switched from realistic oil landscape paintings. These results suggest that switching from traditional Chinese landscape paintings placed greater demands on the brain’s attention and working memory networks during the flanker task than did switching from realistic oil landscape paintings.
Highlights
Traditional Chinese landscape painting is one of the oldest continuous artistic traditions in the world
When the same viewers were shown the realistic oil landscape paintings, they became more externally oriented toward features of the work, potentially attempting to identify the objects and narrative contained within the artwork
The subjective differences between experiencing the different types of artwork were consistent with our predictions, and serve to validate the use of our stimulus set for the fMRI paradigm in Experiment 2
Summary
Traditional Chinese landscape painting is one of the oldest continuous artistic traditions in the world. Compared with realistic oil landscape paintings, which usually involve rich and bright colors, well-defined forms, and are filled with narrative details consistent with a Western tradition, traditional Chinese landscape paintings have three distinctive features in drawing style. The boundaries in traditional Chinese landscape paintings are more blurred than most realistic oil landscape paintings (Cahill, 1960; Zong, 2007). Compared with realistic oil landscape paintings, traditional Chinese landscape paintings do not usually contain many bright colors (Cahill, 1960; Zong, 2007).
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
