Abstract
Most recent studies in experimental aesthetics have focused on the cognitive processing of visual artworks. In contrast, the perception of formal compositional features of artworks has been studied less extensively. Here, we investigated whether fast and automatic processing of artistic image composition can lead to a stable and consistent aesthetic evaluation when cognitive processing is minimized or absent. To this aim, we compared aesthetic ratings on abstract artworks and their shuffled counterparts in a gist experiment. Results show that exposure times as short as 50 ms suffice for the participants to reach a stable and consistent rating on how ordered and harmonious the abstract stimuli were. Moreover, the rating scores for the 50 ms exposure time exhibited similar dependencies on image type and self-similarity and a similar pattern of correlations between different rating terms, as the rating scores for the long exposure time (3,000 ms). Ratings were less consistent for the term interesting and inconsistent for the term pleasing. Our results are compatible with a model of aesthetic experience, in which the early perceptual processing of the formal aspects of visual artworks can lead to a consistent aesthetic judgment, even if there is no cognitive contribution to this judgment.
Highlights
How much time do human beholders need to appreciate a visual artwork and to form an aesthetic judgment upon it? A comprehensive mental analysis of an artwork’s diverse aesthetic aspects can take up to several minutes
We asked to what extent the rating scores for a given term were consistent at short and long exposure times and calculated Pearson correlation coefficients, which were transformed to Fisher z scores
The rating scores for the 50 ms exposure time exhibited a similar pattern of correlations between the scores of the different ratings terms (Table 6, Figure 4(d)–(f)) and similar dependencies on self-similarity and image type (Table 2), as the rating scores for the long exposure time (3,000 ms; Table 1, Figure 4(a)–(c))
Summary
How much time do human beholders need to appreciate a visual artwork and to form an aesthetic judgment upon it? A comprehensive mental analysis of an artwork’s diverse aesthetic aspects can take up to several minutes. It is well established that human observers can capture the essential visual attributes (i.e., the general meaning) of a scene automatically with just a brief glance (gist perception), mainly from the coarse image structure that is transferred to higher visual centers by low-spatial frequencies (Fei-Fei, Iyer, Koch, & Perona, 2007; Oliva, 2005; Oliva & Torralba, 2006). Experimental evidence suggests that the low-spatial frequency information of an image is extracted first, followed by recurrent feedback signals that trigger the extraction of fine details of a scene and facilitate object recognition (Bar et al, 2006). We asked whether some aspects of the aesthetic evaluation of visual artworks can be perceived by fast and automatic processing as well, similar to gist perception of real-world visual scenes
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 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.
