Abstract
Previous research has shown that viewing images of nature scenes can have a beneficial effect on memory, attention, and mood. In this study, we aimed to determine whether the preference of natural versus man-made scenes is driven by bottom–up processing of the low-level visual features of nature. We used participants’ ratings of perceived naturalness as well as esthetic preference for 307 images with varied natural and urban content. We then quantified 10 low-level image features for each image (a combination of spatial and color properties). These features were used to predict esthetic preference in the images, as well as to decompose perceived naturalness to its predictable (modeled by the low-level visual features) and non-modeled aspects. Interactions of these separate aspects of naturalness with the time it took to make a preference judgment showed that naturalness based on low-level features related more to preference when the judgment was faster (bottom–up). On the other hand, perceived naturalness that was not modeled by low-level features was related more to preference when the judgment was slower. A quadratic discriminant classification analysis showed how relevant each aspect of naturalness (modeled and non-modeled) was to predicting preference ratings, as well as the image features on their own. Finally, we compared the effect of color-related and structure-related modeled naturalness, and the remaining unmodeled naturalness in predicting esthetic preference. In summary, bottom–up (color and spatial) properties of natural images captured by our features and the non-modeled naturalness are important to esthetic judgments of natural and man-made scenes, with each predicting unique variance.
Highlights
Previous research has shown that interacting with natural environments such as walking in a park or viewing images of nature can have a beneficial effect on memory, attention, and mood (Berman et al, 2008, 2012) as well as other psychological and physical health benefits (Ulrich, 1984; Esthetics of bottom–up naturalnessKuo and Sullivan, 2001a,b; Cimprich and Ronis, 2003; Kaplan and Berman, 2010)
The goal of the present study was to explore the relationships between these quantified color and spatial image features and people’s esthetic preferences for the images, and to estimate how much of the preference of nature images is due to bottom–up visual regularities of more natural images compared to the other aspects of natural scenes that are not modeled by these low-level visual features
This result is comparable to others in this area
Summary
Previous research has shown that interacting with natural environments such as walking in a park or viewing images of nature can have a beneficial effect on memory, attention, and mood (Berman et al, 2008, 2012) as well as other psychological and physical health benefits (Ulrich, 1984; Esthetics of bottom–up naturalnessKuo and Sullivan, 2001a,b; Cimprich and Ronis, 2003; Kaplan and Berman, 2010). ART claims that most natural environments do not tax top–down directed-attention mechanisms in the same way that many urban environments do, and they provide softly fascinating stimulation that captures bottom–up involuntary attention mechanisms It is this duality that is purported to make many natural environments restorative. What is unclear is why viewing pictures of nature vs pictures of urban environments may lead to these benefits Pictures of these environments would not capture attention in the same way as interacting with the actual environments, and yet researchers have found beneficial effects from viewing pictures of nature (Berto, 2005; Berman et al, 2008). We might be “programmed” to benefit from low-level visual regularities in natural scenes in a bottom-up way, possibly imposed on our perceptual system through the process of natural selection. (See “savanna hypothesis” by Orians, 1986; Geisler, 2008)
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.
