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Relations Between Balance, Prototypicality, and Aesthetic Appreciation for Japanese Calligraphy
Abstract
Aesthetic appreciation of pictures partly depends on the perceptual balance of their elements. This relation has also been supported by objective measures predicting balance ratings as well as preference. Gershoni and Hochstein, however, applied these measures to Japanese calligraphies and failed to find such a relation, which questions the generality of these balance concepts. In our first experiment, we, therefore, tried to replicate these results with a slightly different method. In addition, we calculated further balance measures and collected liking ratings. As result, perceptual balance was again uncorrelated with the measures and with liking. In a second experiment, participants assessed the perceptual stability of the calligraphies, which was considered as alternative concept of balance, and their prototypicality. After discounting the effects of prototypicality on liking, there were correlations between liking and stability and between liking and one of the balance measures. However, the correlations were reliable only for atypical calligraphies.
... Calligraphy is a type of visual art that has been developed over thousands of years and conveys the aesthetics of characters and letters through handwriting. The influence of symmetry, balance, and prototypicality on aesthetic evaluation has been investigated using Chinese calligraphy artwork [14,15]. ...
... In addition, the fonts used for typing Chinese characters may differ considerably from the styles employed in calligraphic scripts. Fillinger and Hübner examined prototypicality by asking non-Chinese-character users to determine whether calligraphic stimuli resembled Chinese characters [15]. However, the prototypicality of Chinese characters is not only linked to whether they resemble a Chinese character but also to whether the specific character in calligraphy is similar to the [16]. ...
... There are several traditional scripts commonly used in Chinese calligraphy. Whereas the Semi-cursive and Regular scripts are popular in Chinese and Japanese calligraphy artworks [14,15], other scripts with unique styles (such as Cursive, Clerical, and Seal) have also been appreciated in East Asian cultures [24]. If Chinese character users are sensitive to perceptual differences in calligraphic style, aesthetic evaluation would differ systematically among the distinctive scripts. ...
Previous studies have indicated that the visually perceived properties of geometrical figures influence aesthetic evaluations. However, it is unclear whether findings based on geometrical figures can be extended to artworks such as paintings and calligraphy, as artworks have their own contents and meanings. To answer this question, we designed experiments in which users of Chinese characters were asked to rate the perceived symmetry, complexity, prototypicality, and beauty of Chinese characters. Each character was presented to 35 Japanese and Chinese participants in five typing fonts in a laboratory setting (Experiment 1), and to 100 Japanese participants in five calligraphic handwriting scripts online (Experiment 2). By analyzing the relative impacts of perceived properties on aesthetic evaluation and their interactions with script styles using a generalized linear mixed model, we discovered that script style plays an important role in the association between the perceived properties and aesthetic evaluation of Chinese characters. These results are discussed in relation to studies on the aesthetic evaluation of geometrical figures and recent studies using Chinese calligraphy.
... Gershoni and Hochstein (2011), for instance, used Japanese calligraphies as stimuli and found that the APB failed to predict balance ratings. Recently, Fillinger and Hübner (2018) replicated this result. Moreover, they showed that for these pictures, balance ratings were also unrelated to liking ratings. ...
... For these stimuli, we hypothesized that instability has a negative effect on aesthetic appreciation, as suggested by results obtained with similar pictures in one of our previous studies (Hübner & Fillinger, 2019). In the second experiment, we presented dynamic stimuli, which were similar to untypical Japanese calligraphy (Fillinger & Hübner, 2018). We expected that for these dynamic pictures instability is liked, because they imply movement. ...
... Thus, our results support the notion that pictures showing balanced and gravitationally stable compositions are preferred (Friedenberg, 2012;Pierce, 1896). Accordingly, there was also a strong relationship between balance and stability, which replicates results from our previous studies (Fillinger & Hübner, 2018;Hübner & Fillinger, 2019). The fact that this latter correlation was also quite high, indicates that the concepts of balance and stability can be rather similar. ...
Perceived stability is an important feature of pictures with respect to their aesthetic appreciation. Pictures whose composition is perceived as stable are usually liked more than those with unstable arrangements. However, there are exceptions. In a recent study, we found that unstable Japanese calligraphies were preferred to stable ones. From this result, we hypothesized that instability is liked when it implies movement. Therefore, we systematically tested these two types of instability. In our first experiment, we used multiple-element pictures of varying stability as stimuli and show that perceived instability has a negative effect on liking. In a second experiment, we used dynamic paintings by the artist K.O. Götz, which largely vary in implied movement. As expected, for these dynamic pictures, instability was positively related to liking. Taken together, our findings indicate that perceived instability reduces the aesthetical appreciation of a picture unless it implies movement.
... found that for Japanese calligraphies the APB even completely failed to predict perceptual balance ratings. Recently, Fillinger and Hu¨bner (2018) replicated this result and observed similar negative results also for the DCM. However, they further showed that for these pictures perceptual balance ratings were completely unrelated with liking ratings. ...
... First, the absent relation between balance ratings and the balance measures indicates that persons sometimes apply concepts of perceptual balance that are not reflected by the APB and DCM measures. Fillinger and Hu¨bner (2018), for instance, provided some evidence that under certain conditions balance is interpreted more in the sense of stability. Already observed that balance is mainly applied for the horizontal arrangement of elements, whereas for vertical arrangements stability plays a greater role. ...
... In case these factors are known, it can be helpful to discount their effects. Fillinger and Hu¨bner (2018), for instance, observed that prototypicality strongly determined the aesthetic appreciation of Japanese calligraphies. After taking this factor into account, the DCM showed again a significant relation with liking, but only for less prototypical calligraphies. ...
In this dissertation, the effect of perceptual balance on aesthetic appreciation was investigated. Perceptual balance is a complex visual feature that depends on several factors and mechanisms, whose details remain largely unknown. Consequently, in four research papers, the concept and psychological mechanisms of perceptual balance and its effect on the aesthetic appreciation were investigated. In this context, different types of perceptual balance were examined. Moreover, the relations and interactions between balance and other visual features were studied. Thus, this dissertation aimed to contribute to a more universal theory and agreement about a general concept of perceptual balance. For this purpose, in the first research paper, objective measures based on the notion of mechanical balance were used to examine how well they account for balance, symmetry and preference judgments of simple pictures. Based on this mechanical metaphor, it is assumed that each element in a picture has a certain perceptual weight that depends on its low-level features such as color, size and form. At least for simple stimulus material, the concept of mechanical balance and its positive association with aesthetic appreciation and subjective balance ratings could be confirmed. In order to further investigate the predictive power of the objective measures as well as the relation of balance and aesthetic appreciation, in the second research paper Japanese calligraphies were used as stimuli. The results showed that perceptual balance was uncorrelated with the measures and with liking. However, discounting the effects of prototypicality on liking revealed a negative effect of stability on liking (for atypical calligraphies). These findings demonstrate that visual features can compete and interact in a complex way, which is why it can be difficult to detect the effect of perceptual balance on liking. The third research paper aimed to examine the extent to which the mechanical concept of balance holds for more complex pictures. Therefore, a set of non-representational abstract paintings were used, which could be divided into single-element, multiple-element and dynamic-pattern pictures. Whereas mechanical balance was applied to assess single-element pictures, the balance of multiple-element and dynamic-pattern pictures was rated more in the sense of gravitational stability. Only for the multiple-element stimuli, there was a positive relation between balance, stability and liking. Consequently, there are different types of balance, and their relation with liking depends on the picture type. Finally, the fourth research paper addressed the relation between perceived stability and aesthetic appreciation because the previous research papers suggested two types of instability: first, a gravitational instability that is disliked; and second, an instability that implies movement and is liked. Systematical investigations of these two different types of visual instability confirmed that movement is responsible for the positive effect of instability on aesthetic appreciation because movement is positively correlated with emotionality. Consequently, instability reduces the aesthetical appreciation of a picture unless it implies movement. Taken together, the findings of this dissertation support the notion that perceptual balance is understood as a mechanical balance at least for simple pictures. Objective measures that reflect this mechanical metaphor were significantly correlated with subjective balance ratings and aesthetic appreciation. However, depending on the picture type, the relation and meaning of balance can vary. As an alternative construct of perceptual balance, perceived stability was introduced. Moreover, the findings uncovered that perceptual balance could interact and compete with other visual features in a complex way. Consequently, this dissertation provides a deeper insight into the mechanism of balance perception, which is relevant for psychological aesthetics as well as art theory.
... Gershoni and Hochstein (2011) found that for Japanese calligraphies the APB even completely failed to predict perceptual balance ratings. Recently, Fillinger and Hu¨bner (2018) replicated this result and observed similar negative results also for the DCM. However, they further showed that for these pictures perceptual balance ratings were completely unrelated with liking ratings. ...
... First, the absent relation between balance ratings and the balance measures indicates that persons sometimes apply concepts of perceptual balance that are not reflected by the APB and DCM measures. Fillinger and Hu¨bner (2018), for instance, provided some evidence that under certain conditions balance is interpreted more in the sense of stability. Already Pierce (1894) observed that balance is mainly applied for the horizontal arrangement of elements, whereas for vertical arrangements stability plays a greater role. ...
... In case these factors are known, it can be helpful to discount their effects. Fillinger and Hu¨bner (2018), for instance, observed that prototypicality strongly determined the aesthetic appreciation of Japanese calligraphies. After taking this factor into account, the DCM showed again a significant relation with liking, but only for less prototypical calligraphies. ...
It is widely assumed that the aesthetic appreciation of a picture depends, among others, on how well the picture’s composition is perceptually balanced, where “perceptual balance” is often defined analogous to mechanics. To what extent this metaphor holds for different picture types, however, is still open. Therefore, in this study, we examined the relationship between balance, liking, and some objective measures with pictures from an aesthetic sensitivity test. These stimuli could be divided into single-element, multiple-element, and dynamic-pattern pictures. The results show that “balance” is interpreted differently, depending on the stimulus type. Whereas “mechanical” balance was applied to assess single-element pictures, the balance of multiple-element and dynamic-pattern pictures was rated more in the sense of gravitational stability. Only for the multiple-element stimuli, there was a positive relation between balance/stability and liking. Together, our findings show that there are different types of balance, and that their relation with liking depends on the picture type.
... Calligraphy has developed in a very unique way in China and other far eastern countries that have been influenced by Chinese culture (Korea, Japan) [6]. "The Way of Writing" still preserves its own traditions, developing and perfecting ancient handwriting and styles. ...
... Mo [8], V.O. Mihoc [3], M. Fillinger and R. Hubner [6], A. Balbale [4], H. Zadniprianyi [1], M. Chabaiovska [9] were quite meaningful. The culture of comics has been thoroughly studied in the works of scientists, S. McCloud [10], S. Lee [11], T. Troian [12]. ...
The article is devoted to the study of the application of calligraphy in enamel art. This publication is the first attempt in art history to analyze the use of inscriptions directly in enamel. The publication sheds light on the relations to the art of calligraphy in different countries. Samples from Ukrainian enamel art are analyzed on specific examples. The publication provides the author's own practical experience regarding all technologies of execution which can be applied in hot enamel at the image of calligraphic elements. Step-by-step instructions for using the technique will be useful for enamellers to implement their own ideas. The scope of calligraphy in enamel art, in particular in jewellery, easel works, monumental art is also outlined in the work. It is emphasized that this direction is quite promising for outdoor use (exterior). Moreover, it is due to the fact, that the anti-corrosion properties of enamel in combination with three-dimensionality, polychromy and durability allow to use it as advertising as an artistic dominant of the street or city. The development of calligraphy in enamel art is becoming increasingly popular, the active use of which requires attention and further study.
... Obviously, this definition treats both horizontal and vertical balance equally. However, such a two-dimensional concept of balance, where both dimensions are combined and treated equally, has been investigated empirically only recently [10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. The first empirical studies on balance were mainly concerned with the horizontal arrangement of elements in a picture, although some researchers also examined vertical balance [17]. ...
... However, the attraction of balance as an aesthetic principle might depend on the applied method and the stimuli. As mentioned in the Introduction, more recent experiments did not restrict their investigation to the horizontal balance of simple elements, but examined to what extent the center of mass of multiple and more complex elements deviates from the center of the frame irrespective of direction [10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. All these studies find support for a positive relation between balance and liking. ...
Symmetry and balance are basic concepts in art theory for the composition of pictures. It is assumed that well-balanced pictures are preferred to unbalanced ones. One of the first experimental studies to test this assumption was conducted more than a century ago by Ethel Puffer. By applying a production method, she found little evidence for the hypothesis that balance is favorable for the aesthetical appreciation of pictures. Instead, she observed that other construction principles competing with balance, such as bilateral symmetry and closeness, were applied. The aim of the present study was to repeat some of Puffer’s experiments with modern methods and to examine whether her results are replicable. In two experiments, we also found little to no evidence for balance. Moreover, as in Puffer’s study, participants used closeness and bilateral symmetry as principles. However, compared to that study, the relative frequency of use of these principles was quite different.
... Many participants then utilized the positive relation between typicality and beauty, presumably more or less intuitively. On the viewer's side, such typical pictures can be easily perceived and processed, which increases their perceived beauty 27,72 . Interestingly, although expertise had some effect, it was unsystematic and relatively small. ...
The identification of artistically creative individuals is an important matter in the fields of art, design, and psychology. One promising approach involves assessing a person's products rather than his or her personality or cognitive processes. However, the necessity of expert involvement in such evaluations is still debated. To investigate this issue, two experiments were conducted, each consisting of a production phase and an evaluation phase. In Experiment 1, participants were asked to compose a most beautiful picture, which was subsequently assessed in terms of beauty. Experiment 2 was analogous, but participants were asked to compose a most creative picture, which was then assessed in terms of creativity and beauty. The results revealed that expertise did not play a crucial role in the creation or evaluation of beauty. Both experts and non-experts largely agreed on what constitutes beauty. However, when it came to the production and assessment of creative pictures, experts had an advantage. They were the only group that was able to predict a person's creativity based on the evaluation of his or her product.
... On the photo-sharing platform, Instagram, balance in posted photographs is closely related to the number of Likes, but is negatively related in "2D" photographs and positively in "3D" photographs [51]. In Japanese calligraphies, researchers also find correlation between liking and certain balance measures, but reliable only for atypical calligraphies [52]. ...
In this study, we compare Western oil paintings and Chinese ink paintings on their composition, by extracting and computing 28 composition features of the paintings, including visual balance and relationships between different regions (segments). Among the extracted segments, we compute average distance and rule-based features based on three layout rules, rule of thirds, golden mean and golden triangle. A total of 2253 paintings including 1138 oil paintings and 1115 Chinese ink paintings are collected. By comparing the results of the features on these paintings, our study investigates the difference and similarity between the two types of paintings on composition. Their composition designs are similar in visual balance and their tendency of composing along two diagonal lines, but are fairly different on many other aspects. For example, oil paintings are inclined to place objects on the bottom horizontal dividing lines of rule of thirds and golden mean. Having discovered the most important features that can differentiate the two types of paintings, we analyze the differences in the features and discuss their possible relationships to the culture and artists’ backgrounds.
... Fillinger et al. utilized Japanese calligraphy to investigate the relationship between balance and aesthetic appreciation. They found that stability and balance were associated with liking but this association was only reliable for atypical calligraphies [58]. Koyama and his colleges investigate the brain lateralization of different languages in bilingual readers. ...
Chinese calligraphy, as a well-known performing art form, occupies an important role in the intangible cultural heritage of China. Previous studies focused on the psychophysiological benefits of Chinese Calligraphy. Little attention has been paid to its aesthetic attributes and effectiveness on the cognitive process. To complement our understanding of Chinese calligraphy, this study investigated the aesthetic experience of Chinese cursive-style calligraphy using brain functional network analysis. Subjects stayed on the coach and rest for several minutes. Then, they were requested to appreciate artwork of cursive-style calligraphy. Results showed that (1) changes in functional connectivity between fronto-occipital, fronto-parietal, bilateral parietal, and central-occipital areas are prominent for calligraphy condition, (2) brain functional network showed an increased normalized cluster coefficient for calligraphy condition in alpha2 and gamma bands. These resultsdemonstrate that the brain functional network undergoes a dynamic reconfiguration during the aesthetic experience of Chinese calligraphy. Providing evidence that the aesthetic experience of Chinese calligraphy has several similarities with western art while retains its unique characters as an eastern traditional art form.
... While perceptual balance was captured well by the simple physical balance measure in single-element patterns, the perceptual balance of multiple-element and dynamic patterns required a more complex measure of gravitational stability. In the most recent study of this series, Fillinger and Hübner (2020) investigated the role of perceptual balance and perceptual stability in Japanese calligraphies. Replicating the earlier findings of Gershoni and Hochstein (2011) with a different method, they showed that perceptual balance measures were uncorrelated with liking ratings. ...
Perceptual organisation is hypothesised as a key in the perception and appreciation of abstract art. Here, we investigated how relational and compositional features affected the perception and aesthetic appreciation of Black Square and Red Square by Kazimir Malevich (1915). We studied how (i) the presence and obliquity of the red square and (ii) the relative configuration of the black and red square affected the detectability of the obliquity of the black square in this artwork. Results showed that the simultaneous presence and obliquity of the red square masked the obliquity of the original black square. The likelihood of the black square being incorrectly perceived as an exact square was always maximum in the original configuration and even slight alterations in the original configuration of the work resulted in the obliquity of the black square to be noticed. The original artwork was more aesthetically preferred compared to its alternatives. We argue that the artist may have intentionally set the configuration to mask the obliquity of the black square and maximise the aesthetic preference.
... Graffiti, derived from the Italian word 'to scribble', has its roots in ancient forms of communication and expression, having been found in ancient Greece, Rome, and Egypt, and most notably at the site of Pompeii (Baird & Taylor, 2010). While graffiti has been the target of a substantial amount of sociological analysis (Snyder, 2011), very little attention has been payed to formal and aesthetic properties of graffiti, in contrast to calligraphic art, in which the role of visual elements such as balance, prototypicality and low-level image statistics have previously been investigated (Fillinger & Hübner, 2018;Gershoni & Hochstein, 2011;Melmer et al., 2013). This is somewhat surprising, as there is strong emphasis in modern graffiti on aspects of visual style (particularly the dynamics and flow of the movements underlying the creation of a graffiti artwork) and how these underpin composition and the appearance of expertise (Arte, 2015;Schacter, 2016). ...
Graffiti art is a controversial art form, and as such there has been little empirical work assessing its aesthetic value. A recent study examined image statistical properties of text-based artwork and revealed that images of text contain less global structure relative to fine detail compared to artworks. However, previous research did not include graffiti tags or murals, which reside in the space between text and visual art. The current study investigated the image statistical properties and attractiveness of graffiti relative to other text-based and pictorial art forms, focusing additionally on the role of expertise. A series of images (N = 140; graffiti, text and paintings) were presented to a group of observers with varying degrees of art interest and expertise ( N = 169). Findings revealed that image statistics predicted attractiveness ratings to images, and that biases against graffiti art are less salient in an expert sample.
Chinese calligraphy is a symbol of cultural heritage; it is widely used in visual design (e.g., film posters and modern fashion) for its aesthetic value. In human-computer interaction, visual design complexity strongly influences users’ preferences. Indeed, the relevance of visual complexity to aesthetic preference has been confirmed. However, the visual complexity of calligraphy artworks has seldom been investigated and the process of how visual complexity affects aesthetic preference remains vague. Therefore, in this work we proposed a computational method to evaluate complexity and conducted several perception studies. Results showed that layout features and calligraphy style (regular script, running script, and cursive script) affected visual complexity. The level of visual complexity (low, medium, and high) affected aesthetic preference but calligraphy style did not. Furthermore, Chinese calligraphy with moderate visual complexity evokes strong aesthetic preference. The present findings can help designers redesign websites and interfaces for high aesthetic preference and can provide insights for developing the theoretical design of calligraphic art for advanced interaction in cultural heritage, such as in interactive systems for teaching calligraphy based on aesthetic cognition.
Perceptual organization bridges the gap between the low-level building blocks of incoming sensations and the high-level interpretation of these inputs as meaningful objects, scenes and events in the world. In the visual modality, for instance, the features signaled by the neurons in low-level cortical areas must be combined in order for the high-level areas to make sense of them. But a similar functionality of perceptual organization is present in other modalities too (e.g., audition, haptics). Perceptual organization comprises a wide range of processes such as perceptual grouping, figure-ground organization, filling-in, completion, perceptual switching, etc. Such processes are most notable in the context of shape perception but they also play a role in texture perception, lightness perception, color perception, motion perception, depth perception, etc. Perceptual organization deals with a variety of perceptual phenomena of central interest, studied from many different perspectives, including psychophysics, experimental psychology, neuropsychology, neuroimaging, neurophysiology, and computational modeling. Given its crucial role in phenomenal experience, perceptual organization has also figured prominently in classic Gestalt writings on the topic, touching upon deep philosophical issues regarding mind-brain relationships and consciousness. In addition, it is of central importance in applied areas like visual art, design, architecture, music, and so forth.
Visual complexity is relevant for many areas ranging from improving usability of technical displays or websites up to understanding aesthetic experiences. Therefore, many attempts have been made to relate objective properties of images to perceived complexity in artworks and other images. It has been argued that visual complexity is a multidimensional construct mainly consisting of two dimensions: A quantitative dimension that increases complexity through number of elements, and a structural dimension representing order negatively related to complexity. The objective of this work is to study human perception of visual complexity utilizing two large independent sets of abstract patterns. A wide range of computational measures of complexity was calculated, further combined using linear models as well as machine learning (random forests), and compared with data from human evaluations. Our results confirm the adequacy of existing two-factor models of perceived visual complexity consisting of a quantitative and a structural factor (in our case mirror symmetry) for both of our stimulus sets. In addition, a non-linear transformation of mirror symmetry giving more influence to small deviations from symmetry greatly increased explained variance. Thus, we again demonstrate the multidimensional nature of human complexity perception and present comprehensive quantitative models of the visual complexity of abstract patterns, which might be useful for future experiments and applications.
For over a century we have attempted to understand human aesthetic experience using scientific methods. A typical experiment could be described as reductive and quasi-psychophysical. We vary some aspect of the stimulus and systematically measure some aspect of the aesthetic response. The limitations of this approach can be categorized as problems on the Y axis (what we measure) and the X axis (what we manipulate). The most enigmatic components of aesthetic experience include inclination to cry, aesthetic rapture, a sense of the sublime, and intense fascination. However, we cannot evoke these ‘hot’ aesthetic emotions in the lab, at least not with well controlled stimuli on multiple trials. We thus resort to measuring cold, cognitive preference ratings. There are also problems on the X axis. The reductive psychophysical approach explicitly assumes that there are lawful relations between different stimulus dimensions and preferences. It also tacitly assumes that these dimensions are independent and orthogonal. The second assumption is implausible. Whatever stimulus-preference laws we discover are likely to be twisted and modulated when another dimension is added to the stimuli. This ‘gestalt nightmare’ has long been recognized, but never resolved. This matters, because human aesthetic faculties are probably tuned to the balance and relationship of parts which make up a whole and are indifferent to the parts presented in isolation. I conclude that the future of scientific aesthetics depends on how successfully we can transcend reductive, quasi-psychophysical approaches.
Although existing research has established that aesthetic pleasure and aesthetic interest are two distinct positive aesthetic responses, empirical research on aesthetic preferences usually considers only aesthetic liking to capture participants’ aesthetic response. This causes some fundamental contradictions in the literature; some studies find a positive relationship between easy-to-process stimulus characteristics and aesthetic liking, while others suggest a negative relationship. The present research addresses these empirical contradictions by investigating the dual character of aesthetic liking as manifested in both the pleasure and interest components. Based on the Pleasure-Interest Model of Aesthetic Liking (PIA Model; Graf and Landwehr, 2015), two studies investigated the formation of pleasure and interest and their relationship with aesthetic liking responses. Using abstract art as the stimuli, Study 1 employed a 3 (stimulus fluency: low, medium, high) × 2 (processing style: automatic, controlled) × 2 (aesthetic response: pleasure, interest) experimental design to examine the processing dynamics responsible for experiencing aesthetic pleasure versus aesthetic interest. We find that the effect of stimulus fluency on pleasure is mediated by a gut-level fluency experience. Stimulus fluency and interest, by contrast, are related through a process of disfluency reduction, such that disfluent stimuli that grow more fluent due to processing efforts become interesting. The second study employed product designs (bikes, chairs, and lamps) as stimuli and a 2 (fluency: low, high) × 2 (processing style: automatic, controlled) × 3 (product type: bike, chair, lamp) experimental design to examine pleasure and interest as mediators of the relationship between stimulus fluency and design attractiveness. With respect to lamps and chairs, the results suggest that the effect of stimulus fluency on attractiveness is fully mediated by aesthetic pleasure, especially in the automatic processing style. Conversely, disfluent product designs can enhance design attractiveness judgments due to interest when a controlled processing style is adopted.
One of the frequent questions by users of the mixed model function lmer of the lme4 package has been: How can I get p values for the F and t tests for objects returned by lmer? The lmerTest package extends the 'lmerMod' class of the lme4 package, by overloading the anova and summary functions by providing p values for tests for fixed effects. We have implemented the Satterthwaite's method for approximating degrees of freedom for the t and F tests. We have also implemented the construction of Type I - III ANOVA tables. Furthermore, one may also obtain the summary as well as the anova table using the Kenward-Roger approximation for denominator degrees of freedom (based on the KRmodcomp function from the pbkrtest package). Some other convenient mixed model analysis tools such as a step method, that performs backward elimination of nonsignificant effects - both random and fixed, calculation of population means and multiple comparison tests together with plot facilities are provided by the package as well.
According to art theory, pictorial balance acts to unify picture elements into a cohesive composition. For asymmetrical compositions, balancing elements is thought to be similar to balancing mechanical weights in a framework of symmetry axes. Assessment of preference for balance (APB), based on the symmetry-axes framework suggested in Arnheim R, 1974 Art and Visual Perception: A Psychology of the Creative Eye (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press), successfully matched subject balance ratings of images of geometrical shapes over unlimited viewing time. We now examine pictorial balance perception of Japanese calligraphy during first fixation, isolated from later cognitive processes, comparing APB measures with results from balance-rating and comparison tasks. Results show high between-task correlation, but low correlation with APB. We repeated the rating task, expanding the image set to include five rotations of each image, comparing balance perception of artist and novice participant groups. Rotation has no effect on APB balance computation but dramatically affects balance rating, especially for art experts. We analyze the variety of rotation effects and suggest that, rather than depending on element size and position relative to symmetry axes, first fixation balance processing derives from global processes such as grouping of lines and shapes, object recognition, preference for horizontal and vertical elements, closure, and completion, enhanced by vertical symmetry.
The aesthetic appreciation of a picture largely depends on the perceptual balance of its elements. The underlying mental mechanisms of this relation, however, are still poorly understood. For investigating these mechanisms, objective measures of balance have been constructed, such as the Assessment of Preference for Balance (APB) score of Wilson and Chatterjee (2005). In the present study we examined the APB measure and compared it to an alternative measure (DCM; Deviation of the Center of “Mass”) that represents the center of perceptual “mass” in a picture and its deviation from the geometric center. Additionally, we applied measures of homogeneity and of mirror symmetry. In a first experiment participants had to rate the balance and symmetry of simple pictures, whereas in a second experiment different participants rated their preference (liking) for these pictures. In a third experiment participants rated the balance as well as the preference of new pictures. Altogether, the results show that DCM scores accounted better for balance ratings than APB scores, whereas the opposite held with respect to preference. Detailed analyses revealed that these results were due to the fact that aesthetic preference does not only depend on balance but also on homogeneity, and that the APB measure takes this feature into account.
Artists decide the orientation at which an abstract painting should be hung based on their ideas, but the correct orientation is not obvious to other viewers. Some studies have found that abstract paintings at the correct orientations generally get higher aesthetic ratings from viewers. This encourages us to deal with the problem of orientation judgment for abstract paintings through machine learning. First, we design a group of methods to extract features from paintings based on the theories in abstract art. Then a machine leaning framework is proposed using Naive Bayes classifier and BP neural network classifier for training and orientation testing. Experiments show that it can classify abstract paintings into up and non-up ones with performance comparable to human. This is the first work of orientation judgment for abstract paintings through computer simulation, and the results demonstrate the validity of abstract art theories used for feature definition. This work provides a new scheme for exploring the relationship between aesthetic quality of abstract paintings and their computational visual features.
Visual complexity influences people's perception of, preference for, and behaviour toward many classes of objects, from artworks to web pages. The ability to predict people's impression of the complexity of different kinds of visual stimuli holds, therefore, great potential for many domains, basic and applied. Here we use edge detection operations and several image metrics based on image compression error and Zipf's law to estimate the visual complexity of images. The experiments involved 800 images, each previously rated by thirty participants on perceived complexity. In a first set of experiments we analysed the correlation of individual features with the average human response, obtaining correlations up to rs=.771. In a second set of experiments we employed Machine Learning techniques to predict the average visual complexity score attributed by humans to each stimuli. The best configurations obtained a correlation of rs=.832. The average prediction error of the Machine Learning system over the set of all stimuli was .096 in a normalized 0 to 1 interval, showing that it is possible to predict, with high accuracy human responses. Overall, edge density and compression error were the strongest predictors of human complexity ratings.
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The present experiment sought empirical evidence that pictorial balance can be detected spontaneously with the first glance at a painting. Stimuli consisted of color and black-and-white reproductions or adaptations of structurally balanced paintings and one or more reconstructed less balanced versions of each work of art. Art-trained and untrained subjects rated the compositions for balance on a 6-point Likert scale after presentation durations which permitted either a single fixation (100 ms) or multiple fixations (5 s). The results show that both naive and sophisticated participants discriminated the less balanced from the more balanced versions of the black-and-white paintings with a single glance at each. They were also able to discern differences in balance among the color stimuli in the single fixation condition, but not the subtle differences in balance between the two versions of each painting. Subjects' assessment of a composition's balance based on stimulus information encoded with one fixation did not significantly change when exposure duration permitted multiple fixations of that composition. Data are consistent with the view that the induced structural organization resulting from the balanced configuration of a painting's element is detected spontaneously by the eye “at first glance.”
Maximum likelihood or restricted maximum likelihood (REML) estimates of the
parameters in linear mixed-effects models can be determined using the lmer
function in the lme4 package for R. As for most model-fitting functions in R,
the model is described in an lmer call by a formula, in this case including
both fixed- and random-effects terms. The formula and data together determine a
numerical representation of the model from which the profiled deviance or the
profiled REML criterion can be evaluated as a function of some of the model
parameters. The appropriate criterion is optimized, using one of the
constrained optimization functions in R, to provide the parameter estimates. We
describe the structure of the model, the steps in evaluating the profiled
deviance or REML criterion, and the structure of classes or types that
represents such a model. Sufficient detail is included to allow specialization
of these structures by users who wish to write functions to fit specialized
linear mixed models, such as models incorporating pedigrees or smoothing
splines, that are not easily expressible in the formula language used by lmer.
In Art and Visual Perception, Rudolf Arnheim, following on from Denman Ross's A Theory of Pure Design, proposed a Gestalt theory of visual composition. The current paper assesses a physicalist interpretation of Arnheim's theory, calculating an image's centre of mass (CoM). Three types of data are used: a large, representative collection of art photographs of recognised quality; croppings by experts and non-experts of photographs; and Ross and Arnheim's procedure of placing a frame around objects such as Arnheim's two black disks. Compared with control images, the CoM of art photographs was closer to an axis (horizontal, vertical, or diagonal), as was the case for photographic croppings. However, stronger, within-image, paired comparison studies, comparing art photographs with the CoM moved on or off an axis (the 'gamma-ramp study'), or comparing adjacent croppings on or off an axis (the 'spider-web study'), showed no support for the Arnheim-Ross theory. Finally, studies moving a frame around two disks, of different size, greyness, or background, did not support Arnheim's Gestalt theory. Although the detailed results did not support the Arnheim-Ross theory, several significant results were found which clearly require explanation by any adequate theory of the aesthetics of visual composition.
According to art theory, pictorial balance acts to unify picture elements into a cohesive composition. For asymmetrical compositions, balancing elements is thought to be similar to balancing mechanical weights in a framework of symmetry axes. Assessment of preference for balance (APB), based on the symmetry-axes framework suggested in Arnheim R, 1974 Art and Visual Perception: A Psychology of the Creative Eye (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press), successfully matched subject balance ratings of images of geometrical shapes over unlimited viewing time. We now examine pictorial balance perception of Japanese calligraphy during first fixation, isolated from later cognitive processes, comparing APB measures with results from balance-rating and comparison tasks. Results show high between-task correlation, but low correlation with APB. We repeated the rating task, expanding the image set to include five rotations of each image, comparing balance perception of artist and novice participant groups. Rotation has no effect on APB balance computation but dramatically affects balance rating, especially for art experts. We analyze the variety of rotation effects and suggest that, rather than depending on element size and position relative to symmetry axes, first fixation balance processing derives from global processes such as grouping of lines and shapes, object recognition, preference for horizontal and vertical elements, closure, and completion, enhanced by vertical symmetry.
Conducted 9 experiments with a total of 663 undergraduates using the technique of priming to study the nature of the cognitive representation generated by superordinate semantic category names. In Exp I, norms for the internal structure of 10 categories were collected. In Exps II, III, and IV, internal structure was found to affect the perceptual encoding of physically identical pairs of stimuli, facilitating responses to physically identical good members and hindering responses to identical poor members of a category. Exps V and VI showed that the category name did not generate a physical code (e.g., lines or angles), but rather affected perception of the stimuli at the level of meaning. Exps VII and VIII showed that while the representation of the category name which affected perception contained a depth meaning common to words and pictures which enabled Ss to prepare for either stimulus form within 700 msec, selective reduction of the interval between prime and stimulus below 700 msec revealed differentiation of the coding of meaning in preparation for actual perception. Exp IX suggested that good examples of semantic categories are not physiologically determined, as the effects of the internal structure of semantic categories on priming (unlike the effects for color categories) could be eliminated by long practice. (57 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Human aesthetic preference in the visual domain is reviewed from definitional, methodological, empirical, and theoretical perspectives. Aesthetic science is distinguished from the perception of art and from philosophical treatments of aesthetics. The strengths and weaknesses of important behavioral techniques are presented and discussed, including two-alternative forced-choice, rank order, subjective rating, production/ adjustment, indirect, and other tasks. Major findings are reviewed about preferences for colors (single colors, color combinations, and color harmony), spatial structure (low-level spatial properties, shape properties, and spatial composition within a frame), and individual differences in both color and spatial structure. Major theoretical accounts of aesthetic response are outlined and evaluated, including explanations in terms of mere exposure effects, arousal dynamics, categorical prototypes, ecological factors, perceptual and conceptual fluency, and the interaction of multiple components. The results of the review support the conclusion that aesthetic response can be studied rigorously and meaningfully within the framework of scientific psychology. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Psychology Volume 64 is November 30, 2012. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/catalog/pubdates.aspx for revised estimates.
The Internet experiment is now a well-established and widely used method. The present paper describes guidelines for the proper conduct of Internet experiments, e.g. handling of dropout, unobtrusive naming of materials, and pre-testing. Several methods are presented that further increase the quality of Internet experiments and help to avoid frequent errors. These methods include the "seriousness check", "warm-up," "high hurdle," and "multiple site entry" techniques, control of multiple submissions, and control of motivational confounding. Finally, metadata from sites like WEXTOR (http://wextor.org) and the web experiment list (http://genpsylab-wexlist.uzh.ch/) are reported that show the current state of Internet-based research in terms of the distribution of fields, topics, and research designs used.
Visual complexity has been known to be a significant predictor of preference for artistic works for some time. The first study reported here examines the extent to which perceived visual complexity in art can be successfully predicted using automated measures of complexity. Contrary to previous findings the most successful predictor of visual complexity was Gif compression. The second study examined the extent to which fractal dimension could account for judgments of perceived beauty. The fractal dimension measure accounts for more of the variance in judgments of perceived beauty in visual art than measures of visual complexity alone, particularly for abstract and natural images. Results also suggest that when colour is removed from an artistic image observers are unable to make meaningful judgments as to its beauty.
This article summarizes expertise gleaned from the first years of Internet-based experimental research and presents recommendations on: (1) ideal circumstances for conducting a study on the Internet; (2) what precautions have to be undertaken in Web experimental design; (3) which techniques have proven useful in Web experimenting; (4) which frequent errors and misconceptions need to be avoided; and (5) what should be reported. Procedures and solutions for typical challenges in Web experimenting are discussed. Topics covered include randomization, recruitment of samples, generalizability, dropout, experimental control, identity checks, multiple submissions, configuration errors, control of motivational confounding, and pre-testing. Several techniques are explained, including "warm-up," "high hurdle," password methods, "multiple site entry," randomization, and the use of incentives. The article concludes by proposing sixteen standards for Internet-based experimenting.
The subjective complexity of a computer-generated bitmap image can be measured by magnitude estimation scaling, and its objective complexity can be measured by its compressed file size. There is a high correlation between these measures of subjective and objective complexity over a large set of marine electronic chart and radar images. The subjective dissimilarity of a pair of bitmap images can be predicted from subjective and objective measures of the complexity of each image, and from the subjective and objective complexity of the image produced by overlaying the two simple images. In addition, the subjective complexity of the image produced by overlaying two simple images can be predicted from the subjective complexity of the simple images and the subjective dissimilarity of the image pair. The results of the experiments that generated these complexity and dissimilarity judgments are consistent with a theory, outlined here, that treats objective and subjective measures of image complexity and dissimilarity as vectors in Euclidean space.
Two experiments were performed during which adults untrained in the visual arts were shown digital versions of eight paintings by renowned artists. In Experiment 1 participants' written reactions following a single 100 ms glance at each work were found to overwhelmingly reflect an initial holistic impression (i.e. gist) of the structural arrangement and semantic meaning of the paintings. In the second experiment participants' eye movements and verbal reactions were recorded as they evaluated each reproduction for pleasingness. Analyses reveal the relationships between the content and structural organization of the art stimuli and the way viewers select, process and think about information contained in paintings across the time course of an aesthetic experience. The results are interpreted in terms of an information-processing stage model of visual aesthetics according to which perceptual-cognitive processing of an art stimulus begins with the rapid generation of a gist reaction followed by scrutiny of pictorial features directed in a top-down fashion by cognitively-based evaluative processes.
This paper discusses aspects of recruiting subjects for economic laboratory experiments, and shows how the Online Recruitment System for Economic Experiments can help. The software package provides experimenters with a free, convenient, and very powerful tool to organize their experiments and sessions.
Balance is a central feature that contributes to the organizational structure of aesthetic visual images. Balance gives unity to an otherwise diverse display. Dynamic balance refers to the way in which disparate elements of an image produce visual forces that compensate for each other. Despite the importance of balance on aesthetic perception and production, few tests are designed to assess sensitivity or preference for this important attribute of images. Here, we introduce the assessment of preference for balance (APB) and report a method to derive an objective balance score. In selecting items for this test, we eliminated images that produce local grouping effects and confound assessment of the effects of dynamic balance per se. Our final test constitutes 130 images comprised of circles or hexagon elements. The objective balance scores accounted for 73% and 78% of the variance, respectively, in subjec- tive preferences for these images.
Recent research into perceptual categorization has demonstrated that successful classification depends upon the matching of a stimulus input with a prototype representing the appropriate category. The suggestion that aesthetic responses to stimuli are mediated by the categorization process was investigated in two furniture selection tasks. In the first experiment subjects were requested to select items of furniture from a display similar to those in a set, while preference selections were obtained in the second experiment. The sets comprised items in one of three styles — Modern, Georgian or Art Nouveau — with the display made up of examples of all three. The first experiment examined the reliability of classification for the styles selected, with results indicating the existence of two distinguishable categories, represented by the Modern and Georgian sets. Further, the Georgian and Art Nouveau sets appeared to belong to a broader category, in which the Georgian items were more prototypic, that is, were better examples of this category. The results of Expt. 2 showed a marked parallelism with the data from the similarity task and supported the hypothesis that aesthetic choice reflects categorization and prototypicality.
Three experiments are reported on the phenomenon of the subjective balance of pictures. Subjects were asked to place a fulcrum beneath a picture so that it looked balanced. In Expt 1 reproductions of works of art were used as stimuli. Pictures showed large differences in balance point; subjects showed smaller differences, unrelated to handedness or eye-dominance. Monochrome reproductions produced similar balance scores to coloured reproductions. Chopping a portion from one end of a picture showed that particular features are not the origin of the balance phenomenon, but rather the balance judgement incorporates an integration of information across the entire picture field. In Expt 2 abstract controlled stimuli were used; balance depended primarily upon the position of an object, and to a lesser degree on its size and colour. Experiment 3 used stimuli similar to those in Expt 2 and showed that subjects differed in the way that they extrapolated from side length to the mass of a rectangular object, that vertical position had no influence upon balance, and that the shape of a rectangle did relate to balance, the effect interacting with the degree of artificial perspective induced in the stimulus.
This paper provides an introduction to mixed-effects models for the analysis of repeated measurement data with subjects and items as crossed random effects. A worked-out example of how to use recent software for mixed-effects modeling is provided. Simulation studies illustrate the advantages offered by mixed-effects analyses compared to traditional analyses based on quasi-F tests, by-subjects analyses, combined by-subjects and by-items analyses, and random regression. Applications and possibilities across a range of domains of inquiry are discussed.
Participants rated the dynamic quality of a set of twelve-element nonrepresentational or abstract visual designs each composed of one of four types of triangles or four types of quadrilaterals. We investigated the contribution to the perceived or implicit dynamics of the design of the four factors edge alignment of compositional elements, physical weight distribution about the horizontal axis, activity directions within the designs, and type of compositional element. It was found that edge alignment of elements was the most influential factor contributing to the dynamics both of triangle and of quadrilateral designs. In addition, dynamics was found to be positively correlated with the number of perceived activity directions within both types of stimuli. Triangle designs, but not quadrilateral ones, with greater structural weight above the horizontal axis were rated as more dynamic. Results suggest that implicit dynamics of nonrepresentational designs arises from a percept based on a global spatial analysis of the stimulus characteristics studied.
Typicality and novelty have often been shown to be related to aesthetic preference of human artefacts. Since a typical product is rarely new and, conversely, a novel product will not often be designated as typical, the positive effects of both features seem incompatible. In three studies it was shown that typicality (operationalized as 'goodness of example') and novelty are jointly and equally effective in explaining the aesthetic preference of consumer products, but that they suppress each other's effect. Direct correlations between both variables and aesthetic preference were not significant, but each relationship became highly significant when the influence of the other variable was partialed out. In Study 2, it was furthermore demonstrated that the expertise level of observers did not affect the relative contribution of novelty and typicality. It was finally shown (Study 3) that a more 'objective' measure of typicality, central tendency - operationalized as an exemplar's average similarity to all other members of the category - yielded the same effect of typicality on aesthetic preference. In sum, all three studies showed that people prefer novel designs as long as the novelty does not affect typicality, or, phrased differently, they prefer typicality given that this is not to the detriment of novelty. Preferred are products with an optimal combination of both aspects.
Individual differences in aesthetic judgments were investigated by comparing quantitative group and individual performance models of the judgment processes. Aesthetic judgments of beauty over novel, formal, graphic patterns were collected from 34 non-artist college students using a two-step ranking-rating procedure. Their judgment processes were individually modelled using Judgment Analysis. The participants showed noted individual differences. Certain features of the stimulus material, which were considered to contribute to the picture's beauty by one participant, were used in an opposing fashion by another. A group model was derived based on the average ratings of the patterns' beauty. It was concluded that the group model was not an adequate representation of the present data, whereas the data revealed systematic judgment processes at the individual subject level.
The painter's secret geometry: A study of composition in art
- C Bouleau
SoSci Survey (Version 2.5.00)
- D J Leiner