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The effect of color on orthonasal and retronasal odor intensities was investigated. When odorants were smelled orthonasally (i.e., through the nostrils), color enhanced odor intensity ratings, consistent with previous reports. However, when odorants were smelled retronasally (i.e., the odorous solution was put in the mouth), color reduced odor intensity ratings. These different effects of color on odor intensity (i.e., enhancement orthonasally and suppression retronasally) appear to be the result of route of olfactory stimulation rather than of any procedural artifact. This supports previous reports that retronasal and orthonasal odors are perceived differently.

Art trained and untrained participants evaluated postcard images of nine paintings by renowned artists on 16 measures of the compositions' physical and structural characteristics, novelty of content, and aesthetic qualities. These ratings were compared to those obtained by Locher et al. (2001) from individuals experiencing the original paintings in the galleries of the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art and from viewers of slide-projected and computer-generated images of the set of art stimuli. Analyses revealed significant differences in the judged hedonic properties of the originals as compared to the postcard images, whereas the pictorial qualities of the artworks were comparable for these two format conditions. This was the case for both art trained and untrained participants. Additionally, ratings on all measures were found not to differ reliably across the three reproduction formats (viz., postcard, slide, and computer images). Findings are discussed in terms of Locher et al.'s facsimile-accommodation hypothesis of picture perception.

While research linking science and aesthetics continues to proliferate, in technical domains like software development, quantitative investigations of aesthetics are virtually nonexistent. As an initial exploration, we administered an online survey to 12 experts and 38 novices in programming, assessing the frequency, nature, time course, and judgment criteria of their aesthetic experience with software code. Both groups reported having aesthetic experiences with code, though somewhat less frequently and intensely than with other creative artifacts. Overall, judgments of "ugly" code were reported to be faster than those of "beautiful" code, which in tum were faster than those of "correct" code. Aesthetic considerations of code were generally rated as quite important, though not as important as functionality. Finally, aesthetic judgment criteria were highly correlated among experts and novices. Results suggest a quantitative approach to aesthetics in software code is a promising direction, with trans-domain implications for aesthetics and creativity.

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