A shared fractal aesthetic across development

Abstract

Fractal patterns that repeat at varying size scales comprise natural environments and are also present in artistic works deemed to be highly aesthetic. Observers’ aesthetic preferences vary in relation to fractal complexity. Previous work demonstrated that fractal preference consistently peaks at low-to-moderate complexity for patterns that repeat in a statistical manner across scale, whereas preference for exact repetition fractals peaks at a higher complexity due to the presence of order introduced by symmetry and exact recursion of features. However, these highly consistent preference trends have been demonstrated only in adult populations, and the extent to which exposure, development, or individual differences in perceptual strategies may impact preference has not yet been established. Here, we show differences in preference between fractal-type, but no differences between child and adult preferences, and no relationship between systemizing tendencies (demonstrated by the Systemizing Quotient and Ponzo task) and complexity preferences, further supporting the universality of fractal preference. Consistent preferences across development point toward shared general aesthetic experience of these complexities arising from a fluency of fractal processing established relatively early in development. This in part determines how humans experience natural patterns and interact with natural and built environments.

Aesthetics and Psychological Effects of Fractal Based Design

“…Our findings suggest that perceptions of fractal patterns are not altered by the diverse natural environments where participants reside. This result supports the finding that preference for fractal complexity forms early in human development (sometime prior to three years of age) and is not further altered by life experience in western participants (Robles et al, 2020). Although this study recruits from a broader group of participants, our findings are still limited due to the overarching homogeneity in "WEIRD" participant samples.…”

Can Suboptimal Visual Environments Negatively Affect Children’s Cognitive Development?

“…This tells us something fundamental about how children experience and perceive the world and, conversely, how large dimensions and spaces do not fit the child's psyche. As early as age 3, children have been shown to have a preference for fractal patterns; in keeping with findings in adults, higher complexity is preferable for exact fractals and low-to-moderate complexity for statistical fractals [74].…”

The Potential of Biophilic Fractal Designs to Promote Health and Performance: A Review of Experiments and Applications

“…Behavioral experiments show that ninety-five per cent of people prefer fractal images over ones which have had their fractal content reduced [58]. Fractal aesthetics experiments also confirm that preference for mid-D complexity occurs for a wide variety of fractal image types [31,59,60] and that this preference is already evident by the age of two [61]. Preference is robust to the method employed to measure aesthetics (for example, some experiments adopt the forced choice method in which observers chose the most preferred from pairs of displayed images.…”