Image Ambiguity and Fluency

Abstract

Ambiguity is often associated with negative affective responses, and enjoying ambiguity seems restricted to only a few situations, such as experiencing art. Nevertheless, theories of judgment formation, especially the “processing fluency account”, suggest that easy-to-process (non-ambiguous) stimuli are processed faster and are therefore preferred to (ambiguous) stimuli, which are hard to process. In a series of six experiments, we investigated these contrasting approaches by manipulating fluency (presentation duration: 10ms, 50ms, 100ms, 500ms, 1000ms) and testing effects of ambiguity (ambiguous versus non-ambiguous pictures of paintings) on classification performance (Part A; speed and accuracy) and aesthetic appreciation (Part B; liking and interest). As indicated by signal detection analyses, classification accuracy increased with presentation duration (Exp. 1a), but we found no effects of ambiguity on classification speed (Exp. 1b). Fifty percent of the participants were able to successfully classify ambiguous content at a presentation duration of 100 ms, and at 500ms even 75% performed above chance level. Ambiguous artworks were found more interesting (in conditions 50ms to 1000ms) and were preferred over non-ambiguous stimuli at 500ms and 1000ms (Exp. 2a - 2c, 3). Importantly, ambiguous images were nonetheless rated significantly harder to process as non-ambiguous images. These results suggest that ambiguity is an essential ingredient in art appreciation even though or maybe because it is harder to process.

Perceived cognitive challenge predicts eye movements while viewing contemporary paintings

“…Our study aimed to evaluate the impact of object-and subject-related cognitive challenge on eye movements during perception of contemporary art by expert and naive viewers. In line with previous research (Belke et al, 2015;Jakesch & Leder, 2009;Jakesch et al, 2013;Muth et al, 2015), the degree of ambiguity and complexity in images was positively linked with appreciation, suggesting that despite its effortful processing, this kind of challenging art can be liked. However, this pattern was not replicated for the third component of subject-related cognitive challenge as no relation between perceived inconsistency and liking was found.…”

“…Finally, we also took into account the subject-related cognitive challenge, that is, the subjective reactions evoked by an artwork. Amongst various estimates of cognitive challenge studied in empirical aesthetics (Jakesch & Leder, 2009;Jakesch et al, 2013;Muth & Carbon, 2013;Muth et al, 2015), we chose to focus on perceived inconsistency, complexity, and ambiguity, as these measures allowed us to capture different aspects of cognitive challenge in contemporary art. Whereas "ambiguity" is often associated with multiple meanings and interpretations that could be attributed to the stimuli (Muth et al, 2015), "complexity" usually refers to more formal aspects, such as variety of elements and ways they are organized (Nadal, Munar, Marty, & Cela-Conde, 2010).…”

“…According to this theory, violations of classical rules of composition or pictorial representation evoke effortful processing, lower artworks' aesthetic appeal, and consequently lead to a decrease in visual exploration. Other authors (Jakesch & Leder, 2009;Jakesch, Leder, & Forster, 2013) agree that violations can cause non-fluent processing, although rather than leading to a lower aesthetic appeal, they might actually provoke increased appreciation and liking. In other words, violations in art can be pleasing despite their effortful processing.…”

“…Despite the fact that there is a growing body of research on how viewers experience challenging art (Jakesch & Leder, 2009;Jakesch et al, 2013;Muth & Carbon, 2013;Muth et al, 2015), little is known about how both subjectand object-related cognitive challenge affect eye movement. The question of brain correlates of violations in surrealist paintings has been addressed by Markey, Jakesch, and Leder (2016), although to the best of our knowledge there is no study that has investigated directly the impact of violations in contemporary art on eye movement.…”

Positive fEMG Patterns with Ambiguity in Paintings

“…In previous, behavioral studies, we repeatedly found that ambiguous paintings were liked more than non-ambiguous paintings (Jakesch et al, 2013; Jakesch and Leder, 2015). However, although we used the same stimuli, we found no main effect for liking in the current study.…”