Psychometrics of art: Validation of RizbA, a quantitative rating instrument for pictorial expression

Abstract

Although art has been subject to psychological research for some time, the artwork itself received little attention in quantitative research. The rating instrument for two-dimensional pictorial works (RizbA) fills this gap by providing a tool for formal picture analysis. This study validates the questionnaire on 294 images created by 147 non-artists. In an online test-retest study the material was rated by 880 (T1) and 475 (T2) experts using RizbA. Statistical quality criteria, Principal component analysis and indices of factor similarity were computed. The overall test's capacity of differentiation yields a partial eta-squared of .28 (T1) and .33 (T2). Test-retest reliability is .93. PCA reveals an eight-factors solution. Tucker's coefficients of congruence range between |0.82| and |1.00|. Intraclass correlation coefficients are .81 (T1) and .84 (T2). Results indicate generalizability to amateurs' works. As the first reliable tool for picture analysis, RizbA allows a more detailed examination of art and its correlates.

Empirics vs. art theory: Exploring a factor structure of pictorial expression based on contemporary artworks

“…Three different path models were specified as hypothetical models. Items were accordingly assigned to the factors (see Table 2): Model A is empirically based on the second study (Schoch & Ostermann, 2021, May 4) (Schoch & Ostermann, 2021, May 4) resembling the factor structure from the PCA at T1. Items with negative factor loadings were reversed in the model.…”

“…Since there was no quantitative data on formal image analysis by then, a priori creating a construct map was hardly possible. A second study (Schoch & Ostermann, 2021, May 4) validated the 26-item version on a sample of 294 pictorial works by nonprofessionals from the 21 st century.…”