Visual Complexity and Beauty Appreciation: Explaining the Divergence of Results

Abstract

Although a number of studies have verified Daniel Berlyne's (1971) predicted maximum preference for intermediately complex stimuli, others have found that preference increased or decreased in relation to complexity. The objective of the present work was to assess whether differences in the kinds of stimuli used in prior studies or in the way complexity was defined could explain this divergence. In the first phase a set of 120 stimuli varying in complexity, abstraction, and artistry was assembled. In the second phase 94 participants were asked to rate the beauty of the stimuli. In the final phase the same participants rated 60 of the stimuli on seven complexity dimensions. We failed to detect any meaningful influence of complexity on beauty ratings for any of the kinds of stimuli. However, our results suggest that there are three different forms of complexity that contribute to people's perception of visual complexity: one related with the amount and variety of elements, another related with the way those elements are organized, and asymmetry. We suggest that each of these types of complexity influences beauty ratings in different ways, and that the unresolved relation between complexity and beauty appreciation is mainly due to differences in the conception, manipulation, and measurement of visual complexity.

Cognitive control and unusual decisions about beauty: an fMRI study

“…Significant differences appeared in our two experiments and the data reanalysis from Nadal et al (2010). What previous studies did not report is that unusual responses take a significantly longer time than usual responses.…”

Buildings, Beauty, and the Brain: A Neuroscience of Architectural Experience

“…As Berlyne postulated many years ago, preferences tend to follow an inverted U-shaped curve in relation to complexity (Güçlütürk, Jacobs, & van Lier, 2016;Imamoglu, 2000;Berlyne, 1970Berlyne, , 1971. More recent evidence suggests that the relationship between complexity and aesthetic preference varies as a function of how the former is conceptualized (e.g., amount, variety or organization of elements within a scene; Nadal, Munar, Marty, & Cela-Conde, 2010). Excess architectural complexity may also overwhelm the visual system, particularly if the information is experienced as disorganized (Kotabe et al, 2016;Salingaros, 2003Salingaros, , 2007).…”

Berlyne Revisited: Evidence for the Multifaceted Nature of Hedonic Tone in the Appreciation of Paintings and Music

“…To be sure, Berlyne’s (1971, 1974a) psychobiological model of esthetic experience and his New Experimental Esthetics have been very influential in the field (Konečni, 1978; Silvia, 2005), but besides empirical support for his theory a non-negligible number of conflicting results have also been reported (Vitz, 1964; Osborne and Farley, 1970; Kreitler et al, 1974; Nicki and Gale, 1977; Krupinski and Locher, 1988; Neperud and Marschalek, 1988; Messinger, 1998; Stamps Iii, 2002; Eisenberg and Thompson, 2003; Nadal et al, 2010; Marin and Leder, 2013). Therefore, the current research project sought to contribute to the emerging literature by offering explanations for the discrepant research findings regarding Berlyne’s theory.…”

“…Therefore, the current research project sought to contribute to the emerging literature by offering explanations for the discrepant research findings regarding Berlyne’s theory. For instance, contributions of the multidimensionality of visual complexity (Nadal et al, 2010), individual differences in esthetic preferences (Güçlütürk et al, 2016) as well as a dual-process perspective on preference formation (Graf and Landwehr, 2015) have recently been acknowledged. In this study, we aim to explore alternative pathways in the elucidation of Berlyne’s psychobiological model: First, by following a stringent comparative approach, we study the nature of hedonic tone and its relationship with complexity in the experience of three different sets of affective pictures varying in their esthetic quality.…”