Contrast and Assimilation in Aesthetic Judgments of Visual Artworks

Abstract

Contrast effects occur when an individual judges a target stimulus as being further removed from its position on some dimension than it actually is, due to exposure to a context stimulus presenting an opposite value on this dimension. In assimilation effects, on the contrary, the reverse occurs such that judgment about the target is brought nearer to the context stimulus. The objective of this article is to verify whether assimilation and contrast can be observed in aesthetic evaluation of visual artworks. The results demonstrated that when the context stimulus was formally similar to one of two artworks used in the comparison (the target) but aesthetically slightly inferior to it, an assimilation effect was observed. In contrast, when the context stimulus was formally similar to the target but definitely of inferior aesthetic quality, a contrast effect was observed. These results demonstrate the impact of contextual factors on aesthetic judgment.When we judge the aesthetic value of an artifact, we analyze the inherent characteristics related to its sensory aspect, its history, and the cultural and symbolic meaning it conveys-especially if it is a work of art. However, we also make, maybe implicitly, comparisons with other artifacts. Comparisons in judgment are a central topic of psychological investigation, since it is well known that the characteristics, the number, or the ways of presenting competing alternatives are important contextual factors that influence our judgments (

Eye Movement Correlates of Expertise in Visual Arts

“…This procedure is used even in these studies, aimed at comparing two versions of the same painting, for example, the original and altered, or one that is like another due to a feature such as style or artist (Nodine, 1982 ; Kristjanson and Antes, 1989 ; Nodine et al, 1993 ; Hekkert and van Wieringen, 1996a ; Locher et al, 1999 ; Vartanian and Goel, 2004 ; Pinto et al, 2006 ; Swami et al, 2007 ; Calvo-Merino et al, 2010 ). In some studies, two, three, or even four paintings are presented simultaneously, and the task of the participants is to select the one that best meets the criterion suggested in the instructions (e.g., aesthetic value) or order them according to this criterion (Child, 1965 ; Noll, 1966 ; Cupchik, 1974 ; Winner et al, 1987 ; Cupchik and Gebotys, 1988 ; Cupchik et al, 1992 ; McManus et al, 1993 ; Furnham and Rao, 2002 ; Cutting, 2003 ; Locher, 2003 ; Vartanian et al, 2005 ; Augustin et al, 2008 ; Arielli, 2012 ; Belke et al, 2015 ). Sometimes, a larger collection of paintings or photographs is presented at the same time, to be categorized (Augustin and Leder, 2006 ) or for aesthetic evaluation (McSorley and McCloy, 2011 ).…”

Effects of Preceding Context on Aesthetic Preference

“…A study performed by Arielli (2012) examined the effect of adjacent context on aesthetic judgments for visual art. Arielli presented sets of visual artworks to viewers, with two artworks evaluated as target and alternative, and a third artwork presented as a contextual stimulus.…”

“…We wish to note that aesthetic judgments of liking encompass numerous cognitive and affective processes. Liking is a more global measure of the aesthetic experience than a specific measure like pleasantness as used by Arielli (2012), which focuses on a very narrow and specific dimension of affect. Viewers of art differ widely in terms of what they appreciate about an artwork: The technical skill of the artist, the meaning of the artwork, the emotional impact it produces, the artwork's place in art history, and so on.…”

“…Following the logic of Arielli (2012), if the preceding photograph exerts a contextual effect on liking for the current photograph, there are two possibilities for context effects: Contrast and assimilation. If contrast effects related to liking occur, one would expect targets to be rated higher for liking when preceded by low context photographs and for targets to be rated lower for liking when preceded by high context photographs.…”

Inducing preference reversals in aesthetic choices for paintings: Introducing the contrast paradigm

“…To date, however, context has predominantly yielded contrast rather than assimilation effects on aesthetic judgments. For example, contrast effects occur for photographs [ 31 ], representational paintings [ 32 ], and abstract paintings [ 33 – 35 ].…”