Get the Picture? Goodness of Image Organization Contributes to Image Memorability

Abstract

According to Gestalt psychologists, goodness is a crucial variable for image organization. We hypothesized that these differences in goodness contribute to variability in image memorability. Building on this, we predicted that two characteristics of good organizations, (i) fast, efficient processing and (ii) robustness against transformations (e.g., shrinking), would be characteristic of memorable images. Two planned (Study 1, Study 2) and one follow-up (Study 3) study were conducted to test this. Study 1 operationalized fast processing as accuracy in a rapid-scene categorization task (“categorizability”). Study 2 operationalized robustness against shrinking as reaction time in a thumbnail search task (“shrinkability”). We used 44 real-life scene images of 14 semantic categories from a previous memorability study. Each image was assigned a categorizability and shrinkability score. The predicted positive relation between categorizability and memorability was not observed in Study 1. A post-hoc explanation attributed this null result to a masking role of image distinctiveness. Furthermore, memorable images were located faster in the thumbnail search task, as predicted, but Study 2 could not rule whether this was merely a result of their distinctiveness. To elucidate these results, Study 3 quantified the images on distinctiveness and statistically controlled for this variable in a reanalysis of Study 1 and Study 2. When distinctiveness was controlled for, categorizability and memorability did show a significant positive correlation. Moreover, the results also argued against the alternative explanation of the results of Study 2. Taken together, the results support the hypothesis that goodness of organization contributes to image memorability.

MemCat: a new category-based image set quantified on memorability

“…Interestingly, consistent differences in memorability scores remain even within image categories (Bylinskii et al, 2015). Goetschalckx et al (2019) for example, have argued that part of that variability might be due to differences in how well the image is organized. Nonetheless, the concept of memorability and its correlates are not yet fully understood to date and further research is required to paint a clearer picture.…”

The beauty and the self: A common mnemonic advantage between aesthetic judgment and self-reference.

“…Probably, stimuli judged as highly symmetric were also implicitly judged as beautiful, and produced the same mnemonic advantage. Beyond this indirect effect, symmetry could directly contribute to the goodness of organization that has been shown to predict image memorability (Goetschalckx et al, 2019). Further studies should use different control conditions not pertaining to judgment of features that are known to be associated with esthetic evaluation.…”

Processing fluency, processing style, and aesthetic response to artistic photographs.

“…Interestingly, we observed a parallel between our findings and cutting-edge research on image memorability with generative adversarial networks (GAN; Goodfellow et al, 2014). GANs have been used to generate natural-looking images with fine-grained details in their visual attributes, in order to manipulate and understand what features make an image more or less memorable (Goetschalckx et al, 2019). The GANs seemed to manipulate memorability through a combination of features such as making the size of the object (or animal) larger within the frame, centering, simplifying (e.g., by reducing clutter and/or the number of objects, or making the background more homogeneous), and producing brighter and more colorful images (as well as striving for more circular or square shapes where appropriate; Goetschalckx et al, 2019).…”

“…GANs have been used to generate natural-looking images with fine-grained details in their visual attributes, in order to manipulate and understand what features make an image more or less memorable (Goetschalckx et al, 2019). The GANs seemed to manipulate memorability through a combination of features such as making the size of the object (or animal) larger within the frame, centering, simplifying (e.g., by reducing clutter and/or the number of objects, or making the background more homogeneous), and producing brighter and more colorful images (as well as striving for more circular or square shapes where appropriate; Goetschalckx et al, 2019). Moreover, visual examination of the images seemed to indicate a trend toward more pronounced and expressive eyes (of animals, as the GAN was not optimized for human features).…”