Method for demonstrating aesthetic preferences within artistic pictures

Abstract

Berlyne (I97I, pp. 28-29) acknowledged that "Reactions to artificially simple sights and sounds are admittedly a long way from appreciation of art." However, a concern regarding the use of art is an absence of control over the determinants of the subjects* preferences. This research attempted to overcome these methodological problems through the use of artistic pictures with the variation of a single stimulus within each picture, and consisted of two experiments, with university students as subjects. Experiment 1 determined aesthetic preferences for size and location of the moon. Forty redrawn photocopies of "Moose at Night (Moonlight)** of Tom Thomson, were put on slides and used for eliciting aesthetic preferences. The moon was varied on each slide, with 5 different elevations and 8 different sizes.