Bridging the Arts and Sciences: A Framework for the Psychology of Aesthetics
Thomas Jacobsen
Leonardo, Volume 39, Number 2, April 2006, pp. 155-162 (Article)
Published by The MIT Press
For additional information about this article https://muse.jhu.edu/article/196193
Access provided by University of Athens (or National and Kapodistrian Univ. of Athens) (6 Nov 2018 07:42 GMT) Bridging the Arts and Sciences: A Framework for the Psychology ABSTRACT of Aesthetics The investigation of aesthetic processing has constituted a longstanding tradition in experi- mental psychology, of which experimental aesthetics is the Thomas Jacobsen second-oldest branch. The
status of this psychology of ARTSCIENCE: THE ESSENTIAL CONNECTION aesthetics, the science of aesthetic processing, is briefly reviewed here. Building on this heritage and drawing on a host of related scientific disciplines, a framework for a strongly ental aesthetic processing, with its sub- imental aesthetics,” but such ex- interdisciplinary psychology M of aesthetics is proposed. It processes of aesthetic appreciation, judgment or production, pressions as “empirical aesthetics,” is a topic that seems to resist a unified approach while illus- “psychological aesthetics” or “psy- is argued that the topic can be fruitfully approached from trating a complex range of issues. This article presents a choaesthetics” are common as well. at least seven different perspec- framework for a modern psychology of aesthetics. In the fu- Today’s psychology of aesthetics still tives, each with multiple levels ture, a strongly interdisciplinary version of this branch of psy- follows Fechner’s example. of analysis: diachronia, ipsichro- chology could present a general, unified account of the mental nia, mind, body, content, person and situation. Eventually, this processing of aesthetics. It would serve to build bridges be- Fechner: A Source work may coalesce into a unified tween the arts and sciences, having strong ties to both realms of Inspiration theory of aesthetic processing. (Fig. 1). To this day, Fechner’s works remain This article briefly reviews work showing that aesthetic pro- a source of inspiration within ex- cessing—the evaluation or production of beauty, ugliness, perimental psychological aesthet- prettiness, harmony, elegance, shapeliness or charm [1]—is ics. Many of his concepts, however, have yet to be adopted into governed by a host of factors, such as stimulus symmetry, com- today’s inventory of psychological terminology, and some as- plexity, novelty, familiarity, artistic style, appeal to social status pects of his work have fallen into oblivion. The concept of the and individual preferences. Humans appreciate a wide range of entities aesthetically: painting, sculpture, music, opera, the- ater, literature, design and buildings, as well as faces, flowers, Fig. 1. The ScienceTunnel, an international exhibition of Germany’s landscapes, food, machinery, habitats and various other ob- Max Planck Society, 2005. (© MPG/Archimedes GBR) It displays jects of everyday life. Cultures differ in what is considered beau- science in an aesthetically pleasing way; therefore it metaphorically tiful, and within each culture people differ as well in what they bridges art and science. consider beautiful. Therefore, aesthetic processing can be use- fully considered from evolutionary, historical, cultural, edu- cational, cognitive, (neuro)biological, individual, personality, emotional and situational perspectives, and probably many more. Hence I argue that human aesthetics as a whole appears best viewed from a number of different perspectives and at several different levels of analysis. A framework of seven such vantage points is introduced here.
HISTORY Gustav Theodor Fechner The Vorschule der Aesthetik summarized Gustav Fechner’s ma- jor work on psychological aesthetics and was published in Leipzig in 1876 [2]. If one takes this year of publication to mark the beginning of a strongly empirical psychology of aes- thetics, this discipline is more than 125 years old and can be considered the second-oldest branch of experimental psy- chology, after Fechner’s psychophysics. In contrast to most of the very popular philosophical aesthetics of his day, Fechner argued for an empirical “aesthetics from below” that would assemble pieces of objective knowledge. He called it “exper-
Thomas Jacobsen (psychologist), Institute of Psychology I, University of Leipzig, Seeburgstrasse 14-20, 04103 Leipzig, Germany. E-mail:
©2006 ISAST LEONARDO, Vol. 39, No. 2, pp. 155–162, 2006 155 chometric publications to experimental aesthetics. Another milestone is Martin- dale’s cognitive theory [7]. Martindale put particular emphasis on the deter- mining role of a person’s structure of knowledge in aesthetic processes. Ac- cording to their main orientations, these trends all have contributed specific find- ings to the psychology of aesthetics. Fig. 2. The framework for the psychology of aesthetics. (© Thomas THE STATUS OF Jacobsen) The topic is OUR KNOWLEDGE
ARTSCIENCE: THE ESSENTIAL CONNECTION viewed from seven differ- ent vantage points, which A host of factors influencing aesthetic ex- are not mutually exclu- perience and behavior have been identi- sive: diachronia, ipsichro- fied throughout the course of research nia, mind, body, content, person and situation. [8]. It is known that the symmetry or Eventually, this work asymmetry of an object [9], complexity could coalesce into or simplicity [10], novelty or familiarity a unified theory of of an object [11], proportion or compo- processing aesthetics. sition [12], semantic content as opposed to formal qualities of design [13] and the significance of or mere exposure to a stimulus [14] all influence aesthetic ex- aesthetic threshold, for example, implies this context, Arnheim’s work represents perience and judgments. In addition, as- that a stimulus has to cross a specific in- an important application of the famous pects of a person’s emotional state [15]; dividual threshold in order to trigger ex- Gestalt laws of perception to art and aes- degree of interest in a stimulus [16]; ap- periences that are aesthetically pleasant thetics [4]. Particular importance should peal to social status or financial interest or unpleasant. This concept was sub- be attached to Berlyne’s work, done [17]; education; and historical, cultural jected to empirical and experimental ver- mainly during the 1960s and 1970s [5]. or economic background [18] are known ification, and the results were published He advocated a psychobiological ap- to influence aesthetic judgments. Various in a renowned psychological journal, the proach and managed to revive experi- situational aspects also play a role; we Psychological Review, in 1906 [3]. In recent mental aesthetics on a large scale after it might appreciate an object differently in years, however, Fechner’s concept of the had attracted much less attention in the a museum as opposed to in a supermar- aesthetic threshold, or the aesthetische preceding decades. His work emphasized ket, for example. In addition, aesthetic Schwelle, can no longer be found in the the importance of physiological arousal judgment is also determined by inter- work of international experts. and suggested relations expressible as in- individual differences [19]. Naturally, When we consider the history of ex- verted U shapes between so-called colla- there are numerous other findings. How- perimental aesthetics, a few major trends tive variables (complexity, novelty, etc.) ever, even this short listing shows that can be identified. Following Fechner’s and aesthetic appreciation. Berlyne’s im- aesthetic experiences and behavior are seminal writings, some works in particu- petus can still be felt today. Eysenck [6], subject to a relatively complex network lar stand out. On the one hand, Gestalt an eminent theorist in personality struc- of stimulus-, person- and situation-related psychology had a strong influence on ture research, also contributed a great influences. the psychology of art and aesthetics. In number of mostly comparative and psy- PROBLEMS OF METHODOLOGY Present-day psychology of aesthetics is Fig. 3. Diachronia: Examples of how sculpture changes over time. (a, left) Michelangelo, characterized by a mosaic of empirical David, 1504 (Photo: Bildarchiv Foto Marburg); (b, center) Duane Hanson, Bodybuilder, discoveries. In many cases, however, the 1995 (© VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2005); (c, right) Salvador Dalí, Hommage à Newton, 1980. (© Salvador Dalí; Foundation Gala—Salvador Dalí/VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2005) problems that have to be faced today are the same as in the past: for instance, the conflict between the degree of ex- perimental control on the one hand and the range of generalizability of the find- ings on the other. The logic of experi- ment requires that only clearly defined aspects of the experimental setup be changed, within well-defined conditions, while other factors remain constant. In the case of aesthetic considerations, the result is that geometrical shapes, or mere simple lines, become attractive stimu- lus material for the scientist, because controlled variations are possible. Can in- dividuals, however, produce genuine aes-
156 Jacobsen, Bridging the Arts and Sciences thetic judgments about such objects? dard psychological curricula. Whether or work. The other applied arts work in a Usually individuals are more inclined to not students of psychology become fa- similar way. This is also true, although to make aesthetic judgments about paint- miliar with it often depends on the indi- a far lesser extent, of media and literary ings, sculptures or buildings, which are vidual teacher’s interest in the field. Thus studies. Art history can provide a cornu- much more complex. These objects, how- it is not unusual to encounter qualified copia of insights. In addition, oral and fa- ever, mostly combine variations of a mul- psychologists who consider experimen- cial surgery and dentistry contribute to titude of stimulus dimensions that make tal aesthetics to be a trend in modern art the empirical study of aesthetics in their adequate experimental control very dif- rather than the second-oldest branch of fields. As a consequence, the psychology ficult or even impossible. If, for this experimental psychology. of aesthetics, being rather fragmented reason, researchers often restrict them- The psychology of aesthetics is not a at present, could develop an interdisci- selves to simple, easy-to-control stimuli, homogeneous discipline but consists of plinary and integrative approach, bridg- they will be very much confined in their fragmented sub-disciplines. Experimen- ing and uniting a range of disciplines and
statements about combinatory effects tal aesthetics as outlined above mainly applications. ARTSCIENCE: THE ESSENTIAL CONNECTION and interactions between the facets in- deals with research on art, as well as with vestigated. In the worst case, it is impos- artifacts in a wider sense. In order to sible to come to any conclusions about cover the full range of aesthetic behav- A FRAMEWORK FOR THE the objects of interest. This is a challenge, ior and experience, however, the psy- PSYCHOLOGY OF AESTHETICS a challenge of successfully bridging art chology of aesthetics must include a wide The framework presented here adopts and science, that still stands today. range of subject areas. Research on hu- seven vantage points on the topic of aes- man attractiveness in social psychology, thetic processing. Each vantage point can for instance, deals with aspects of human have different levels of analysis, render- HE TATUS OF THE T S beauty. Market research covers numerous ing it a perspectival pillar. These levels PSYCHOLOGY OF aspects of the identification of aesthetic are not mutually exclusive. Rather, they AESTHETICS AS A DISCIPLINE preferences. Although the focus in that all are concerned with the processing of Since the days of Fechner, psychology has case is on the application—the direct aesthetics, while approaching the subject developed significantly and has become utility of the research—aesthetic experi- in a multifold way from different angles, a fully established scientific discipline. ence and behavior are of immediate rel- covering a broad range of partly inter- Today, the mainstream of psychological evance for the marketing of products. related topics, focusing on different as- aesthetics works with experimental or There are numerous overlapping areas pects. These seven perspective pillars are: empirical methods. Thus, it has accepted in the psychology of art and in psycho- diachronia, ipsichronia, mind, body, con- and continued Fechner’s original con- logical aesthetics. Aesthetic processing, tent, person and situation (Fig. 2). They ceptual and methodological ideal of however, is not limited to art; therefore are introduced below. “bottom-up aesthetics,” in contrast to a the two fields should not be equated. theoretical and introspective kind of psy- There are also many similarities between Terminology chological aesthetics, and thus clearly fol- this field and the psychology of music. Psychology is the science of experience lows this tradition. Anthropology and evolutionary biology and behavior. The psychology of aes- The psychology of aesthetics is not, un- deal with the origins and bases of aes- thetics is the subdiscipline of psychology fortunately, a strong academic discipline thetic behavior. In architecture, research- concerned with the mental processing today. How can the status of a discipline ing and integrating aesthetic aspects of of aesthetics. For this purpose, the term be measured? Perhaps by the number buildings are natural components of the entity refers to an object of aesthetic of its full-time scientists, the number of publications, the status of specialist jour- nals in which the articles are published, the number of specialist journals in the Fig. 4. Ipsichronia: Experimental stimulus material for the empirical investigation of male and female attractiveness based on variations of the waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) and body field, professional societies and so forth. weight. (© Devendra Singh) Attractiveness of the WHR is subject to variation across cultures. When measured by these parameters, the discipline shows a great potential for de- velopment in comparison with others. There is no general textbook for the psy- chology of aesthetics, either in German or in English. Essentially, the discipline has only one specialist journal, Empirical Studies of the Arts [20], the organ of the International Association of Empirical Aesthetics. Furthermore, there are few scientists who completely devote their work to psychological aesthetics; for most of those who attend to it, it is their sec- ond or third area of research activity. This leads to a situation very much in contrast to other sub-disciplines in psychology, where scientists are almost forced to fo- cus completely on a single field of re- search. Moreover, the psychology of aesthetics is rarely an integral part of stan-
Jacobsen, Bridging the Arts and Sciences 157 processing. An entity may be a thing, a living being, an event, scenery or an environment. The meaning of the word aesthetics is multifold and has changed over time. Two main clusters of meaning can be identified. One is related to processes of sensation, as derived words such as anesthetic (relating to the absence of sensation) and synesthetic (involuntary co-sensation) illustrate. The second clus- ter is related to discussion in the arts, philosophy and art history. In a recent ARTSCIENCE: THE ESSENTIAL CONNECTION study of German college students, a bi- polar beautiful-ugly dimension clearly appeared to be the primary and proto- typical descriptive dimension for the aes- thetics of objects [21]. This result, of course, converges with the main aesthetic Fig. 5. Mind: Experimental stimulus material for the conceptualization in philosophical and investigation of mental cogni- psychological aesthetics: beauty. At a sec- tive memory representations ondary level, there is a conceptual system of semantic categories. entailing a larger set of concepts (e.g. el- (© William Labov) egant, harmonious, shapely, small, big, round, colored, etc.). The descriptive approach of such a study yields infor- Fig. 6. Body: Anton Räderscheidt, Selbstbildnisse nach Schlaganfall (Self-Portraits mation about a given state, without of a Patient/Painter with Hemi-Neglect). (© VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2005) negating potential change due to his- torical, educational, cultural and other influences. The study showed that in con- temporary Western culture the latter range of meanings of the word aesthetics predominates. The former meaning, re- lated to sensation, however, is entailed in that a sensory component is mandatory for aesthetic processing. For instance, an aesthetic judgment of beauty requires sensory processes, whereas a memory- based judgment of beauty does not. Consequently, aesthetic processing is sensation-based evaluation of an entity with respect to the above conceptual sys- tem, primarily the beauty dimension. The sensory subcomponents of aesthetic processing can be mentally simulated us- ing imagination.
Diachronia Diachronia is the perspective concerned with change over time (Fig. 3). It can be pursued at different levels of analysis —for instance, from the perspective of evolutionary biology or evolutionary an- thropology. Biological evolution afforded substantial changes in the progression from nonhuman to human primates. The question of the origins of and reasons for aesthetic behavior are at the center of at- tention here. Why do individuals pro- duce splendid and elaborate tools and weapons that are not intended for use? Why do faces have to show a certain de- gree of symmetry to be perceived as beau- tiful? What is the role of evolution in the development of our aesthetic faculties
158 Jacobsen, Bridging the Arts and Sciences and skills? [22] These questions lead to informative method [28]. The investi- a classical complex of questions in psy- gation of major cultural tendencies and chology: the nature-nurture question. their predominant ideals of beauty and This question of the relation between contrasting trends in subcultures is be- heredity and biological setup on the one coming more and more important. hand and the impact of a cultural super- When looking at the picture of a man in structure on the other hand was, for ex- his shirtsleeves in the 1950s, for example, ample, the subject of a heated debate in the answer to the question of what is miss- intelligence research and is a matter of ing would have been “the tie.” This was widespread discussion in current lin- the correct answer in the most widely guistic research [23]. used intelligence test of the time. Today, This leads to the other side of the people in Western metropolitan areas
nature-nurture question, that of histori- would perhaps instead suggest a tattoo or ARTSCIENCE: THE ESSENTIAL CONNECTION cal change and cultural development. facial piercing. This is certainly true for Cultural evolution explains the major some subcultural groups. A systematic variations in aesthetic processing today. survey of the cultural shaping of possibly Another perspective of psychological aes- universal aesthetic tendencies would be thetics is the historical one, especially an interesting facet in an interdiscipli- connected with the history of civilization. nary approach. There are numerous ex- Aesthetic judgments and preferences amples of aesthetic preferences that are change over time [24]. On the one hand, peculiar to a given culture or subculture. Fig. 7. Content: Leonardo da Vinci’s famous aesthetic usage is changed by the avail- Research in the psychology of aesthetics drawing Vitruvian Man, 1485, shows the ability of tools, the development and can take advantage of research in other realm of natural beauty and artistic beauty in availability of materials and production disciplines on cultural specificities in one illustration, an example of the blend of art and science during the Renaissance. techniques. On the other hand are tem- order to avoid the proposition of psy- poral changes not determined by what is chological models that are culture de- feasible. pendent and therefore not general. Here fashion comes into play. Fashion, ence-for-prototype model, for example, another aspect of historical change, can Mind holds that prototypical exemplars of a be due to mere trends that can be based This is the view on aesthetic processing given category will be preferred over less on or independent of current technical from the perspective of modern aca- typical ones [30]. This theoretical ac- development. Trends can lead to ex- demic psychology (Fig. 5). Of course, the count in the psychology of aesthetics ap- treme instantiations of an ideal of beauty, psychology of aesthetics is an integral plied an influential cognitive model [31]. including unwearable clothes, plastic part of this scientific discipline. A num- The systematic transfer of contemporary surgery and (self-)mutilations. Consid- ber of investigators have adopted cog- psychological concepts, however, has yet ering these two aspects, the historical nitive terminology in accounting for to be carried out. method can open up an important per- aesthetic processing [29]. The prefer- Here there are many possibilities for spective on aesthetic behavior and expe- rience that can also contribute to finding answers to questions that are psycholog- ical in nature. In addition to these group levels of Fig. 8. Person: Examples of analysis of diachronia, there are indi- graphic patterns that elicited vidual levels. During ontogenesis, in- considerable interindividual differences in aesthetic judg- dividuals can acquire different degrees of ments of beauty in the studies developmental refinement [25] through by Jacobsen and Höfel [45]. aesthetic education and other develop- (© Thomas Jacobsen and Lea mental achievement. Furthermore, aes- Höfel) thetic processing is subject to differing degrees of individual temporal stability, also governed by novelty or mere expo- sure to stimuli [26].
Ipsichronia The vantage point of ipsichronia focuses on comparisons within a given time segment. Together with diachronia, it covers the entire realm of aesthetic pro- cessing. A wide range of entities of aes- thetic processing is subjected to cultural and social processes. Hence, effects of culture, influences of social roles, social status or cultural differences are taken into consideration [27] (Fig. 4). Comparisons of cultures can be a very
Jacobsen, Bridging the Arts and Sciences 159 Content Human aesthetic processing relates to a large number of different entities (as dis- cussed above) (Fig. 7). These different realms of content may show vastly differ- ent characteristics that in turn lead to different determiners of aesthetic pro- cessing. Evolution has left humans more attuned to certain stimulus characteris- tics than to others. The sensory modali- ties are governed by different principles. The brain has specialized areas for pro- cessing certain stimulus categories. Some ARTSCIENCE: THE ESSENTIAL CONNECTION entities are highly socially relevant, oth- ers less so. All these factors lead to a differentiation of content in aesthetic processing. Therefore, investigators will carefully evaluate the generalizability of their findings. For instance, does the Gestalt law that accounts for a given pref- erence in the visual modality extend to music or culinary preferences [38]? Most likely not. Color preferences, for ex- ample, appear to be highly context de- pendent. They depend on the object that is to be colored [39].
Fig. 9. Situation: An example of an object that receives differing aesthetic appreciation Person depending on the current situation of viewing—Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain, the first ready-made art object, 1917, 1964 (third version, replicated under the direction of the This perspective focuses on individ- artist in 1964 by the Galerie Schwarz, Milan). (© Succession Marcel Duchamp/VG Bild- ual processing characteristics and pref- Kunst, Bonn 2005) erences. As expressed in the ancient Roman saying De gustibus non est dis- putandum, it is well known that there is establishing connections with modern Body no accounting for taste. There is, how- psychological theories. Judgments of The body perspective views aesthetic pro- ever, discussion about matters of taste— taste may serve as an example. A deter- cessing according to somatic aspects. To- and sometimes quite violent arguments. mining judgment requires the mental gether, mind and body also cover the A systematic examination of interindi- representation of the object to be judged entire realm of aesthetic processing. vidual differences in aesthetic processing as well as the assessment by the judge. Biology contributes to our under- remains to be carried out. Relatively lit- In the case of a determining judgment, standing of aesthetics. The neurosciences, tle is known about such interindividual both are “retrieved.” Cognitive social psy- in particular, have made dramatic ad- differences of aesthetic processing within chology employs elaborate research and vances in the last decade. Our knowledge homogeneous groups. a conceptual framework—the concept of of brain function has increased substan- In a recent study, aesthetic judgments “attitudes”—for these mental processes tially. These achievements will also be of beauty of 49 novel formal graphic pat- [32]. A theoretical link is quite possi- used in research on aesthetics. terns were collected from nonartist par- ble here. In addition, cognitive social Furthermore, the integration of find- ticipants [40] (Fig. 8). The data were psychology has developed a theoretical ings of cognitive neuroscience also is subjected to individual analyses, result- inventory that could be used more in- becoming increasingly feasible. For in- ing in models reflecting the individual’s tensely for research into the psychology stance, some areas of the brain con- strategy of aesthetic judgment. Individual of aesthetics. tribute in a special way to the perception case modeling can capture these differ- This also applies to the psychology of faces, whereas they hardly respond to ences. The study also derived a group of emotions [33]. How does mood in- the presentation of artifacts [34]. How is model based on data averages. This fluence aesthetic judgment? What is the this face-specific processing connected model, however, could sufficiently ac- effect of emotional styles? Certainly, there with the predominant status of the aes- count for only one-half of the partici- are a number of other perspectives from thetic judgment of human faces? What pants’ judgments, whereas the individual which one could view psychological aes- is the role of hemispheric asymmetries? models gave a much more precise ac- thetics. Philosophical aesthetics, espe- [35] (Fig. 6) Here we can easily estab- count. Thus, it also appears to be rea- cially, could be an almost inexhausti- lish a quite comprehensive catalog of sonable that some nomothetic studies ble source. Psychological penetration of questions. may have camouflaged noted individual many concepts is yet to be undertaken. A few studies have begun directly to in- differences by using data averaging. Famous philosophical concepts, such as vestigate brain activity during aesthetic Hence one may debate whether or not the distinction between reflecting and de- processing [36]. Furthermore, there are the mere nomothetic approach is justi- termining aesthetic judgments or the con- some initial insights into how acquired fied, given such a data pattern. Thus it is ception of artificial versus natural beauty, lesions in the central nervous system af- argued that the idiographic approach remain to be studied in psychology. fect aesthetic production [37]. should be additionally adopted, if such
160 Jacobsen, Bridging the Arts and Sciences an equivocal empirical situation is en- store domain-specific knowledge that is ing and should understand its message, countered. In that sense, there is (no) ac- used to guide behavior in a given sit- is not included in this process. The ex- counting for taste, indeed. uation. Hence schemata can drastically pertise and spirit of the gifted, profes- Some differences between individuals reduce processing load. They are pre- sional designer is relied upon. Empirical are, however, reasonably well accounted dominantly socially determined, thus cul- research, however, shows that there are for at the level of group differences. Ex- turally limited, and individually acquired. substantial differences in the processes perts and nonexperts, laymen or novices Being in a museum, a theater, an opera of perception and evaluation of experts differ in their abilities and skills. Experts or a gallery usually facilitates aesthetic and nonexperts (Fig. 10). Could an elab- have specific, structured knowledge of processing, because a corresponding cog- orate psychology of aesthetics help to their areas of expertise. Knowledge sys- nitive schema is put to use. A gas station bridge the gap here? Fields such as this tems show different degrees of complex- or supermarket script, on the other hand, have a great, untapped potential for ity. These different cognitive systems in does not. Consequently, one and the development.
turn can lead to different aesthetic pro- same entity will be processed differently ARTSCIENCE: THE ESSENTIAL CONNECTION cessing. The typical study contrasted the because a different mind-set is induced FINALE performance of groups of experienced by the currently active schema. The right judges with the performance of groups schema will help to activate a mental As mentioned above, the psychology of of naive or inexperienced judges [41]. mode of aesthetic contemplation or aes- aesthetics today is quite heterogeneous. There is also a considerable literature thetic productivity. In a strongly interdisciplinary approach, based on personality-structure research When using the present framework, all above-mentioned disciplines in the [42]. In addition to the consideration one research task would be to extract the arts and the sciences would make their of individuals versus groups, the com- information relevant for the psychology contributions to it. The ultimate goal parison of cultures is another important of aesthetics from the cornucopia of ma- would be a unified theory of the mental perspective. terial provided by the seven perspectives. processing of aesthetics that describes and explains the whole network of Situation stimulus-, personality- and situation- The combination of a given time and a A PSYCHOLOGICAL- related factors. To meet this huge chal- given place—the situation—affects aes- AESTHETIC UTOPIA lenge, it could be helpful to approach the thetic processing (Fig. 9). The perspec- One could go further and conceive a subject matter from the different per- tives of content, person and situation, utopia for psychological aesthetics. It spectives introduced above, identify and taken together, also provide full coverage is quite conceivable to develop a disci- extract psychologically relevant aspects of the topic of aesthetic processing. pline with a strong focus on application. and gradually integrate these step by step. A can of tomato soup, for instance, will The design process in architecture may Nonetheless, an inherently complex and most likely be processed differently when serve as an example. Often, buildings are finely textured theoretical structure will it is encountered in a supermarket versus meant to convey a certain message. The eventually emerge. a museum. Such situational conditions architect intentionally incorporates this Such a strongly interdisciplinary ap- elicit the use of a mentally stored script semantic aspect in the design process. In proach is not impossible. In cognitive or schema [43]. Schemata or scripts are or- most cases, however, the user or observer, neuroscience, for instance, this is a basic ganized memory representations that the person who will experience the build- and very common approach [44]. For the psychology of aesthetics, this approach remains to be undertaken. Taking this statement one step further: In today’s Fig. 10. Komar and Melamid, America’s Most Wanted, oil and acrylic on canvas, 24 × 32 in, 1994. (Courtesy Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York. Photo: D. James Dee.) work in the psychology of aesthetics, the
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