652 and Perception and Art 653 of the immune system, conditioned drng toler­ Arnheim, "Art, as any other activity of the mind, ance), Pavlov provided the technical and concep­ preferences. Experts often like abstraer art more is subject to , accessible to understand­ measures and their relation to behavioral responses tual framework for much of this research. than nonexperts do and engage in style-related ing, and needed for any comprehensive survey of and evaluations. For the most part, cognitive He al so initiated studies of the neural mechanisms processing more often, because they deploy richer mental functioning" (p. 2). Moreover, the psycho­ have continned to study the effects of learning, which is a major topic in contemporary resources and abilities in assigning meaning to art. logical richness of artworks makes these creations of visual features, such as compositional balance neuroscience. He did not view conditioning as a Part of their expertise is because of refined ideal materials by which to test hypotheses about or symmetry, on the appreciation of art while often "psychological" phenomenon but as a technique perceptual behavior, which translates into mental processes ranging from perception and neglecting higher order cognitive processes. for the study of neural plasticity. Pavlov received differences in visual exploration, such as longer memory to preference and decision making. This Other approaches have provided a more com­ the Nobel Prize in 1904, for his research on fixations and different patterns of global-to-local entry discusses the role of perception in the appre­ prehensive picture of how perceptual processes digestive physiology. In his Nobel acceptance speech scanning. Moreover, experts typically rely on initial ciation of visual art, in psychological approaches interact with cognitive (e.g., identification, inter­ in 2000, Eric Kandel characterized his research as cognitive classifications associated with the artist's to art, and in theories of art. pretation) and emotional processes (e.g., valence motivated by, "What changes occur in the brain name rather than content of the image. and arousal associated with the relative ease of when we learn? And, once something is learned, processing, insight, tolerance of ambiguity). In how is that information retained in the brain as The Perception of Art The Role of Perception in Psychological these approaches, the perceptual features are linked memory?" Pavlov would be pleased that these Modern has established a close relation Approaches to Art to specific aesthetic experiences that distinguish art questions remain at center stage in contemporary between art and perception. In fact, aesthetics, as a from everyday objects. neurosc1ence. Since the foundation of empirical psychology in philosophical discipline, was introduced in the the late 19th century, the appreciation of art has 18th century as the study of knowledge gained by The Role of Perception in Theories of Art Michael Domjan been formulated in psychological terms and con­ the senses, art, and beauty. The central issue is the nected to broader issues, such as human social The stndy of perception has also played a key role See also Applied Behavior Analysis; Behavior Therapies; way perceptual features are used in aesthetic relations in the case of 's in theories about art. For instance, Ernst Gombrich ; Classicai Conditioning; Evidence-Based objects, such as artworks, to arouse-usually Volkerpsychologie. It was, however, Gustav based his argument concerning representation in Therapy; Operant Conditioning; Reinforcement positively-feelings and emotions. Factors other Fechner's Vorschule der Asthetik in 1876 that set art on the psychology of perception. He argued Rescorla-Wagner Model; Watson,]. B. than perception, such as meaning or the the theoretical and methodological foundations. that representation is not about whether depicted confirmation of expectations, also affect aesthetics. Fechner applied his to explain how objects in artworks look like the real objects but Further Readings The appreciation of modern and conceptual art art pleases the senses. To do so, he studied compo­ whether those depictions lead viewers to under­ especially relies on nonperceptual processes. Domjan, M. (2005). Pavlovian conditioning: A functional sitional features, such as the golden section, as well stand them as natural objects. The degree to However, even in these cases, the experience of art which they do depends on historical factors, such perspective. Annual Review of Psychology, 56, begins with a percept. as aesthetic appeal as criteria for originality in the 179-206. Dresden dispute over two versions of Holbein's the purpose of the artworks or the restrictions Depictions in visual art are interesting to study Domjan, M. (2015). Principies of learning and behavior Madonna. In Fechner's view, the perceptual ele­ imposed by technique and traditional schemata for at least two reasons. First, artworks deviate (7th ed.). Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning. ments that contributed to complexity and order on artists' use of an understandable pictorial from the constraints of the real world and thus Kandel, E. (2000). The molecular biology of memory were the crucial determinants of aesthetic vocabulary. require perception in sometimes novel and storage: A dialog between genes and synapses. Nobel pleasingness. They also depend on the influence on percep­ unusual ways. Second, they include the two fun­ Lecture. Available at http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_ Such a focus on elements was severely criticized tual processes of viewers' expectations, search for damental dimensions of content (that which is prizes/medicine/laureates/2000/kandel-lecture.pdf by Gestalt psychologists. They argued that percep­ meaning, and cultural background. Thus, for Pavlov, l. P. (1960). Conditioned ref/exes (G. V. Anrep, depicted) and style (the way the depiction is Gombrich, implemented). tion, more than the mere recording of the elements Trans.). New York, NY: Dover. (Original work in the stimulus, is an active organizing process that published 1927) The processes involved in perceiving these tends to form "good gestalts" according to the What the painter inquires into is not the nature dimensions seem to be independent to a certain Windholz, G. ( 1997). !van P. Pavlov: An overview of his laws of closure, continuation, similarity, and so on. of the physical world but the nature of our reac­ extent, but as Helmut Leder and colleagues life and psychological work. American , From this point of view, works of art are special tions to it. He is not concerned with causes but 52, 941-946. described, the aesthetic experience of art emerges kinds of good gestalts, and the pleasingness of art with the mechanisms of certain effects. His is a from cognitive and affective processes related to is a consequence of facilitating the organization of psychological problem-that of conjuring up a the perception of both. As for aesthetic preferences good forms. convincing image despite the fact that not one for perceptual features, research has shown that In the 1970s, Daniel Berlyne explained why art individual shade corresponds to what we call people like moderare levels of complexity and PERCEPTION ANO ART pleases or displeases based on perceptual features "reality." (p. 44) arousal, positive valence in the depicted content, a that have the potential to influence the perceiver's balanced underlying visual composition, and Art is created and appreciated in al! human societ­ Helmut Leder and Marcos Nada! curved and smooth features. arousal, such as complexity or novelty, as well as ies. It is a basic manifestation of culture and the psychophysical and ecological factors. His It would be a mistake to overlook the contribution See also Attention; Creativity; Music Perception; result of the complex interplay of perceptual, cog­ framework was used and expanded by cognitive of the viewer to the aesthetic experience, however. Perception and Culture; Perception and Epistemology; nitive, and affective processes. For Rudolf psychologists, who studied evaluations and eye For instance, knowledge and expertise can change Perception and Language; Perception and Motivation; movements and, less frequently, physiological Perceptual Illusions; Visual Perception 654 Perception and Cognition Perception and Cognition 655

Further Readings individuals with brain injuries who often appeared perception and cognition occur only postperceptu­ interactions are sufficient to account for the effect. Arnheim, R. (1966). Toward a psychology of art: to lose specific perceptual or cognitive functions ally. To foreshadow the conclusions, this entry In particular, replacing the arrowheads with circles Collected essays. Berkeley, CA: University of terminating inside or outside the lines, thereby that were highly correlated with damage to specific presents two paradigmatic examples that clearly 1 California Press. brain regions. For example, systematic studies of demonstrate that cognitive processes ha ve a direct removing the appearance of room corners, main­ Chatterjee, A. (2013 ). The artful brain. New York, NY: prosopagnosia-the specific impairment of visual and measurable impact on the neural responses of tains the illusion (Figure lb). Thus, there is little ¡\\ Oxford University Press. face recognition-revealed that prosopagnosia is perceptual mechanisms. need to think about how perceptual and cognitive Gombrich, E. H. (1960). Art and illusion. New York, NY: typically associated with damage to the right processes might interact in such cases. Pantheon Books. temporo-occipital region. In contrast, the latter class of illusions referred ¡11 Can High-Level lnference Affect Leder, H., Belke, B., Oeberst, A., & Augustin, D. (2004). Such evidence seemed to make a compelling case to earlier is exemplified by size illusions that are Perceptual Processing? ¡11 A model of aesthetic appreciation and aesthetic for a "new phrenology" -an approach in which thought to rely on perspective enes to depth-for judgments. British Journal of Psychology, 95, generally independent functional and neural mech­ Consider the size illusion-a staple of introductory instan ce, the classic Ponzo illusion (Figure 2). In 489-508. anisms could be "assembled" to produce complex psychology texts for at least a century. The large this and similar cases, the critica! information that ¡11 Mather, G. (2014). The psychology of visual art. cognition (note the nonaccidental similarity to the majority of these illusions consist of two physically leads to the different inferred sizes is related to Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. way in which a modern digital computer is built). identical stimuli (i.e., they cover the same amount perspective-a ene to depth that necessarily in vol ves ¡ll In the context of perception and cognition, this of area on one's retina)-drcles, balls, lines and the integrating information across the visual field and stance argues for an approach in which the indi­ like-in the context of surrounding perceptual making inferences as to how this information con­ strains scene interpretation (i.e., there is no local ¡11 PERCEPTION ANO COGNITION vidual first separately characterizes the functional enes that differ in what they tell observers about properties of perceptual and cognitive mechanisms their current viewing conditions. Consequently, the account of the perceived difference in size). and then characterizes how information flows from observer infers-through perceptual and cognitive It is these sorts of size illusions that are most How do humans understand their experiences of one domain to the other. Critically, however, this processes-that the two identical stimuli look dif­ interesting with respect to the interaction between 111 the world around them? On the face of it, their information flow does not directly affect processing ferent from one another. Specifically, one is assumed perception and cognition. In particular, under the sensory organs transform physical energy or within each domain. Rather, it simply makes itself to be larger than the other one. Fodorian account of size illusions, such as the 1\1 physical structures into neural signals, which are "available" for further processing. When the range of size illusions is examined Ponzo ill usion, the perceptual systems are not 11 then handed off to their perceptual systems for In recent decades, the modularity approach has more carefully, it turns out that they actually may fooled at all-that is, within the neural substrates further processing. The outputs of perception are come under increasing scrutiny. Ata purely theoreti­ fall into at least two classes: (a) those that are and mental mechanisms of perception, the two 11 then passed to higher-level cognitive mechanisms callevel, modern computational simulations of cog­ potentially explainable through local interactions lines are correctly ("veridically") represented as and, ultimately, to the mental processes that form nitive processes suggest that highly specific percep­ between the critica! stimuli and their surroundings being the same size. However, postperceptually, the conscious experience. This entry discusses the link tual and cognitive deficits can arise from "damage" and (b) those that are explainable only through observer deploys inferential cognitive processes 11 between perception and cognition and considers to domain-general, nonmodular mechanisms. That first interpretation of high-level properties of the questions about what affects perception. is, the fact that specific brain injuries lead to specific scene whereby they constrain the likely size of the This popular view of the human mental world deficits no longer constitutes strong evidence for a critica! stimuli. The former class of illusions is was perhaps best articulated by Jerry A. Fodor, neural module dedicated to the lost perceptual or exemplified by the classic Müller-Lyer illusion in 1 whose theory of modularity included the concept cognitive function. At the same time, it is important which two identicallines are perceived as different of information encapsulation-that is, that infor­ to acknowledge that such simulations provide only lengths because one is terminated with outward­ mation processing "modules" (and, in particular, an alternative, albeit plausible, account, but one that facing arrowheads and the other is terminated perceptual input systems) are unaffected by top­ does not rule out the original hypothesis. with inward-facing arrowheads (see Figure la). down (e.g., cognitive) influences or feedback. In Perhaps more compelling has been the body of Although there is a long-standing "high-level" particular, Fodor argued that although perception empírica! data arising from modern explanation in which these two patterns are inter­ may be sensitive to what is already known, demon­ methods-most notably, functiona/ magnetic reso­ preted as the inner or outer edges of a comer of a strating cognitive penetrability (i.e., that cognition nance imaging (fMRI). Arguably, fMRI allows a room, there is evidence that local contour directly influences perception) requires evidence better view of how various parts of the brain par­ that the locus of any interaction between percep­ ticipa te in generating thought and behavior. That (b) tion and cognition is interna! to the perceptual is, instead of simply measuring the output of a (a) system (i.e., it is not just at output). given task (behavior), it is possible to assess the In the era in which Fodor articula red his theory­ spatially separable neural responses across the o--o the early 1980s-many psychologists viewed the entire brain associated with task performance. >--< impressive progress of the past severa! decades as a Thus, it is possible to infer, based on brain activ­ strong argument for a roughly modular mental ity, whether putatively cognitive processes directly < ) 00 architecture. This general stance was reinforced by influence perceptual processes, or whether, as Figure 1 Two Versions of the Müller-Lyer lllusion. Which Figure 2 The Ponzo lllusion.Which of the gray lines is a wide variety of neuropsychological studies of articulated by Fodor, interactions between of the horizontallines is longer/ longer/