Dataset Information

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

ABSTRACT: Understanding what leads people to reverse their choices is important in many domains. We introduce a contrast paradigm for studying reversals in choices-here between pairs of abstract paintings-implemented in both within-subject (Experiment 1; N = 320) and between-subject (Experiment 2; N = 384) designs. On each trial, participants chose between a pair of paintings. A critical pair of average-beauty paintings was presented before and after either a reversal or control block. In the reversal block, we made efforts to bias preference away from the chosen average-beauty painting (by pairing it with more-beautiful paintings) and toward the non-chosen average-beauty painting (by pairing it with less-beautiful paintings). Meta-analysis revealed more reversals after reversal blocks than after control blocks, though only when the biasing manipulations succeeded. A second meta-analysis revealed that reversals were generally more likely for participants who later misidentified their initial choice, demonstrating that memory for initial choices influences later choices. Thus, the contrast paradigm has utility both for inducing choice reversals and identifying their causes.

SUBMITTER: Belchev Z

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5908093 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

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

Belchev Zorry Z Bodner Glen E GE Fawcett Jonathan M JM

PloS one 20180419 4

Understanding what leads people to reverse their choices is important in many domains. We introduce a contrast paradigm for studying reversals in choices-here between pairs of abstract paintings-implemented in both within-subject (Experiment 1; N = 320) and between-subject (Experiment 2; N = 384) designs. On each trial, participants chose between a pair of paintings. A critical pair of average-beauty paintings was presented before and after either a reversal or control block. In the reversal blo ...[more]

PMID: 29672641

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Project description:Artificial intelligence has emerged as a powerful computational tool to create artworks. One application is Neural Style Transfer, which allows to transfer the style of one image, such as a painting, onto the content of another image, such as a photograph. In the present study, we ask how Neural Style Transfer affects objective image properties and how beholders perceive the novel (style-transferred) stimuli. In order to focus on the subjective perception of artistic style, we minimized the confounding effect of cognitive processing by eliminating all representational content from the input images. To this aim, we transferred the styles of 25 diverse abstract paintings onto 150 colored random-phase patterns with six different Fourier spectral slopes. This procedure resulted in 150 style-transferred stimuli. We then computed eight statistical image properties (complexity, self-similarity, edge-orientation entropy, variances of neural network features, and color statistics) for each image. In a rating study, we asked participants to evaluate the images along three aesthetic dimensions (Pleasing, Harmonious, and Interesting). Results demonstrate that not only objective image properties, but also subjective aesthetic preferences transferred from the original artworks onto the style-transferred images. The image properties of the style-transferred images explain 50 - 69% of the variance in the ratings. In the multidimensional space of statistical image properties, participants considered style-transferred images to be more Pleasing and Interesting if they were closer to a "sweet spot" where traditional Western paintings (JenAesthetics dataset) are represented. We conclude that NST is a useful tool to create novel artistic stimuli that preserve the image properties of the input style images. In the novel stimuli, we found a strong relationship between statistical image properties and subjective ratings, suggesting a prominent role of perceptual processing in the aesthetic evaluation of abstract images.

Dataset Information

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

Publications

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

Similar Datasets

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