Adjustment Task
An Inward Bias in Aesthetics
Why do we have aesthetic experience? Inward biases can be driven
by minimal directional cues
This aesthetic preference may help us 'look into the future'
Aesthetic preferencescan be adaptive!
Yi-Chia Chen1,2, Clara Colombatto 2, & Brian Scholl
2 (1Harvard University & 2 Yale University)An inward bias in aesthetic experience driven only by gaze cues
Stimuli
An inward bias drivenonly by averted gaze!
Looking into the future:
Which is more aesthetically pleasing?
(Palmer et al., 2008, Spatial Vision)
Looking into the Future?
“Position the person so that the photo looks maximally aesthetically pleasing”
% position shift =
Main Difficulty
Global shape confounds
Solution
Gaze: Minimal changes
-100
-50
0
50
100
Direct* Averted% P
ositi
on S
hift
MaximumInward Shift
MaximumOutward Shift
*Signs defined by the corresponding averted images
p < .001
mechanical turkbeta
N=240single trial
Individual Responses
Group Data
This is driven by perceived gaze direction per se
Individual Responses
Group Data
Control for Geometric Factors
Chen, Y. -C., Colombatto, C., & Scholl, B. J. (2018). Looking into the future: An inward biasin aesthetic experience driven only by gaze cues. Cognition, 176, 209-214.
VISION SCIENCESLABORATORY
2018VSS
Experiment 1
Dependent Measure
position shiftmaximum shift
x 100 %Inward
(+)Outward
(-)
Experiment 2
Maverted Mdirect
Question
An Adaptive Feature?
Manipulate perceived gaze direction
-100
-50
0
50
100
Direct Averted
Facing inwardFacing outward
Conclusions
We prefer viewpoints that will let us see predicted future events unfold
Averted-GazeTrials
Direct-GazeTrials
Color Intact Color Inverted
p < .001p = .008
% P
ositi
on S
hift
MaximumInward Shift
MaximumOutward Shift
Reprint?
