Jinwoo Lee

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Research

The twofold role of subjective fluency in displeasing but preferable artworks: self-report and eye-tracking analysis 

 
SummaryEmpirical aesthetics suggest an art-specific relationship among affect, fluency, and preference: Fluency alleviates the valence effect on preference, challenging cognitive models for processing daily objects. 


Subjective fluency, based on contextual information, contributes to a preference for displeasing artworks by enhancing hedonic feelings and reducing the negative valence effect on preference. 

High-fluent individuals focus on semantically relevant parts of artworks, while low-fluency individuals focus on perceptually salient regions. 
Lee J., Choi D., Eom J. A., & Kang M. (2023). The twofold role of subjective fluency in displeasing but preferable artworks: self-report and eye-tracking analysis. Empirical Studies of the Arts. in press.


   Fig 1. Experimental paradigm and cognitive model.

Motivation

In daily object processing, such as words or advertisements, subjective fluency increases preference in two ways: by directly enhancing preferenvce (hedonic effect) and by amplifying the valence effect on preference (amplifying effect). But is this true for art appreciation? 

Empirical aesthetics suggest that the cognitive resources involved in art appreciation - the main source of fluency - prevent valence-dependent appreciation, challenging the amplifying effect model. This means that contexual information about displeasing artworks can enhance viewers’ preference for them by mitigating negative gut feelings during preference assessment.

Thus, we aimed to answer the following question:

  1. Does subjective fluency directly raise preference for visual artworks?

  2. Does subjective fluency reduce the valence effect on preference ratings?

  3. How do high-fluency and low-fluency groups display different gazing behavior during art appreciation? 

To examine these questions, we defined a perceptually peripheral area within the artwork as the “area of interest (AOI)” for eight artworks with varying valence (fig 1a). Fourty-one participants were involved in the experiment and randomly assigned to either the experimental (high-fluency) or control (low-fluency) group. Only the experimental group received contextual information highlighting the semantic relevance of AOIs before the appreciation task, and both groups then rated each artwork for fluency, valence, and preference (fig 1b). 

Using self-report and eye-tracking data, we tested the extended hedonic-amplification effect model through Bayesian mixed-effects models (fig 1c). 





   Fig 2. Parameter estimation and group-level gaze behavior.

Affect-fluency-preference interplay

As expected, subjective fluency directly increased preference ratings and diluted the valence-fluency interaction effects on preference scores (fig 2a). Our Bayesian model moderately predicted the variance in preference scores (fig 2b). 

The experimental group paid attention to the AOI despite its visual inconspicuousness, indicating controlled processing at the group level. In contrast, the control group, which did not receive any fluency resources, focused only on visually salient regions, showing an automatic processing style. 

Based on these findings, we elucidated the affect-fluency-preference interplay in art appreciation as follows: Contextual information facilitates controlled processing in art appreciation, which increases subjective fluency and influences preference in a twofold manner. 


Related materials preprint manuscript




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