Symmetry and beauty are strongly linked, but is the positive response to visual symmetry automatic? We used the Implicit Association Test (IAT) to measure the valence of visual regularities in the absence of overt judgments. In our first experiment, participants classified dot patterns as random or having an axis of reflection, and words as positive or negative. When the same button was used to report reflection and positive words, responses were faster than when the same button was used to report reflection and negative words. We take this association to indicate an implicit preference for reflectional patterns. In subsequent experiments, a reflected pattern was preferred to a rotation or translation, and a rotational pattern was preferred to random patterns. In some cases these results were not in agreement with verbally reported preferences, but implicit preferences were always predicted by the speed at which patterns could be identified. We conclude that the IAT can unearth an automatic affective response produced by perceptual fluency.

Implicit affective evaluation of visual symmetry / Alexis David James, Makin; Pecchinenda, Anna; Marco, Bertamini. - In: EMOTION. - ISSN 1528-3542. - ELETTRONICO. - 12:5(2012), pp. 1021-1030. [10.1037/a0026924]

Implicit affective evaluation of visual symmetry

PECCHINENDA, ANNA;
2012

Abstract

Symmetry and beauty are strongly linked, but is the positive response to visual symmetry automatic? We used the Implicit Association Test (IAT) to measure the valence of visual regularities in the absence of overt judgments. In our first experiment, participants classified dot patterns as random or having an axis of reflection, and words as positive or negative. When the same button was used to report reflection and positive words, responses were faster than when the same button was used to report reflection and negative words. We take this association to indicate an implicit preference for reflectional patterns. In subsequent experiments, a reflected pattern was preferred to a rotation or translation, and a rotational pattern was preferred to random patterns. In some cases these results were not in agreement with verbally reported preferences, but implicit preferences were always predicted by the speed at which patterns could be identified. We conclude that the IAT can unearth an automatic affective response produced by perceptual fluency.
2012
valence; fluency; symmetry; beauty; implicit association test
01 Pubblicazione su rivista::01a Articolo in rivista
Implicit affective evaluation of visual symmetry / Alexis David James, Makin; Pecchinenda, Anna; Marco, Bertamini. - In: EMOTION. - ISSN 1528-3542. - ELETTRONICO. - 12:5(2012), pp. 1021-1030. [10.1037/a0026924]
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11573/446772
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