Just how stable are stable aesthetic features? Symmetry, complexity, and the jaws of massive familiarization

What the study found

Symmetry and complexity strongly shaped aesthetic judgments. After massive familiarization, contrast effects appeared: people familiarized with simple stimuli then judged complex stimuli more beautiful, and the reverse. Moderate familiarization did not produce these effects.

Limitations

Abstract visual patterns, not spaces. Familiarization was compressed into a lab session; sample not extracted.

Neurodesign interpretation

Suggests that what people find beautiful depends on what they have been saturated with. A possible mechanism for taste swinging between plain and rich, though untested in rooms.

Possible design implications

Hypothesis: heavy exposure to one visual register may shift preference toward its opposite, which could bear on style cycles in interiors.

Study design

Three experiments with group and individual-level analyses

Population

Adult participants across three experiments. Sample: not extracted.

Setting

Laboratory

Field

Neuroaesthetics

Mechanism

Habituation / adaptation, Visual complexity

Spatial variable

Visual complexity, Novelty

Keywords

familiarization, symmetry, complexity, aesthetic judgment, contrast effect

Notes and follow-up

Related records: ND-0150, ND-0059.