Informational and Affect Bases of Aesthetic Response

The authors describe three experiments that examine the relationship between the amount of information in artworks and aesthetic response. Following Berlyne’s views, an inverted U function should be obtained, i.e. a moderate amount of information would be most pleasing to the viewer. Informational density defined as amount of information was controlled through computer digitized manipulation of black-and-white art reproductions. Subjects included university students both with and without specific art training. Results tended to support a straight-line function of arousal (visual potency) ratings as associated with increasing informational density for untrained subjects, while an inverted U-shaped arousal curve in Berlyne’s terms resulted for trained subjects. Continued application of information manipulation of art provides a useful technique for controlling and varying the visual structure of art in the study of aesthetic responses.