Publication Date

2021

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

First Advisor

Millis, Keith K.

Degree Name

Ph.D. (Doctor of Philosophy)

Legacy Department

Department of Psychology

Abstract

Appreciating paintings has been shown to be partly based on the viewer’s knowledge of the artwork. One technique that provides background knowledge to viewers is through text that is shown alongside artwork. Knowledge of the artwork can also arise from inferential processes regarding the artwork. Relatively little research has explored the role of accompanying text and inferential processes on aesthetic responses. The current study assessed the causal role of accompanying text and inference-making across cognitive (e.g., understanding) and emotional (e.g., positive affect) aesthetic responses. It was hypothesized that aesthetic responses would increase with the amount of accompanying text paired with each painting. It was also hypothesized that aesthetic responses would increase if viewers generated target inferences as opposed to reading the same information in an accompanying text. Two norming studies confirmed that each target inference was: 1) not directly inferable from the painting alone, and 2) the accompanying text led viewers to generate the target inference. It was also theorized that aesthetic individual differences, such as aesthetic processing preferences, art knowledge, and art interest, would moderate the effects of accompanying text and inference generation. The Primary Experiment presented viewers (N = 264 Mechanical Turk workers) across five conditions with five painting and text pairs. The results of the dissertation did not support the accompanying text hypothesis nor the inference hypothesis. However, three aesthetic processing preference subscales demonstrated robust effects in predicting both cognitive and emotional responses. The General Discussion suggests several critical methodological issues and solutions to measuring controlled processing in aesthetic experiences. In sum, the dissertation’s methodology demonstrated that specific inferences may be controlled and elicited using accompanying text for future experimental aesthetics research.

Extent

135 pages

Language

eng

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Rights Statement 2

NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.

Media Type

Text

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