Aesthetic Preference for Glass Patterns is Predicted by Known Activations of the Extrastriate Visual cortex

Abstract

Visual regularities activate the visual cortex and generate an Event Related Potential (ERP) called the Sustained Posterior Negativity (SPN). Previous research suggests that aesthetic preference and SPN amplitude correlate: People like the visual regularities that generate a large SPN. We found further evidence from a new study, which built on SPN results from previous research. As predicted, participants preferred reflection, circular and radial Glass patterns to translational Glass patterns (reflection = circular = radial >> translation). These results support the perceptual fluency model and suggest that preference for abstract symmetry is not predominantly a side effect of innate attraction to symmetrical faces.