Conscious vs. Preconscious Affective Priming Modulate Beauty Ratings and Gaze Patterns in AI-Generated Paintings

IF 1.5 4区心理学 0 HUMANITIES, MULTIDISCIPLINARY

Empirical Studies of the Arts Pub Date : 2026-03-30 DOI:10.1177/02762374261434845

Erdem Taskiran, Alessandro Grecucci, Fatma Ebru Köse

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Abstract

Research on how affective priming influences art appreciation remains limited and contradictory. This study examined how unpleasant versus neutral primes affect beauty ratings and eye-movement patterns across abstract, landscape, and portrait paintings, comparing conscious (1000 ms) and preconscious (50 ms) prime presentations. Fifty-two participants rated 120 AI-generated paintings at baseline, then re-evaluated them two weeks later following affective primes while eye movements were recorded. Results revealed that painting category independently influenced rating changes, with abstract paintings showing larger decreases than landscapes and portraits. Critically, unpleasant primes reduced beauty ratings only under conscious presentation (p = .006), with no effect during preconscious viewing. Eye-tracking data (N = 48) showed the conscious group displayed less exploratory viewing behavior—fewer fixations, saccades, and shorter scan-paths—regardless of prime valence. Painting type also modulated scan-path length. These findings demonstrate that conscious awareness is necessary for negative affect to bias aesthetic judgments, while awareness level independently constrains visual exploration patterns.

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在人工智能生成的绘画中，有意识与前意识情感启动调节美丽评级和凝视模式

关于情感启动如何影响艺术欣赏的研究仍然有限且矛盾。这项研究通过比较有意识的（1000毫秒）和无意识的（50毫秒）启动呈现，研究了不愉快启动与中性启动对抽象画、风景画和肖像画的美丽评分和眼球运动模式的影响。52名参与者在基线时对120幅人工智能生成的画作进行评分，然后在两周后的情感启动后重新评估，同时记录眼球运动。结果显示，绘画类别独立影响评分变化，抽象画比风景画和肖像画下降幅度更大。重要的是，不愉快的影数只会在有意识的情况下降低人们对美的评价（p = 0.006），而在无意识的情况下则没有影响。眼动追踪数据（N = 48）显示，无论启动效价如何，有意识组表现出较少的探索性观看行为——较少的注视、扫视和较短的扫描路径。绘制类型也可调制扫描路径长度。这些发现表明，有意识的意识是负面影响对审美判断产生偏见的必要条件，而意识水平独立地限制了视觉探索模式。

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来源期刊

Empirical Studies of the Arts Multiple-

CiteScore

2.60

自引率

0.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： Empirical Studies of the Arts (ART) aims to be an interdisciplinary forum for theoretical and empirical studies of aesthetics, creativity, and all of the arts. It spans anthropological, psychological, neuroscientific, semiotic, and sociological studies of the creation, perception, and appreciation of literary, musical, visual and other art forms. Whether you are an active researcher or an interested bystander, Empirical Studies of the Arts keeps you up to date on the latest trends in scientific studies of the arts.