Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts

Associations between music training and cognitive abilities: The special case of professional musicians.
We sought to clarify the commonly accepted link between music training and cognitive ability. Professional musicians, nonprofessionals with music training, and musically untrained individuals (N = 642) completed measures of musical ability, personality, and general cognitive ability. Professional musicians scored highest on objective and self-report measures of musical ability. On personality measures, professional musicians and musically trained participants scored similarly but higher than untrained participants on agreeableness, openness-to-experience, and the personality metatrait stability. The professionals scored higher than the other 2 groups on extraversion and the metatrait engagement. On cognitive ability, however, they were indistinguishable from untrained participants. Instead, musically trained nonprofessionals exhibited the highest cognitive ability. In short, professional musicians differed from other individuals in musical ability and personality, but not in cognitive ability. We conclude that music training predicts higher cognitive ability only among individuals who do not become professional musicians and offer possible explanations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
Differentiating the visual aesthetics of the sublime and the beautiful: Selective effects of stimulus size, height, and color on sublimity and beauty ratings in photographs.
Despite the philosophical literature concerning the sublime and the beautiful, dating back to Burke (1759/2008), there is still limited empirical evidence regarding the visual aesthetics of sublimity and beauty. The present article asks whether the manner in which photographs are presented can alter the perception of the sublimity and beauty ratings of these photographs. In a set of studies, it is reported that the increase of presentation size increases sublimity more than beauty (Study 1) and that this is mainly driven by the effects of visual angle (Study 3). While increasing presentation height affects both sublimity and beauty positively and in similar degrees (Study 1), the presence of color (vs. black and white [monochrome]) is predominantly related to judgments of beauty (Study 2). Brightness and contrast levels affected neither sublimity nor beauty (Study 3). An important methodological point is that all inferential statistics use linear mixed models, which treat both participants and stimuli as random effects. In addition, each participant receives different random subsets of stimuli, increasing the size of the stimulus set. Overall, the analyses incorporate 233 photographs and 245 participants in total, which allows the generalizability of findings. Sublimity and beauty respond differentially to different presentational cues, which demonstrates the importance of simultaneously considering sublimity and beauty in empirical studies on aesthetic judgments. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
Neuroticism, musical emotion regulation, musical coping, mental health, and musicianship characteristics.
A new line of research suggests that the personality trait of neuroticism may incline young people to use maladaptive musical emotion regulation strategies that in turn mediate an increase in their internalizing symptoms. However, it is unknown if this pattern is similar depending on how much music training young people have received in their lifetime. Therefore, the primary objective of this study was to examine four moderated mediation models in which music training (years of private lessons) may moderate how four maladaptive musical emotion regulation strategies (rumination, discharging negative emotions, avoidant coping, and liking sad music), respectively, mediate the relationship between neuroticism and internalizing symptoms (depression and anxiety). The sample comprised 647 university students aged between 17 and 21 years and ranging from not being a musician to having extensive music training. General (nonmusical) emotion regulation and coping strategies were statistically controlled to isolate potential effects inherent to music listening. Results indicated that liking sad music mediated the link between neuroticism and internalizing symptoms but that this mediation effect was not significant in music listeners who had cumulated more music training throughout their life. In this case, perhaps extensive music training was a protective factor against maladaptive musical emotion regulation. Nevertheless, across a variety of musicianship characteristics, musical emotion regulation strategies showed more similarities than differences between musicians and nonmusicians. In sum, among four musical emotion regulation mechanisms, liking sad music might be a more consistent emotional pathway from neuroticism to internalizing symptoms in young music listeners with less music training. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
Less is more: The effect of visiting duration on the perceived restorativeness of museums.
Museums can be restorative environments that promote recovery from directed attention fatigue. The current study investigated the effect of the time spent in a museum on the perception of the museum as restorative environment. A total of 67 participants were randomly assigned to three experimental conditions that differed in how much time participants spent in the museum: 10 min, 45 min, or 110 min. Additionally, we assessed participants’ subjective experience of the duration (i.e., too short, ideal, too long). As a baseline for nonrestorative environments, we measured the perceived restorativeness of the museum lobby and compared it with the perceived restorativeness of the museum, rated after the visit. Overall, the museum was perceived as a restorative environment, and this was not significantly modulated by the objective visit duration. However, the subjective appropriateness of the visit duration significantly predicted the perceived restorativeness of the museum. Specifically, participants who perceived their visit as too long rated the restorativeness of the museum as lower compared with participants who perceived the length of their visit as either too short or ideal. Hence, it is the subjective instead of the objective visiting duration that determines the restorativeness of museums. The findings are discussed in the context of attention restoration theory. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
How constraints impact creativity: An interaction paradigm.
Extending the recent Integrated Constraints in Creativity (IConIC) model (Tromp, 2022), we propose a paradigm for how constraints interact with creativity. After reviewing the IConIC model and its taxonomy of constraints, we highlight the interactive nature of constraints and we develop the key argument that constraints themselves are not a main effect. We outline the sources of constraints: the person, the task, and the situation, and we illustrate how they interact. We then propose a set of processing steps that underlie individual responses to constraints: identification, appraisal or analysis, and action. We end by discussing practical applications and the implications of the proposed paradigm for creativity research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
Trust the process: The effects of iteration in children’s creative processes on their creative products.
In creativity research it is often claimed that creativity pertains to persons and products as well as processes. However, most studies have focused on the creative potential of persons and their creative products in detriment of looking at the creative process itself or investigating all three facets of creativity in the same study. In this article, we report on a study that investigated children's creative potential, iterations in their creative process, and the effects of these factors on their creative products. Twenty-seven children aged 10–12 participated in a LEGO building task and were asked to build creative products in a five-step iterative process (for a total of 135 creative products). Children’s creative potential was then assessed with an Alternative Uses Task. Finally, children’s creative products were evaluated by six expert raters using a Consensual Assessment Technique. Results revealed statistically significant effects of iterations in the creative process on children's creative products. Specifically, iterations significantly increased originality but decreased task-appropriateness of the creative products. These results suggest that, in children, iterations in creative processes might facilitate exploration but inhibit exploitation. We found no statistically significant effects of children's creative potential on their creative products, supporting domain specificity in creativity. These findings represent some of the first empirical evidence showcasing the effects of iteration on originality and appropriateness in children’s creative products, emphasizing the importance of investigating creative processes in children. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
Increasing music preference through guided self-framing: A comparison of historical and imaginative approaches.
While accompanying or contextualizing information (“framing”) is often included alongside music, prior research on the impact of framing on music preference has produced heterogeneous results. Most of these studies have examined historical framing, although a small subset has suggested that imaginative framing may have an understudied potential to increase preference. In such studies the participants are encouraged to freely use their imagination while listening. The present work directly compared these 2 approaches to framing to examine which has greater positive impact on preference. One hundred and fifty-two participants were exposed to 5 varied music excerpts (Pop/Rock and Classical), with participants placed into 1 of 3 conditions. Those in the historical condition were supplied with initial historical framing and were encouraged to freely search online for information related to the piece while listening to it (hence guided self-framing), whereas those in the imaginative condition were encouraged to freely use their imagination while listening. Those in a third, “unrelated” control condition were encouraged to choose an online game (selected from a provided list) while listening. Bayesian modeling was used to examine preference ratings by piece and condition. Historical framing led to higher preference than the control for 4 of 5 pieces, while imaginative framing led to higher preference than the control for 2 pieces. Additionally, those receiving historical framing rated preference higher for pieces that had a greater amount of information readily available online. Thus, historical framing most benefited preference, although we discuss limitations and future directions for research on guided self-framing. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
Touch the color change: Representation of color change using tactile grating patterns.
We proposed a method representing relative color difference using tactile grating patterns by changing 3 components (i.e., orientation, spacing, and height) and assessed the feasibility psychophysically and qualitatively. Most color expression studies for the visually impaired have focused on a 1-to-1 correspondence between color and tactile patterns. With this 1-to-1 correspondence, a long period of associative learning is necessary, and it is impossible to represent a subtle change of colors. However, the proposed method could enable the effective perception of color changes. Two different experiments were conducted with sighted participants as a preliminary study to examine this method’s feasibility and effectiveness. In a psychophysical experiment, participants performed dissimilarity rating tasks to measure how sensitively they perceived orientation, spacing, and height-change of the grating. In a tactile art appreciation experiment, participants appreciated 3 different tactile artworks characterized by 3 different grating components and responded to the questionnaire. The grating’s orientation and spacing changes were revealed as effective in tactile dissimilarity perception and expressing color change within an artwork. However, the grating height-change was revealed as it was difficult to perceive the texture changes and had less effectiveness in expressing colors. Among the 3 components, orientation- and spacing-change of the grating were effective for expressing color changes. In addition to art appreciation, this method can be useful in many applications for the visually impaired where the effective expression of color change is required. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
Movement-based music in the classroom: Investigating the effects of music programs incorporating body movement in primary school children.
The present studies investigated the impacts of the different implementation of body movement into classroom-based comprehensive music programs on the development of music-related and nonmusical abilities in Hungarian primary school children. In Study 1, science-focused classes received Kodály music lessons completed with teacher-directed movements or no movement activities. In Study 2, intensive music classes participated in Kodály music lessons combined either with teacher-directed or improvised movement elements. From the beginning of schooling, participants were measured three times over 1.5 years for musical abilities, sensorimotor entrainment, phonemic awareness, rapid naming, reading, executive functions, and IQ. Results revealed distinct developmental trajectories for melody discrimination, phonemic awareness, and verbal IQ in the science classes; however, the classes’ comparable performance at the first and last measurements indicated that their overall growth was similar. Moreover, performance of the intense music classes was comparable at the end of the second school year even though the class with the music curriculum using teacher-directed movements showed greater improvements in rapid naming of pictures and verbal IQ. These findings suggest that in the early school years, diverse movement-based music programs provided in classroom settings supported musical, sensorimotor entrainment, early literacy, and cognitive development similarly. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
Ambiguity and beauty: Japanese-German cross-cultural comparisons on aesthetic evaluation of haiku poetry.
In this study, ambiguity was classified into cognitive and emotional ambiguity, and their effects on the aesthetic evaluation of haiku were examined for native Japanese and German speakers. Because haiku is the shortest form of poetry in the world, it usually contains ambiguity and makes cultural comparison easier. Overall, 450 Japanese and 373 German speakers participated in an online experiment involving the evaluation of haiku poetry. They were also asked to fill out questionnaires based on personality traits. Then, participants were asked to rate a haiku based on 10 characteristics, including the degree to which they perceived beauty, cognitive ambiguity, awe, and nostalgia. Results showed that as cognitive ambiguity increased, the aesthetic evaluation of haiku decreased. This tendency was greater among German than among Japanese speakers; this can be explained by the differences in high- and low-context societies. Regarding emotional ambiguity, this study focused on the higher-order emotions of awe and nostalgia, which encompass both positive and negative emotions. It was found that the greater the participants felt these emotions, the higher was their aesthetic evaluation of haiku. This tendency was greater among German than Japanese speakers; this may be because Westerners tend to perceive awe and nostalgia highly positively. Ambiguity, also known as “the beauty of silence,” is one of the characteristics of haiku and was found to be an important factor in aesthetic evaluation; however, this relationship was also influenced by cultural differences. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
Social exclusion increases antisocial tendencies: Evidence from retaliatory ideation in a malevolent creativity task.
The experience of social exclusion has been shown to trigger aggressive, antisocial behavior. This outcome is particularly problematic if such retaliatory acts, in addition to being harmful, are also highly original and creative and difficult to anticipate and to defend against. For this reason, the present study investigated whether a laboratory social exclusion paradigm would increase malevolent creativity—creativity deliberately aimed at damaging others. In a sample of n = 81, male and female participants were either excluded or included by an alleged group of peers based on their personal preferences, and then generated as many original ideas as possible to take revenge on other wrongdoers (Malevolent Creativity Test, MCT). State affect was additionally assessed before and after exclusion or inclusion. Analyses revealed that social exclusion had significant effects on individuals’ malevolent creativity performance, with the excluded group generating a greater number of vengeful ideas in the MCT that were also rated as more original. Greater harmfulness (malevolence) of revenge ideas was specifically observed for excluded women. While social exclusion was linked to increased anger and general negative affect, affect changes did not mediate exclusion effects on malevolent creativity. This hints at more complex mechanisms linking social exclusion and creative antisocial behavior other than immediate emotional responses. Altogether, our findings emphasize the role of situative factors for the emergence of malevolent creativity, suggesting that anybody may resort to highly malicious ideation under threatening circumstances. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
The contribution of integrated arts-based groups to people with mental health conditions and community members: Processes and outcomes.
The two major challenges facing people with mental health conditions (MHCs) are stigma and discrimination. This study focused on the Amitim program’s nationwide integrated arts-based groups that not only aim to impart knowledge and skills in the arts (e.g., theater, writing, music, poetry, visual art, etc.) but also reduce public and self-stigma, and promote personal recovery. This study, composed of a sample of 642 Israeli adults, examined whether people with MHCs and nonclinical community members who attended the integrated groups would report greater adaptive changes in outcomes than those who did not participate, the association of change process factors and in-group factors with these outcomes, and candidate mediators in the association between participation in the groups and the outcomes. The findings showed that change in creative self-efficacy (CSE) significantly predicted adaptive change in outcomes in people with MHCs who participated in these integrated arts-based groups. Participants with MHCs in groups facilitated by arts therapists reported significantly more positive outcomes than participants in groups with facilitators from other professional human services. Nonclinical community members in the integrated groups reported higher postprogram CSE and less desire for social distance from people with MHCs compared with the control group. Finally, change in the desire for social distance significantly mediated the relationship between group participation and change in public stigma. Overall, direct intergroup contact while engaging in arts-based activities appears to be a promising way to promote positive changes in people with MHCs and nonclinical community members. The implications and future directions are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
Visual perception of the built environment in virtual reality: A systematic characterization of human aesthetic experience in spaces with curved boundaries.
Visual perception of architectural spaces and human aesthetic experience in these spaces have recently received considerable interest in cognitive science. However, it has been difficult to construe a common understanding of aesthetic experience for architectural space, since different studies use different scales to measure aesthetic experiences. In this interdisciplinary study spanning cognitive science and architecture, we aim to provide an empirically driven systematic characterization of human aesthetic experience and investigate what aspects of the architectural spaces affect aesthetic experience. To this end, we manipulated various architectural variables including the shape of the curvilinear boundaries of architectural spaces as well as their size, light, texture, and color in virtual reality. We then had people evaluate these spaces by exhausting a large list of commonly used scales in the literature and applied principal component analysis to reveal the key dimensions of aesthetic experience. Our findings suggest that human aesthetic experience can be reduced to 3 key dimensions, namely familiarity, excitement, and fascination. Each of these dimensions are differentially affected by the various architectural variables revealing their differences. In sum, our study provides a comprehensive framework to characterize human aesthetic experience in virtual architectural spaces with curved boundaries. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
The aesthetic quality model: Complexity and randomness as foundations of visual beauty by signaling quality.
Visual complexity has been identified as a fundamental property that shapes the beauty of visual images. However, its exact influence on beauty judgments, and the mechanism behind this influence, remain a conundrum. In the present article, we developed and empirically evaluated the Aesthetic Quality Model, which proposes that the link between complexity and beauty depends on another key visual property—randomness. According to the model, beauty judgements are determined by an interaction between these two properties, with more beautiful patterns featuring comparatively high complexity and low randomness. The model further posits that this configuration of complexity and randomness leads to higher beauty because it signals quality (i.e., creativity and skill). Study 1 confirmed that black and white binary patterns were judged as more beautiful when they combined high complexity with low randomness. Study 2 replicated these findings using an experimental method and with a more representative set of patterns, and it pointed to quality attribution as a candidate mechanism underlying the beauty judgements. Studies 3 and 4 confirmed these findings using experimental manipulation of the mechanism. Overall, the present research supports the aesthetic quality model, breaking new ground in understanding the fundamentals of beauty judgment. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
“I feel like I am in that place and I would like to see more”: Aesthetic and embodiment components of tourist destination image.
Photographs of places are cognitive sources that provide the observer with a first, essential impression of a potential tourist destination, before the observer visits that place. Recent evidence suggests that aesthetic qualities of a tourist destination may affect tourists’ experience and satisfaction, contributing to their loyalty toward a destination and intention to return. Drawing upon the literature on sensorimotor processes of aesthetic experience of arts, here, we investigated whether embodiment and aesthetic qualities of landscape photos might play a role in people’s aesthetic preference and willingness to visit a tourist destination. One-hundred twenty-one participants (Mage = 22.17, SD = 6.25) completed an online survey, which asked to evaluate a series of landscapes according to subjective ratings of presence, exploration, and completion, that is the intention to explore beyond the represented place (embodiment dimensions), as well as of symmetry. Furthermore, participants rated how much they liked each destination (Liking) and how much they would like to visit that place (Tourist judgment). Convolutional neural networks (CNN) of image features (Symmetry, Variance and Self-similarity) were also analyzed to rule out the effects of these features on the 2 types of judgment. Results showed that embodiment components predicted both Liking and Tourist judgements. In contrast, neither subjective Symmetry nor CNN measures predicted any of the 2 Liking and Tourist judgements. Overall, our findings support a novel theoretical framework of tourist aesthetic judgment, whereby sensorimotor mechanisms might play a role in tourist destination choice. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
The shower effect: Mind wandering facilitates creative incubation during moderately engaging activities.
People often seem to generate creative ideas during moderately engaging activities, such as showering or walking. One explanation of this shower effect is that creative idea generation requires a balance between focused, linear thinking (which limits originality) and unbounded, random associations (which are rarely useful). Activities like walking may help us strike this balance by allowing mind wandering in an engaging environment that places some constraints on thought. Although past studies have found an inconsistent relationship between mind wandering and creative idea generation, they have two limitations. First, creativity researchers have not studied a key form of mind wandering, which is freely moving thought. Second, studies have used boring tasks that may encourage unconstrained and unproductive mind wandering. To overcome these limitations, we investigate the relationship between idea generation and freely moving mind wandering during boring versus engaging video tasks. Across two studies, we find that mind wandering leads to more creative ideas, but only during moderately engaging activities. Boring activities lead to either more ideas or more semantically distant ideas overall, but these effects were unrelated to mind wandering. Boring activities may therefore lead to ideas by affording time for focused problem solving, whereas engaging activities may do so by encouraging productive mind wandering. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)

Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts - Vol 18, Iss 6