Neuropsychological correlates for realism-abstraction, a dimension of aesthetics

240 undergraduates were shown 50 color slides of paintings representing ten areas of subject matter and five levels of realism. The subjects rated from 1 to 9 their liking of each painting and then took the Cognitive Laterality Battery. Individuals with clear preference for realism formed one group and those showing clear preference for abstraction formed a second. A multivariate analysis of variance for subjects' Cognitive Laterality Battery scores showed a significant interaction, which may be interpreted as supporting the idea that there is a possible neuropsychological basis for the realism-abstraction preference dimension in aesthetics.