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Updated: Jun 27, 2026
04:43
Visualizing Visual Adaptation
Published on: April 24, 2017
A functional explanation for the effects of visual exposure on preference
Mark A Changizi1, Shinsuke Shimojo
1Sloan-Swartz Center for Theoretical Neurobiology, MC 139-74, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA. changizi@rpi.edu
Perception
|December 11, 2008
Summary
Preference for objects changes with exposure, shifting from familiarity to novelty. This study proposes preference reflects the brain
Area of Science:
- Cognitive psychology
- Neuroscience
- Decision science
Background:
- Visual exposure to objects influences observer preference.
- Preference shifts from familiarity to novelty with increased exposure.
- The functional advantage of this preference modulation is not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the functional advantage of preference modulation through visual exposure.
- To propose a novel hypothesis linking preference to expected utility.
- To explain the 'exposure effect' and related phenomena using this hypothesis.
Main Methods:
- Theoretical investigation based on a proposed hypothesis.
- Mathematical modeling of preference as expected utility.
- Analysis of existing literature on the 'exposure effect'.
Main Results:
- Preference for an object is hypothesized to represent the brain's estimate of expected utility.
- This expected utility framework provides a unified explanation for familiarity and novelty preference regimes.
- The proposed model successfully explains the 'exposure effect'.
Conclusions:
- The degree of preference for an object is fundamentally an estimate of its expected utility.
- This perspective offers a functional explanation for the observed shifts in preference with exposure.
- The hypothesis provides a parsimonious account for the 'exposure effect' and associated psychological phenomena.
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