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Aesthetic preferences for prototypical movements in human actions.
Yi-Chia Chen1, Frank Pollick2, Hongjing Lu3,4
1Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, USA. yichiachen@g.ucla.edu.
Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications
|August 17, 2023
Summary
People find prototypical walking styles more aesthetically pleasing than atypical ones, regardless of perceived emotion. This aesthetic prototype effect is linked to naturalness and category learning in action perception.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Science
- Psychology
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Human visual system excels at processing actions like walking.
- Aesthetic judgments of movement, like walking elegance, are made rapidly.
- The link between perceived emotion and aesthetic preferences for body movements is unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate the basis of aesthetic preferences for body movements.
- Determine if aesthetic judgments are solely based on perceived positive emotions.
- Explore the role of movement prototypicality and naturalness in aesthetic appeal.
Main Methods:
- Three experiments presented observers with point-light walkers exhibiting various emotions (neutral, happy, angry, sad).
- Observers rated walkers' aesthetic appeal, emotion positivity, and naturalness.
- A computational model was used to analyze the aesthetic prototype effect.
Main Results:
- High consensus observed in aesthetic impressions of walking styles.
- Prototypical walks were consistently rated as more aesthetically pleasing than atypical walks, independent of emotion positivity.
- Aesthetic impressions were influenced directly by movement prototypicality and indirectly by perceived naturalness.
Conclusions:
- Aesthetic preferences for action are influenced by movement prototypicality, not just perceived emotion.
- The aesthetic prototype effect in action perception can be modeled through category learning.
- Findings suggest functions for action aesthetics beyond simple emotion recognition.
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