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Psychological and neural responses to art embody viewer and artwork histories

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 March 2013

Oshin Vartanian
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Toronto–Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario M1C 1A4, Canada. oshinv1@mac.com
James C. Kaufman
Affiliation:
Learning Research Institute, California State University at San Bernardino, Department of Psychology, San Bernardino, CA 92407. jkaufman@csusb.eduhttp://psychology.csusb.edu/facultyStaff/james_kaufman.htm

Abstract

The research programs of empirical aesthetics and neuroaesthetics have reflected deep concerns about viewers' sensitivities to artworks' historical contexts by investigating the impact of two factors on art perception: viewers' developmental (and educational) histories and the contextual histories of artworks. These considerations are consistent with data demonstrating that art perception is underwritten by dynamically reconfigured and evolutionarily adapted neural and psychological mechanisms.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

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