Preference for Fractal-Scaling Properties Across Synthetic Noise Images and Artworks

A large number of studies support the notion that synthetic images within a certain intermediate fractal-scaling range possess an intrinsic esthetic value. Interestingly, the fractal-scaling properties that define this intermediate range have also been found to characterize a vast collection of representational, abstract, and graphic art. While some have argued that these statistic properties only serve to maximize the visibility of the artworks’ spatial structure, others argue that they are intrinsically tied to the artworks’ esthetic appeal. In this study, we bring together these two threads of research and make a direct comparison between visual preference for varying fractal-scaling characteristics in both synthetic images and artworks. Across two studies, viewers ranked and rated sets of synthetic noise images and artworks that systematically varied in fractal dimension for liking, pleasantness, complexity, and interestingness. We analyzed both average and individual patterns of preference between the two image classes. Average preference peaked for intermediate fractal dimension values for both categories, but individual patterns of preferences for both high and low values also emerged. Correlational analyses indicated that individual preferences between the two image classes remained moderately consistent and were improved when the fractal dimensions between synthetic images and artworks were more closely matched. Overall, these findings further support the role of fractal-scaling statistics both as a key determinant of an object’s esthetic value and as a valuable predictor of individual differences in esthetic preference

Ignoring the web?: Use of learning resources by psychology and biology students

Questions about the educational impact of educational technology—and its frequency of use by students—are rising in importance as lecturers are being urged to make more and more of their material available to students online. For example, half of the lecturers at our university now have an online component in at least one of their courses, specifically via the platform, WebCT. Academics are preparing online collections of lecture notes, quizzes, interactive discussion forums, course calendars, submission of assessments, and reading material. Textbook publishers have added CDROMs and web sites containing up-to-date supplementary materials. The question remains, though, to what extent is creation of this additional online and multi-media material enhancing students’ learning as reflected by their overall mark for a class? According to our study, a textbook web site, for example, does not boost final marks, nor do the students whom we studied seem to employ this resource frequently. We addressed these issues by surveying two large (600+ students), first-year classes in science, one in Psychology and one in Biology at UNSW. Our analysis was designed to identify the strategies of resource use that most strongly correlated with higher marks after taking into account other significant factors, such as a student’s UAI, their gender, or their linguistic background (NESB versus native English speaker). The analysis revealed, though, that UAI far outweighed all other factors in both courses as an influence on students’ final marks. This result should, for now, be seen as limited in relevance to large, first-year classes in science, where the learning of large amounts of content often seems to be stressed, and a significant portion of assessment is via a multiple-choice exam. Details on the methods and results of this study can be found in two publications, Huon, Adam, Spehar, and Rifkin (2003) and Huon, Spehar, Adam and Rifkin (2004). In this conference paper, rather than reiterating the range of correlations found in the study, we would like to rame questions stimulated by our research, ones that require further examination and discussion based on our findings

Transitions and choices: Graduate student mentoring for psychology honours students

Peer mentoring programs are typically designed to support students transitioning into university. However, recent work has highlighted the importance of supporting transitions through and out of university. The Australian psychology honours year is a particularly stressful period that involves transitioning through university into the research environment and is soon followed by transitions into the workforce or postgraduate study. The School of Psychology at the University of New South Wales, Australia (UNSW) recently developed a graduate/honours peer mentoring program. Pairs of PhD students mentor small groups of honours students in monthly meetings, discussing various aspects of honours and career options. Most honours students sign up for mentoring and evaluation results show that mentees find the program helpful, most frequently acknowledging that their mentors helped them with general advice and understanding their career options. Peer mentoring can therefore support psychology student transitions through and out of university

Aesthetics and Psychological Effects of Fractal Based Design

21 pagesHighly prevalent in nature, fractal patterns possess self-similar components that repeat at varying size scales. The perceptual experience of human-made environments can be impacted with inclusion of these natural patterns. Previous work has demonstrated consistent trends in preference for and complexity estimates of fractal patterns. However, limited information has been gathered on the impact of other visual judgments. Here we examine the aesthetic and perceptual experience of fractal ‘global-forest’ designs already installed in humanmade spaces and demonstrate how fractal pattern components are associated with positive psychological experiences that can be utilized to promote occupant wellbeing. These designs are composite fractal patterns consisting of individual fractal ‘tree-seeds’ which combine to create a ‘global fractal forest.’ The local ‘tree-seed’ patterns, global configuration of tree-seed locations, and overall resulting ‘global-forest’ patterns have fractal qualities. These designs span multiple mediums yet are all intended to lower occupant stress without detracting from the function and overall design of the space. In this series of studies, we first establish divergent relationships between various visual attributes, with pattern complexity, preference, and engagement ratings increasing with fractal complexity compared to ratings of refreshment and relaxation which stay the same or decrease with complexity. Subsequently, we determine that the local constituent fractal (‘treeseed’) patterns contribute to the perception of the overall fractal design, and address how to balance aesthetic and psychological effects (such as individual experiences of perceived engagement and relaxation) in fractal design installations. This set of studies demonstrates that fractal preference is driven by a balance between increased arousal (desire for engagement and complexity) and decreased tension (desire for relaxation or refreshment). Installations of these composite mid-high complexity ‘globalforest’ patterns consisting of ‘tree-seed’ components balance these contrasting needs, and can serve as a practical implementation of biophilic patterns in human-made environments to promote occupant wellbeing

Modeling Magnification and Anisotropy in the Primate Foveal Confluence

A basic organizational principle of the primate visual system is that it maps the visual environment repeatedly and retinotopically onto cortex. Simple algebraic models can be used to describe the projection from visual space to cortical space not only for V1, but also for the complex of areas V1, V2 and V3. Typically a conformal (angle-preserving) projection ensuring local isotropy is regarded as ideal and primate visual cortex is often regarded as an approximation of this ideal. However, empirical data show systematic deviations from this ideal that are especially relevant in the foveal projection. The aims of this study were to map the nature of anisotropy predicted by existing models, to investigate the optimization targets faced by different types of retino-cortical maps, and finally to propose a novel map that better models empirical data than other candidates. The retino-cortical map can be optimized towards a space-conserving homogenous representation or a quasi-conformal mapping. The latter would require a significantly enlarged representation of specific parts of the cortical maps. In particular it would require significant enlargement of parafoveal V2 and V3 which is not supported by empirical data. Further, the recently published principal layout of the foveal singularity cannot be explained by existing models. We suggest a new model that accurately describes foveal data, minimizing cortical surface area in the periphery but suggesting that local isotropy dominates the most foveal part at the expense of additional cortical surface. The foveal confluence is an important example of the detailed trade-offs between the compromises required for the mapping of environmental space to a complex of neighboring cortical areas. Our models demonstrate that the organization follows clear morphogenetic principles that are essential for our understanding of foveal vision in daily life

Beauty and the Beholder: A Sensitive Relationship

Despite a rich set of experimental findings suggesting that certain stimulus qualities, such as symmetry, proportion, or complexity, are related to aesthetic appeal, the exact functional relationship between aesthetic experience and any of these stimulus qualities remains unknown. Motivated by our previous findings that humans display a consistent preference for a certain range of fractal dimension across fractal images of various types we turn to scale-specific processing of visual information to understand this relationship. Our hypothesis is that the preference for certain spatial structures, including fractals, can be partially accounted for by the visual system's general sensitivity for spatial variations at the spatial scales that most closely approximate given spatial structures. Although we do not offer a comprehensive model of aesthetic experience, we demonstrate a strong relationship between visual preference for simple visual patterns and visual sensitivity. Our results support assertions that there is a close relationship between aesthetic experience and the coding of natural stimuli

The BOLD and the Beautiful: Neural responses to natural scene statistics in early visual cortex

Abstract presented at The Asia-Pacific Conference on Vision (APCV) 2014 19-22 July 2014, Takamatsu, Japa