2026
Brinkmann, Hanna; Alvarez, Alexandra Victoria; Voller, Luitgard; Huemer, Christian; Aufreiter, Johanna
In: 2026.
@article{Brinkmann2026_AnalogDigitalVirtuell,
title = {Analog – Digital – Virtuell. Ein inter- und transdisziplinärer Zugang zur Rezeption kunsthistorischer Objekte in unterschiedlichen medialen Kontexten},
author = {Hanna Brinkmann and Alexandra Victoria Alvarez and Luitgard Voller and Christian Huemer and Johanna Aufreiter},
url = {https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.18702892},
doi = {10.5281/ZENODO.18702892},
year = {2026},
date = {2026-02-01},
urldate = {2026-02-25},
abstract = {Das inter- und transdisziplinäre Projekt "Kunsterfahrung im (Post-)digitalen Zeitalter original digital virtuell" (OrDiV) untersucht, wie sich die Wahrnehmung und Verarbeitung von Kunstwerken in Abhängigkeit vom medialen Format verändert. Im Fokus steht der Vergleich von originalen Kunstwerken, ihren digitalen Reproduktionen sowie Anwendungen im virtuellen Raum (Virtual und Augmented Reality). Theoretischer Ausgangspunkt ist dabei Walter Benjamins Aura-Konzept. Anhand von vier vergleichenden empirischen Studien im Oberen Belvedere Wien wird mittels Eye Tracking, qualitativen Interviews und Online-Befragungen das Betrachtungsverhalten von Museumsbesucher:innen analysiert. Dabei interessieren insbesondere Fixationsdauer, emotionale und kognitive Verarbeitung sowie die Erinnerung an einzelne Gemälde. Das Projekt verbindet kunsthistorische Forschung mit digitalen Analysemethoden und liefert neue Erkenntnisse für Museumspraxis und Digital Humanities. Das Poster präsentiert erste Ergebnisse und lädt zur Diskussion ein.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Das inter- und transdisziplinäre Projekt “Kunsterfahrung im (Post-)digitalen Zeitalter original digital virtuell” (OrDiV) untersucht, wie sich die Wahrnehmung und Verarbeitung von Kunstwerken in Abhängigkeit vom medialen Format verändert. Im Fokus steht der Vergleich von originalen Kunstwerken, ihren digitalen Reproduktionen sowie Anwendungen im virtuellen Raum (Virtual und Augmented Reality). Theoretischer Ausgangspunkt ist dabei Walter Benjamins Aura-Konzept. Anhand von vier vergleichenden empirischen Studien im Oberen Belvedere Wien wird mittels Eye Tracking, qualitativen Interviews und Online-Befragungen das Betrachtungsverhalten von Museumsbesucher:innen analysiert. Dabei interessieren insbesondere Fixationsdauer, emotionale und kognitive Verarbeitung sowie die Erinnerung an einzelne Gemälde. Das Projekt verbindet kunsthistorische Forschung mit digitalen Analysemethoden und liefert neue Erkenntnisse für Museumspraxis und Digital Humanities. Das Poster präsentiert erste Ergebnisse und lädt zur Diskussion ein.
Brinkmann, Hanna; Alvarez, Alexandra Victoria; Voller, Luitgard; Huemer, Christian; Aufreiter, Johanna
In: 2026.
@article{brinkmann_analog_2026,
title = {Analog – Digital – Virtuell. Ein inter- und transdisziplinärer Zugang zur Rezeption kunsthistorischer Objekte in unterschiedlichen medialen Kontexten},
author = {Hanna Brinkmann and Alexandra Victoria Alvarez and Luitgard Voller and Christian Huemer and Johanna Aufreiter},
url = {https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.18702892},
doi = {10.5281/ZENODO.18702892},
year = {2026},
date = {2026-02-01},
urldate = {2026-02-25},
abstract = {Das inter- und transdisziplinäre Projekt "Kunsterfahrung im (Post-)digitalen Zeitalter original digital virtuell" (OrDiV) untersucht, wie sich die Wahrnehmung und Verarbeitung von Kunstwerken in Abhängigkeit vom medialen Format verändert. Im Fokus steht der Vergleich von originalen Kunstwerken, ihren digitalen Reproduktionen sowie Anwendungen im virtuellen Raum (Virtual und Augmented Reality). Theoretischer Ausgangspunkt ist dabei Walter Benjamins Aura-Konzept. Anhand von vier vergleichenden empirischen Studien im Oberen Belvedere Wien wird mittels Eye Tracking, qualitativen Interviews und Online-Befragungen das Betrachtungsverhalten von Museumsbesucher:innen analysiert. Dabei interessieren insbesondere Fixationsdauer, emotionale und kognitive Verarbeitung sowie die Erinnerung an einzelne Gemälde. Das Projekt verbindet kunsthistorische Forschung mit digitalen Analysemethoden und liefert neue Erkenntnisse für Museumspraxis und Digital Humanities. Das Poster präsentiert erste Ergebnisse und lädt zur Diskussion ein.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Das inter- und transdisziplinäre Projekt “Kunsterfahrung im (Post-)digitalen Zeitalter original digital virtuell” (OrDiV) untersucht, wie sich die Wahrnehmung und Verarbeitung von Kunstwerken in Abhängigkeit vom medialen Format verändert. Im Fokus steht der Vergleich von originalen Kunstwerken, ihren digitalen Reproduktionen sowie Anwendungen im virtuellen Raum (Virtual und Augmented Reality). Theoretischer Ausgangspunkt ist dabei Walter Benjamins Aura-Konzept. Anhand von vier vergleichenden empirischen Studien im Oberen Belvedere Wien wird mittels Eye Tracking, qualitativen Interviews und Online-Befragungen das Betrachtungsverhalten von Museumsbesucher:innen analysiert. Dabei interessieren insbesondere Fixationsdauer, emotionale und kognitive Verarbeitung sowie die Erinnerung an einzelne Gemälde. Das Projekt verbindet kunsthistorische Forschung mit digitalen Analysemethoden und liefert neue Erkenntnisse für Museumspraxis und Digital Humanities. Das Poster präsentiert erste Ergebnisse und lädt zur Diskussion ein.
Zhou, Xiaohan; Leder, Helmut
Being moved by modern abstract art Journal Article
In: Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 17, pp. 1720357, 2026, ISSN: 1664-1078.
@article{Zhou2026_BeingMovedModern,
title = {Being moved by modern abstract art},
author = {Xiaohan Zhou and Helmut Leder},
url = {https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1720357/full},
doi = {10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1720357},
issn = {1664-1078},
year = {2026},
date = {2026-02-01},
urldate = {2026-02-17},
journal = {Frontiers in Psychology},
volume = {17},
pages = {1720357},
abstract = {Although being emotionally moved has been studied as a key dimension of appreciation in visual art research, it remains unclear whether this response truly reflects the distinct emotion of being moved and whether such a complex emotion can be reliably elicited by abstract art in the absence of curatorial text, which provides minimal pre-existing narrative cues for meaning construction. This study explored whether and how such artworks can evoke the emotion of being moved. We conducted three exploratory studies triangulating across methods and contexts. Study 1 assessed how often being moved is related to visual art by collecting autobiographical moving memories using a modified
Geneva Affective Questionnaire
. Study 2 explored the characteristics of being moved by paintings. Conducted at the Heidi Horten Collection in Vienna, participants completed surveys before and after exhibition visits. They nominated up to five paintings that moved them and rated each selected work on its art features, emotional dimensions, bodily sensations, understanding, elicitors, and prosocial tendencies. Building on this, Study 3 aimed to explore whether being moved could emerge naturally without any priming or explicit guidance. Conducted in the same exhibition, this study used a broad, non-directive survey to measure whole-exhibition-visit emotion profile, including being moved without highlighting it. The results showed that strongly moving autobiographical memories were rarely related to visual art, whereas ratings of being moved in nominated paintings and whole-exhibition visits spanned the full intensity scale. Correlation analyses showed that understanding, elicitors, prosocial tendencies, as well as sadness and arousal, were significantly associated with being moved by paintings. In contrast, low-level visual features that were frequently nominated, such as color and composition, were not predictive, whereas content and personal relevance emerged as meaningful correlates. These exploratory findings suggest that even when viewing paintings without clear narratives and in the absence of curatorial text, viewers can experience genuine, though typically moderate, emotions of being moved. Such emotions appear to depend primarily on viewer-centered meaning-making and interpretive engagement. This not only highlights the cognitive demands involved in being moved by visual art but also underscores lay audiences’ capacity to construct meaning during visual art appreciation.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Although being emotionally moved has been studied as a key dimension of appreciation in visual art research, it remains unclear whether this response truly reflects the distinct emotion of being moved and whether such a complex emotion can be reliably elicited by abstract art in the absence of curatorial text, which provides minimal pre-existing narrative cues for meaning construction. This study explored whether and how such artworks can evoke the emotion of being moved. We conducted three exploratory studies triangulating across methods and contexts. Study 1 assessed how often being moved is related to visual art by collecting autobiographical moving memories using a modified
Geneva Affective Questionnaire
. Study 2 explored the characteristics of being moved by paintings. Conducted at the Heidi Horten Collection in Vienna, participants completed surveys before and after exhibition visits. They nominated up to five paintings that moved them and rated each selected work on its art features, emotional dimensions, bodily sensations, understanding, elicitors, and prosocial tendencies. Building on this, Study 3 aimed to explore whether being moved could emerge naturally without any priming or explicit guidance. Conducted in the same exhibition, this study used a broad, non-directive survey to measure whole-exhibition-visit emotion profile, including being moved without highlighting it. The results showed that strongly moving autobiographical memories were rarely related to visual art, whereas ratings of being moved in nominated paintings and whole-exhibition visits spanned the full intensity scale. Correlation analyses showed that understanding, elicitors, prosocial tendencies, as well as sadness and arousal, were significantly associated with being moved by paintings. In contrast, low-level visual features that were frequently nominated, such as color and composition, were not predictive, whereas content and personal relevance emerged as meaningful correlates. These exploratory findings suggest that even when viewing paintings without clear narratives and in the absence of curatorial text, viewers can experience genuine, though typically moderate, emotions of being moved. Such emotions appear to depend primarily on viewer-centered meaning-making and interpretive engagement. This not only highlights the cognitive demands involved in being moved by visual art but also underscores lay audiences’ capacity to construct meaning during visual art appreciation.
Geneva Affective Questionnaire
. Study 2 explored the characteristics of being moved by paintings. Conducted at the Heidi Horten Collection in Vienna, participants completed surveys before and after exhibition visits. They nominated up to five paintings that moved them and rated each selected work on its art features, emotional dimensions, bodily sensations, understanding, elicitors, and prosocial tendencies. Building on this, Study 3 aimed to explore whether being moved could emerge naturally without any priming or explicit guidance. Conducted in the same exhibition, this study used a broad, non-directive survey to measure whole-exhibition-visit emotion profile, including being moved without highlighting it. The results showed that strongly moving autobiographical memories were rarely related to visual art, whereas ratings of being moved in nominated paintings and whole-exhibition visits spanned the full intensity scale. Correlation analyses showed that understanding, elicitors, prosocial tendencies, as well as sadness and arousal, were significantly associated with being moved by paintings. In contrast, low-level visual features that were frequently nominated, such as color and composition, were not predictive, whereas content and personal relevance emerged as meaningful correlates. These exploratory findings suggest that even when viewing paintings without clear narratives and in the absence of curatorial text, viewers can experience genuine, though typically moderate, emotions of being moved. Such emotions appear to depend primarily on viewer-centered meaning-making and interpretive engagement. This not only highlights the cognitive demands involved in being moved by visual art but also underscores lay audiences’ capacity to construct meaning during visual art appreciation.
Chana, Kirren; Dehove, Margot; Mikuni, Jan; Specker, Eva; Knoll, Anna Lena; Barrière, Tristan; Trupp, MacKenzie D.; Pelowski, Matthew; Oberzaucher, Elisabeth; Leder, Helmut
Aesthetic components of urban environments and their relation to wellbeing: a scoping review Journal Article
In: Cities & Health, vol. 0, no. 0, pp. 1–23, 2026, ISSN: 2374-8834, (Publisher: Taylor & Francis _eprint: https://doi.org/10.1080/23748834.2025.2569732).
@article{Chana2026_AestheticComponentsUrban,
title = {Aesthetic components of urban environments and their relation to wellbeing: a scoping review},
author = {Kirren Chana and Margot Dehove and Jan Mikuni and Eva Specker and Anna Lena Knoll and Tristan Barrière and MacKenzie D. Trupp and Matthew Pelowski and Elisabeth Oberzaucher and Helmut Leder},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1080/23748834.2025.2569732},
doi = {10.1080/23748834.2025.2569732},
issn = {2374-8834},
year = {2026},
date = {2026-01-01},
urldate = {2026-01-21},
journal = {Cities & Health},
volume = {0},
number = {0},
pages = {1–23},
abstract = {Urban environments present a range of potential benefits for wellbeing through their design and aesthetics. However, there is a lack of comprehensive overview on how man-made components of public outdoor urban environments (e.g. art, buildings, streets, traffic noise), have previously been studied regarding aesthetics and wellbeing. To this end, we performed a scoping review to identify the breadth and depth of research on the topic by synthesising the evidence from pre-existing literature. Scopus, Web of Science and PsycINFO databases were searched, and papers were screened based on three concepts: Urban (man-made) components, Aesthetics, and Wellbeing. In total, 255 articles related to urban aesthetics were identified, 122 of which were also related to wellbeing. The results show the prevalence and diversity in man-made components, aesthetic dimensions, and wellbeing dimensions studied in relation to the urban environment; and provide an overview of the methods applied when studying such environments. Along with the synthesis highlighting trends found in urban research, a dataset (freely available on OSF) summarising extracted information is provided. This review and dataset offer: (1) guidelines for urban researchers in planning future studies (primary and secondary), and (2) the basis to assess the aesthetic and wellbeing potential of urban components when designing our urban environments.},
note = {Publisher: Taylor & Francis
_eprint: https://doi.org/10.1080/23748834.2025.2569732},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Urban environments present a range of potential benefits for wellbeing through their design and aesthetics. However, there is a lack of comprehensive overview on how man-made components of public outdoor urban environments (e.g. art, buildings, streets, traffic noise), have previously been studied regarding aesthetics and wellbeing. To this end, we performed a scoping review to identify the breadth and depth of research on the topic by synthesising the evidence from pre-existing literature. Scopus, Web of Science and PsycINFO databases were searched, and papers were screened based on three concepts: Urban (man-made) components, Aesthetics, and Wellbeing. In total, 255 articles related to urban aesthetics were identified, 122 of which were also related to wellbeing. The results show the prevalence and diversity in man-made components, aesthetic dimensions, and wellbeing dimensions studied in relation to the urban environment; and provide an overview of the methods applied when studying such environments. Along with the synthesis highlighting trends found in urban research, a dataset (freely available on OSF) summarising extracted information is provided. This review and dataset offer: (1) guidelines for urban researchers in planning future studies (primary and secondary), and (2) the basis to assess the aesthetic and wellbeing potential of urban components when designing our urban environments.
2025
Specker, Eva; Leder, Helmut
Questionnaire: Investigating subjective exhibition experiences via appropriate questions Book Section
In: Reitstätter, Luise; Schorr, Carla-Marinka (Ed.): Methods of Exhibition Analysis, pp. 123–132, transcript Verlag, 2025, ISBN: 978-3-8394-1859-8.
@incollection{Specker2025_QuestionnaireInvestigatingSubjective,
title = {Questionnaire: Investigating subjective exhibition experiences via appropriate questions},
author = {Eva Specker and Helmut Leder},
editor = {Luise Reitstätter and Carla-Marinka Schorr},
url = {https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783839418598-010/html},
doi = {10.1515/9783839418598-010},
isbn = {978-3-8394-1859-8},
year = {2025},
date = {2025-12-01},
urldate = {2026-01-13},
booktitle = {Methods of Exhibition Analysis},
pages = {123–132},
publisher = {transcript Verlag},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {incollection}
}
Sun, Xiaolei; Che, Jiajia; Leder, Helmut; Nadal, Marcos
Exposure to Different Levels of Visual Complexity Influences Judgments of Complexity and Liking Journal Article
In: Empirical Studies of the Arts, pp. 02762374251391644, 2025, ISSN: 0276-2374, 1541-4493.
@article{Sun2025_ExposureDifferentLevels,
title = {Exposure to Different Levels of Visual Complexity Influences Judgments of Complexity and Liking},
author = {Xiaolei Sun and Jiajia Che and Helmut Leder and Marcos Nadal},
url = {https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/02762374251391644},
doi = {10.1177/02762374251391644},
issn = {0276-2374, 1541-4493},
year = {2025},
date = {2025-11-01},
urldate = {2025-11-06},
journal = {Empirical Studies of the Arts},
pages = {02762374251391644},
abstract = {We examined how familiarity with low or high complexity images influences complexity, liking and understanding judgments. Participants were first familiarized with either low or high complexity images. They then rated a set of intermediately complex images on perceived complexity, liking, and understanding. Data were analyzed using Bayesian mixed-effects models, controlling for declarative art knowledge, art interest, and visual art recognition. Participants familiarized with high complexity images rated intermediately complex images as less complex, indicating a contrast effect. Higher declarative art knowledge was linked to increased complexity ratings. Additionally, liking judgments were predicted by complexity ratings, especially among participants familiarized with simpler images, revealing that prior exposure shapes the relationship between complexity and liking. In contrast, understanding judgments were unaffected by complexity ratings or familiarization. These findings highlight the role of prior exposure in shaping visual complexity judgments, demonstrating how familiarity with certain complexity levels recalibrates perceptual baselines and influences subsequent evaluative judgments.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
We examined how familiarity with low or high complexity images influences complexity, liking and understanding judgments. Participants were first familiarized with either low or high complexity images. They then rated a set of intermediately complex images on perceived complexity, liking, and understanding. Data were analyzed using Bayesian mixed-effects models, controlling for declarative art knowledge, art interest, and visual art recognition. Participants familiarized with high complexity images rated intermediately complex images as less complex, indicating a contrast effect. Higher declarative art knowledge was linked to increased complexity ratings. Additionally, liking judgments were predicted by complexity ratings, especially among participants familiarized with simpler images, revealing that prior exposure shapes the relationship between complexity and liking. In contrast, understanding judgments were unaffected by complexity ratings or familiarization. These findings highlight the role of prior exposure in shaping visual complexity judgments, demonstrating how familiarity with certain complexity levels recalibrates perceptual baselines and influences subsequent evaluative judgments.
Sun, Xiaolei; Che, Jiajia; Leder, Helmut; Nadal, Marcos
Exposure to Different Levels of Visual Complexity Influences Judgments of Complexity and Liking Journal Article
In: Empirical Studies of the Arts, pp. 02762374251391644, 2025, ISSN: 0276-2374, 1541-4493.
@article{sun_exposure_2025,
title = {Exposure to Different Levels of Visual Complexity Influences Judgments of Complexity and Liking},
author = {Xiaolei Sun and Jiajia Che and Helmut Leder and Marcos Nadal},
url = {https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/02762374251391644},
doi = {10.1177/02762374251391644},
issn = {0276-2374, 1541-4493},
year = {2025},
date = {2025-11-01},
urldate = {2025-11-06},
journal = {Empirical Studies of the Arts},
pages = {02762374251391644},
abstract = {We examined how familiarity with low or high complexity images influences complexity, liking and understanding judgments. Participants were first familiarized with either low or high complexity images. They then rated a set of intermediately complex images on perceived complexity, liking, and understanding. Data were analyzed using Bayesian mixed-effects models, controlling for declarative art knowledge, art interest, and visual art recognition. Participants familiarized with high complexity images rated intermediately complex images as less complex, indicating a contrast effect. Higher declarative art knowledge was linked to increased complexity ratings. Additionally, liking judgments were predicted by complexity ratings, especially among participants familiarized with simpler images, revealing that prior exposure shapes the relationship between complexity and liking. In contrast, understanding judgments were unaffected by complexity ratings or familiarization. These findings highlight the role of prior exposure in shaping visual complexity judgments, demonstrating how familiarity with certain complexity levels recalibrates perceptual baselines and influences subsequent evaluative judgments.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
We examined how familiarity with low or high complexity images influences complexity, liking and understanding judgments. Participants were first familiarized with either low or high complexity images. They then rated a set of intermediately complex images on perceived complexity, liking, and understanding. Data were analyzed using Bayesian mixed-effects models, controlling for declarative art knowledge, art interest, and visual art recognition. Participants familiarized with high complexity images rated intermediately complex images as less complex, indicating a contrast effect. Higher declarative art knowledge was linked to increased complexity ratings. Additionally, liking judgments were predicted by complexity ratings, especially among participants familiarized with simpler images, revealing that prior exposure shapes the relationship between complexity and liking. In contrast, understanding judgments were unaffected by complexity ratings or familiarization. These findings highlight the role of prior exposure in shaping visual complexity judgments, demonstrating how familiarity with certain complexity levels recalibrates perceptual baselines and influences subsequent evaluative judgments.
Sun, Xiaolei; Che, Jiajia; Nadal, Marcos; Leder, Helmut
Information and affective valence influence judgments of complexity, liking and understanding Journal Article
In: British Journal of Psychology, pp. bjop.70037, 2025, ISSN: 0007-1269, 2044-8295.
@article{Sun2025_InformationAffectiveValence,
title = {Information and affective valence influence judgments of complexity, liking and understanding},
author = {Xiaolei Sun and Jiajia Che and Marcos Nadal and Helmut Leder},
url = {https://bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bjop.70037},
doi = {10.1111/bjop.70037},
issn = {0007-1269, 2044-8295},
year = {2025},
date = {2025-10-01},
urldate = {2025-10-13},
journal = {British Journal of Psychology},
pages = {bjop.70037},
abstract = {Abstract
Visual complexity is a key factor in perceptual and evaluative judgments. People's representation of visual complexity is constructed from quantitative and structural image features, but it is also influenced by familiarity and expertise. We examined how people represent visual complexity and its impact on perception and evaluation, focusing on information about paintings and their affective valence on judgments of visual complexity, liking and understanding. Seventy‐six participants rated 60 representational artworks of negative, neutral, and positive valence on complexity, beauty and understanding. Half of the participants received written information about each artwork. Results showed that negative artworks were judged as more complex than neutral artworks and positive ones, but this effect was attenuated by the provided information. Liking judgments increased with judged complexity, were higher for positive artworks than neutral ones, for neutral than negative ones, and were higher when information was provided. Understanding judgments were higher for positive artworks than neutral ones, and higher for neutral artworks than negatively valenced ones. Information increased understanding only for negative artworks, and judged complexity did not affect these judgments. In sum, the representation of the visual complexity of an image is influenced by its valence and the available information, modulating judgments of complexity and liking, but not of understanding.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Abstract
Visual complexity is a key factor in perceptual and evaluative judgments. People’s representation of visual complexity is constructed from quantitative and structural image features, but it is also influenced by familiarity and expertise. We examined how people represent visual complexity and its impact on perception and evaluation, focusing on information about paintings and their affective valence on judgments of visual complexity, liking and understanding. Seventy‐six participants rated 60 representational artworks of negative, neutral, and positive valence on complexity, beauty and understanding. Half of the participants received written information about each artwork. Results showed that negative artworks were judged as more complex than neutral artworks and positive ones, but this effect was attenuated by the provided information. Liking judgments increased with judged complexity, were higher for positive artworks than neutral ones, for neutral than negative ones, and were higher when information was provided. Understanding judgments were higher for positive artworks than neutral ones, and higher for neutral artworks than negatively valenced ones. Information increased understanding only for negative artworks, and judged complexity did not affect these judgments. In sum, the representation of the visual complexity of an image is influenced by its valence and the available information, modulating judgments of complexity and liking, but not of understanding.
Visual complexity is a key factor in perceptual and evaluative judgments. People’s representation of visual complexity is constructed from quantitative and structural image features, but it is also influenced by familiarity and expertise. We examined how people represent visual complexity and its impact on perception and evaluation, focusing on information about paintings and their affective valence on judgments of visual complexity, liking and understanding. Seventy‐six participants rated 60 representational artworks of negative, neutral, and positive valence on complexity, beauty and understanding. Half of the participants received written information about each artwork. Results showed that negative artworks were judged as more complex than neutral artworks and positive ones, but this effect was attenuated by the provided information. Liking judgments increased with judged complexity, were higher for positive artworks than neutral ones, for neutral than negative ones, and were higher when information was provided. Understanding judgments were higher for positive artworks than neutral ones, and higher for neutral artworks than negatively valenced ones. Information increased understanding only for negative artworks, and judged complexity did not affect these judgments. In sum, the representation of the visual complexity of an image is influenced by its valence and the available information, modulating judgments of complexity and liking, but not of understanding.
Knoll, Anna Lena; Mikuni, Jan; Specker, Eva
Looking at people looking at art: observations of art interactions in an everyday urban environment Journal Article
In: Frontiers in Psychology, vol. Volume 16 – 2025, 2025, ISSN: 1664-1078.
@article{Knoll2025_LookingPeopleLooking,
title = {Looking at people looking at art: observations of art interactions in an everyday urban environment},
author = {Anna Lena Knoll and Jan Mikuni and Eva Specker},
url = {https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1658946},
doi = {10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1658946},
issn = {1664-1078},
year = {2025},
date = {2025-09-01},
journal = {Frontiers in Psychology},
volume = {Volume 16 - 2025},
abstract = {IntroductionPlacing art in urban spaces can make urban public environments more attractive and colorful by offering beautiful and restorative environments. This may invite people to spend time in the area and create opportunities for social engagement, and community development. In this observational study we collaborated with “Keine Galerie” (translating to “not a gallery”), a small window gallery in the city of Vienna (Austria) to address the following questions: Does the presence of publicly available art influence people's behavior (in terms of type, frequency, and duration) in an urban space? Does it enhance peoples' social interactions, such as the amount of conversations in a group?MethodsTo capture the impact of presence of art, we collected data during two exhibitions by two different artists at Keine Galerie (i.e., art conditions) as well as between exhibitions when no art was visible (i.e., control condition). We used observational methods to unobtrusively assess how pedestrians who were passing through the study area interact with their environment either with or without art.ResultsOur results showed that art being present invites passers-by to interact with the space more than when no art is present (no art vs. art conditions) but also that the type of art may matter (Ex.1 vs. Ex. 2), which influenced not just the amount of interactions but also which interactions took place.DiscussionWe discuss these quantitative and qualitative differences, also with regard to potential confounding factors (e.g., weather), and propose avenues for further research into the impact of art in public space.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
IntroductionPlacing art in urban spaces can make urban public environments more attractive and colorful by offering beautiful and restorative environments. This may invite people to spend time in the area and create opportunities for social engagement, and community development. In this observational study we collaborated with “Keine Galerie” (translating to “not a gallery”), a small window gallery in the city of Vienna (Austria) to address the following questions: Does the presence of publicly available art influence people’s behavior (in terms of type, frequency, and duration) in an urban space? Does it enhance peoples’ social interactions, such as the amount of conversations in a group?MethodsTo capture the impact of presence of art, we collected data during two exhibitions by two different artists at Keine Galerie (i.e., art conditions) as well as between exhibitions when no art was visible (i.e., control condition). We used observational methods to unobtrusively assess how pedestrians who were passing through the study area interact with their environment either with or without art.ResultsOur results showed that art being present invites passers-by to interact with the space more than when no art is present (no art vs. art conditions) but also that the type of art may matter (Ex.1 vs. Ex. 2), which influenced not just the amount of interactions but also which interactions took place.DiscussionWe discuss these quantitative and qualitative differences, also with regard to potential confounding factors (e.g., weather), and propose avenues for further research into the impact of art in public space.
Mendhakar, Akshay; Sierak, Katarzyna; Chana, Kirren; Leder, Helmut
Does the reading platform matter?: An eye-tracking study Journal Article
In: AILA Review, 2025, ISSN: 1461-0213, 1570-5595.
@article{Mendhakar2025_DoesReadingPlatform,
title = {Does the reading platform matter?: An eye-tracking study},
author = {Akshay Mendhakar and Katarzyna Sierak and Kirren Chana and Helmut Leder},
url = {http://www.jbe-platform.com/content/journals/10.1075/aila.24033.men},
doi = {10.1075/aila.24033.men},
issn = {1461-0213, 1570-5595},
year = {2025},
date = {2025-07-01},
urldate = {2025-08-04},
journal = {AILA Review},
abstract = {Abstract
Most reading technologies claim to provide experiences similar to reading on print paper. This study compared
reading across different digital platforms and print books. Digital reading mediums used in this study were reading on a PC
screen, a handheld e-reader and an iPad. A total of eighty participants enrolled in various university courses took part in this
experiment. Each participant was randomly assigned to one of the reading conditions, and subsequent eye-tracking measurements were
compared. Results indicated that the mean fixation duration was statistically different only for the reading from the PC
condition, whereas it was similar across all other conditions. The reading time and the total number of fixations were comparable
for the dedicated e-reader, iPad and printed book. This study provides empirical evidence that e-reading tools closely mimic
book-reading conditions.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Abstract
Most reading technologies claim to provide experiences similar to reading on print paper. This study compared
reading across different digital platforms and print books. Digital reading mediums used in this study were reading on a PC
screen, a handheld e-reader and an iPad. A total of eighty participants enrolled in various university courses took part in this
experiment. Each participant was randomly assigned to one of the reading conditions, and subsequent eye-tracking measurements were
compared. Results indicated that the mean fixation duration was statistically different only for the reading from the PC
condition, whereas it was similar across all other conditions. The reading time and the total number of fixations were comparable
for the dedicated e-reader, iPad and printed book. This study provides empirical evidence that e-reading tools closely mimic
book-reading conditions.
Most reading technologies claim to provide experiences similar to reading on print paper. This study compared
reading across different digital platforms and print books. Digital reading mediums used in this study were reading on a PC
screen, a handheld e-reader and an iPad. A total of eighty participants enrolled in various university courses took part in this
experiment. Each participant was randomly assigned to one of the reading conditions, and subsequent eye-tracking measurements were
compared. Results indicated that the mean fixation duration was statistically different only for the reading from the PC
condition, whereas it was similar across all other conditions. The reading time and the total number of fixations were comparable
for the dedicated e-reader, iPad and printed book. This study provides empirical evidence that e-reading tools closely mimic
book-reading conditions.
Pelowski, Matthew; Marengo, Eleonora; Cotter, Katherine N.; Kühnapfel, Corinna; Speidel, Klaus; Fingerhut, Joerg
In: Empirical Studies of the Arts, pp. 02762374251349376, 2025, ISSN: 0276-2374, 1541-4493.
@article{Pelowski2025_DesigningEmotionsMediators,
title = {Designing Emotions as Mediators of Attitude Change from Socially-Focused Art Exhibitions: Two Studies of Matched Artist/Curator Intentions and Viewer Response on the Refugee Crisis and Climate Awareness},
author = {Matthew Pelowski and Eleonora Marengo and Katherine N. Cotter and Corinna Kühnapfel and Klaus Speidel and Joerg Fingerhut},
url = {https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/02762374251349376},
doi = {10.1177/02762374251349376},
issn = {0276-2374, 1541-4493},
year = {2025},
date = {2025-07-01},
urldate = {2025-07-16},
journal = {Empirical Studies of the Arts},
pages = {02762374251349376},
abstract = {We offer first, exploratory evidence into a design element employed by many artists and curators to maximize impacts of art interventions towards attitude change—the anticipation and design for specific emotional experiences. In two exhibitions involving refugee acceptance (Study 1,
N = 41) and climate awareness (Study 2,
N = 49), we collected curator/artist-provided sets of specific intended emotions, matched to viewer reports and to changes in attitude measures via a pre-post design. In both studies, viewers felt more intended emotions and were proficient at identifying how they were intended to feel with, in Study 1, significant relation between the former and agreement that the exhibition had caused one to reflect. In Study 2, feeling more intended emotions, as set by the curator but not the artist, correlated to changes in nature connectedness. However, feeling more emotions in general, regardless of intentions, was consistently the strongest driver of effects, raising new implications for emotion-, arts-based-, and intervention-research.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
We offer first, exploratory evidence into a design element employed by many artists and curators to maximize impacts of art interventions towards attitude change—the anticipation and design for specific emotional experiences. In two exhibitions involving refugee acceptance (Study 1,
N = 41) and climate awareness (Study 2,
N = 49), we collected curator/artist-provided sets of specific intended emotions, matched to viewer reports and to changes in attitude measures via a pre-post design. In both studies, viewers felt more intended emotions and were proficient at identifying how they were intended to feel with, in Study 1, significant relation between the former and agreement that the exhibition had caused one to reflect. In Study 2, feeling more intended emotions, as set by the curator but not the artist, correlated to changes in nature connectedness. However, feeling more emotions in general, regardless of intentions, was consistently the strongest driver of effects, raising new implications for emotion-, arts-based-, and intervention-research.
N = 41) and climate awareness (Study 2,
N = 49), we collected curator/artist-provided sets of specific intended emotions, matched to viewer reports and to changes in attitude measures via a pre-post design. In both studies, viewers felt more intended emotions and were proficient at identifying how they were intended to feel with, in Study 1, significant relation between the former and agreement that the exhibition had caused one to reflect. In Study 2, feeling more intended emotions, as set by the curator but not the artist, correlated to changes in nature connectedness. However, feeling more emotions in general, regardless of intentions, was consistently the strongest driver of effects, raising new implications for emotion-, arts-based-, and intervention-research.
Chana, Kirren; Mikuni, Jan; Rebora, Simone; Vezzani, Gabriele; Meyer, Anja; Salgaro, Massimo; Leder, Helmut
Judging Books by Their Covers: The Impact of Text and Image Features on the Aesthetic Evaluation and Memorability of Italian Novels Journal Article
In: Literature, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 13, 2025, ISSN: 2410-9789.
@article{Chana2025_JudgingBooksTheir,
title = {Judging Books by Their Covers: The Impact of Text and Image Features on the Aesthetic Evaluation and Memorability of Italian Novels},
author = {Kirren Chana and Jan Mikuni and Simone Rebora and Gabriele Vezzani and Anja Meyer and Massimo Salgaro and Helmut Leder},
url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2410-9789/5/2/13},
doi = {10.3390/literature5020013},
issn = {2410-9789},
year = {2025},
date = {2025-06-01},
urldate = {2025-06-11},
journal = {Literature},
volume = {5},
number = {2},
pages = {13},
abstract = {Book covers are often the first component seen before a reader engages with a book’s contents; therefore, careful consideration is given to the text and image features that constitute their design. This study investigates the effects of the presentation of verbal (text) and visual (image) features on memorability and aesthetic evaluation in the context of book covers. To this aim, 50 participants took part in a memory recognition task in which the same book cover information was encoded in a learning phase, and either text or image features from the book covers acted as an informational cue for memory recognition and aesthetic evaluations. Our results revealed that image features significantly aided memory performance more than text features. Image features that were rated more beautiful were not better recognized as a result. However, differences in memory performance were found in relation to familiarity and, in a non-linear fashion, the extent to which the book’s contents could be inferred from the image’s informational content. Additionally, reading behavior was not found to influence memory performance. These results are discussed with regard to the interplay of text and image informational cues on book cover perception and provide implications for future studies.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Book covers are often the first component seen before a reader engages with a book’s contents; therefore, careful consideration is given to the text and image features that constitute their design. This study investigates the effects of the presentation of verbal (text) and visual (image) features on memorability and aesthetic evaluation in the context of book covers. To this aim, 50 participants took part in a memory recognition task in which the same book cover information was encoded in a learning phase, and either text or image features from the book covers acted as an informational cue for memory recognition and aesthetic evaluations. Our results revealed that image features significantly aided memory performance more than text features. Image features that were rated more beautiful were not better recognized as a result. However, differences in memory performance were found in relation to familiarity and, in a non-linear fashion, the extent to which the book’s contents could be inferred from the image’s informational content. Additionally, reading behavior was not found to influence memory performance. These results are discussed with regard to the interplay of text and image informational cues on book cover perception and provide implications for future studies.
Chana, Kirren; Mikuni, Jan; Rebora, Simone; Vezzani, Gabriele; Meyer, Anja; Salgaro, Massimo; Leder, Helmut
Judging Books by Their Covers: The Impact of Text and Image Features on the Aesthetic Evaluation and Memorability of Italian Novels Journal Article
In: Literature, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 13, 2025, ISSN: 2410-9789.
@article{chana_judging_2025,
title = {Judging Books by Their Covers: The Impact of Text and Image Features on the Aesthetic Evaluation and Memorability of Italian Novels},
author = {Kirren Chana and Jan Mikuni and Simone Rebora and Gabriele Vezzani and Anja Meyer and Massimo Salgaro and Helmut Leder},
url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2410-9789/5/2/13},
doi = {10.3390/literature5020013},
issn = {2410-9789},
year = {2025},
date = {2025-06-01},
urldate = {2025-06-11},
journal = {Literature},
volume = {5},
number = {2},
pages = {13},
abstract = {Book covers are often the first component seen before a reader engages with a book’s contents; therefore, careful consideration is given to the text and image features that constitute their design. This study investigates the effects of the presentation of verbal (text) and visual (image) features on memorability and aesthetic evaluation in the context of book covers. To this aim, 50 participants took part in a memory recognition task in which the same book cover information was encoded in a learning phase, and either text or image features from the book covers acted as an informational cue for memory recognition and aesthetic evaluations. Our results revealed that image features significantly aided memory performance more than text features. Image features that were rated more beautiful were not better recognized as a result. However, differences in memory performance were found in relation to familiarity and, in a non-linear fashion, the extent to which the book’s contents could be inferred from the image’s informational content. Additionally, reading behavior was not found to influence memory performance. These results are discussed with regard to the interplay of text and image informational cues on book cover perception and provide implications for future studies.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Book covers are often the first component seen before a reader engages with a book’s contents; therefore, careful consideration is given to the text and image features that constitute their design. This study investigates the effects of the presentation of verbal (text) and visual (image) features on memorability and aesthetic evaluation in the context of book covers. To this aim, 50 participants took part in a memory recognition task in which the same book cover information was encoded in a learning phase, and either text or image features from the book covers acted as an informational cue for memory recognition and aesthetic evaluations. Our results revealed that image features significantly aided memory performance more than text features. Image features that were rated more beautiful were not better recognized as a result. However, differences in memory performance were found in relation to familiarity and, in a non-linear fashion, the extent to which the book’s contents could be inferred from the image’s informational content. Additionally, reading behavior was not found to influence memory performance. These results are discussed with regard to the interplay of text and image informational cues on book cover perception and provide implications for future studies.
Roth, Leopold Helmut Otto; Kawabata, Hideaki; Leder, Helmut
Universal, Cultural, or Individual? An Intercultural Assessment of Shared Proportions of Private Taste in Aesthetic Appreciation Journal Article
In: Empirical Studies of the Arts, pp. 02762374251334962, 2025, ISSN: 0276-2374, 1541-4493.
@article{Roth2025_UniversalCulturalIndividual,
title = {Universal, Cultural, or Individual? An Intercultural Assessment of Shared Proportions of Private Taste in Aesthetic Appreciation},
author = {Leopold Helmut Otto Roth and Hideaki Kawabata and Helmut Leder},
url = {https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/02762374251334962},
doi = {10.1177/02762374251334962},
issn = {0276-2374, 1541-4493},
year = {2025},
date = {2025-05-01},
urldate = {2025-06-11},
journal = {Empirical Studies of the Arts},
pages = {02762374251334962},
abstract = {Culture constitutes a core condition for human experiences, and it was often assumed that higher collectivism/lower individualism are typical for Asian as compared to European cultures. Evidence, however, was ambiguous. In the present study (
N = 79), we studied whether collectivism in preferences is seen in terms of a relatively higher level of shared tastes. We employed beholder indices/taste typicality to compute private taste from aesthetic evaluations for different classes of visual images of Japanese and European participants. Collectivism for each participant was measured through a standard scale based on participants’ opinions towards their peer group. No difference in collectivism measure between the two populations was found. However, congruence in personal taste meaningfully differed between cultures, showing higher shared taste in Japanese participants for artistic stimuli. These effects reached beyond comparisons by individual collectivistic tendencies. While these findings require replication with larger samples, they point towards meaningful differences in group norm adherence between cultures.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Culture constitutes a core condition for human experiences, and it was often assumed that higher collectivism/lower individualism are typical for Asian as compared to European cultures. Evidence, however, was ambiguous. In the present study (
N = 79), we studied whether collectivism in preferences is seen in terms of a relatively higher level of shared tastes. We employed beholder indices/taste typicality to compute private taste from aesthetic evaluations for different classes of visual images of Japanese and European participants. Collectivism for each participant was measured through a standard scale based on participants’ opinions towards their peer group. No difference in collectivism measure between the two populations was found. However, congruence in personal taste meaningfully differed between cultures, showing higher shared taste in Japanese participants for artistic stimuli. These effects reached beyond comparisons by individual collectivistic tendencies. While these findings require replication with larger samples, they point towards meaningful differences in group norm adherence between cultures.
N = 79), we studied whether collectivism in preferences is seen in terms of a relatively higher level of shared tastes. We employed beholder indices/taste typicality to compute private taste from aesthetic evaluations for different classes of visual images of Japanese and European participants. Collectivism for each participant was measured through a standard scale based on participants’ opinions towards their peer group. No difference in collectivism measure between the two populations was found. However, congruence in personal taste meaningfully differed between cultures, showing higher shared taste in Japanese participants for artistic stimuli. These effects reached beyond comparisons by individual collectivistic tendencies. While these findings require replication with larger samples, they point towards meaningful differences in group norm adherence between cultures.
Roth, Leopold Helmut Otto; Kawabata, Hideaki; Leder, Helmut
Universal, Cultural, or Individual? An Intercultural Assessment of Shared Proportions of Private Taste in Aesthetic Appreciation Journal Article
In: Empirical Studies of the Arts, pp. 02762374251334962, 2025, ISSN: 0276-2374, 1541-4493.
@article{roth_universal_2025,
title = {Universal, Cultural, or Individual? An Intercultural Assessment of Shared Proportions of Private Taste in Aesthetic Appreciation},
author = {Leopold Helmut Otto Roth and Hideaki Kawabata and Helmut Leder},
url = {https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/02762374251334962},
doi = {10.1177/02762374251334962},
issn = {0276-2374, 1541-4493},
year = {2025},
date = {2025-05-01},
urldate = {2025-06-11},
journal = {Empirical Studies of the Arts},
pages = {02762374251334962},
abstract = {Culture constitutes a core condition for human experiences, and it was often assumed that higher collectivism/lower individualism are typical for Asian as compared to European cultures. Evidence, however, was ambiguous. In the present study (
N = 79), we studied whether collectivism in preferences is seen in terms of a relatively higher level of shared tastes. We employed beholder indices/taste typicality to compute private taste from aesthetic evaluations for different classes of visual images of Japanese and European participants. Collectivism for each participant was measured through a standard scale based on participants’ opinions towards their peer group. No difference in collectivism measure between the two populations was found. However, congruence in personal taste meaningfully differed between cultures, showing higher shared taste in Japanese participants for artistic stimuli. These effects reached beyond comparisons by individual collectivistic tendencies. While these findings require replication with larger samples, they point towards meaningful differences in group norm adherence between cultures.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Culture constitutes a core condition for human experiences, and it was often assumed that higher collectivism/lower individualism are typical for Asian as compared to European cultures. Evidence, however, was ambiguous. In the present study (
N = 79), we studied whether collectivism in preferences is seen in terms of a relatively higher level of shared tastes. We employed beholder indices/taste typicality to compute private taste from aesthetic evaluations for different classes of visual images of Japanese and European participants. Collectivism for each participant was measured through a standard scale based on participants’ opinions towards their peer group. No difference in collectivism measure between the two populations was found. However, congruence in personal taste meaningfully differed between cultures, showing higher shared taste in Japanese participants for artistic stimuli. These effects reached beyond comparisons by individual collectivistic tendencies. While these findings require replication with larger samples, they point towards meaningful differences in group norm adherence between cultures.
N = 79), we studied whether collectivism in preferences is seen in terms of a relatively higher level of shared tastes. We employed beholder indices/taste typicality to compute private taste from aesthetic evaluations for different classes of visual images of Japanese and European participants. Collectivism for each participant was measured through a standard scale based on participants’ opinions towards their peer group. No difference in collectivism measure between the two populations was found. However, congruence in personal taste meaningfully differed between cultures, showing higher shared taste in Japanese participants for artistic stimuli. These effects reached beyond comparisons by individual collectivistic tendencies. While these findings require replication with larger samples, they point towards meaningful differences in group norm adherence between cultures.