Concreteness of semantic interpretations of abstract and representational artworks

The effect of temporal context on memory for art

Although considerable research has been done on memory for temporal information, as well as on the relationship between context and cognition, not much is known about the influence of temporal context on memory formation and retention. In this study, given that our sample comes from a largely Roman Catholic population, we used religious practices that occur throughout the calendar year to operationalize temporal context into two religious seasons (Lent and Ordinary Time). In addition, we used religious art to assess experience and memory as a function of whether there was temporal congruity or incongruity. This allowed us to explore different levels of memory representation; namely, memory for perceptual details of the art, memory for more inferential understanding of the art, and autobiographical memory for the initial experience of the art. Participants viewed 22 representational and abstract artworks during either Lent or Ordinary Time. After viewing, memory was tested at immediate, 1-day, and 7-day delays. We expected that the congruent temporal context (i.e., Lent) would lead to more activated semantic knowledge, which would then aid memory encoding and retention. This was the case only for perceptual details of the art. In addition, during Lent, forgetting followed a more linear pattern. These results suggest that priming semantic knowledge through temporal context leads encoding to focus on low-level information, as opposed to the processing of more complex information. Overall, these findings suggest that temporal context can influence cognition, but to a limited extent.

Familiarity and Novelty in Aesthetic Preference: The Effects of the Properties of the Artwork and the Beholder

Familiarity and novelty are fundamental yet competing factors influencing aesthetic preference. However, whether people prefer familiar paintings or novel paintings has not been clear. Using both behavioral and eye-tracking measures, the present study aimed to investigate whether the effect of familiarity-novelty on aesthetic preference is independent or dependent on artwork properties (painting content, visual complexity) and viewer characteristics (experience in art). Participants were presented with two images of paintings, one of which was repeatedly presented but was always paired with a new painting in a randomized lateral arrangement. They were asked to indicate which of the two images they preferred with the degree of their preference. Behavioral results demonstrated an interactive influence of painting content and complexity on familiarity-novelty preference, especially alongside the distinction between representational and abstract paintings. Also, the familiarity-novelty preference was modulated by the degree of art experience, for abstract paintings in particular. Gaze results showed the differential effects of painting content, complexity, and art experience echoing the behavioral results. Taken together, the convergent results derived from behavioral and eye-tracking measures imply that novelty is an important feature of aesthetic appreciation, but its influence is modulated by properties of both the artwork and the beholder.