Abstract
10 pictures by Western artists were reproduced as sets of transparent component overlays. For each work, University Ss, 37 women and 17 men, first rendered aesthetic preferences for original vs mirror-image views. Ss then disassembled the two views, and by restoring corresponding components, worked to achieve a partial representation in which the initially non-preferred view became the preferred one. The data allow certain extensions and refinements of conclusions from earlier studies in this series: I. The normal effect of promoting liking for a view exercised by a principal mass in the lower left quadrant may be reversed if the object is present beyond a certain level of prominence. II. Ease of entering the picture space may for some persons be more determinative of aesthetic value than the distribution of principal masses. III. Lines and contours consistent with the path of glance ease entry into the picture space, hence, promote liking for a view. Consistency may, however, be excessive, and the effect on liking may reverse.
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