26:T4a0,

Taking account of both intrinsic and environmental determinants, Kogan (2002a, b) describes possible interactions between them in a developmental model of performing-arts careers. An alternative model of talent development is offered by Simonton (1999, 2001), who has drawn upon the earlier behavior-genetic research of Lykken (1982), particularly the concept of emergenesis. Questionnaire data from a sample of 122 students in the Actors Studio drama school was examined for its consistency with the Lykken-Simonton emergenesis model. Consistent with the model's expectations, parental professional participation in the dramatic arts was very low, age at which students decided to pursue a dramatic-arts career varied widely, and students' prior school and undergraduate college experience exhibited considerable heterogeneity. The relative merits of a model based entirely on genetic trajectories are discussed in comparison with interactive and purely environmental models. Given the limited empirical base, however, it is far from evident which approach offers the greatest potential for predicting who will become the best actors, directors, and playwrights of the future.

27:T446,

In the empirical study of the arts, two approaches exist which illustrate different assumptions about what phenomena are most central to our concerns: the study of central tendencies, which seeks general principles, and the study of differences, whose aim is to accept differences as crucial and then explain them. Nowhere is the study of variability more important than in the creation of works of art; and no approach to accounting for the variability is more promising than a detailed study of the personalities of the creators. Research is discussed here in which the creation of images by undergraduate participants was followed closely, and their personalities were studied clinically by means of a psychodynamic interview. The individual dynamics seemed intimately connected with the processes of image making (the close view). A later cluster analysis of image types revealed that the individual dynamics were consistent within clusters and different between clusters (the distant view). Seven approaches to image making could be identified in this study and described in detail.

28:T48b,

Verbal responses have frequently been used to measure aesthetic experience. They usually take the form of semantic judgments regarding specific aspects or dimensions of certain stimuli. The use of this kind of technique has produced a great amount of knowledge, but its combination with objective procedures can increase the validity and reliability of measurement. In this study, we set out to assess whether memory traces can serve as an objective control element for subjective aesthetic judgments. We analyzed the relation between aesthetic judgment and recognition of High Art and Popular Art visual stimuli by participants with and without formal art education. Results show that participants tended to give higher pleasantness and beauty ratings to those stimuli that have left a strong memory trace. Lower scores were awarded to stimuli they did not recognize well. However, originality and interest ratings did not follow the same trend. This disparity is discussed in relation to the dimensionality of aesthetic experience and the influence of formal art education on subjective measures of aesthetic experience.

29:T451,

To describe differences in art appreciation between children of different ages, between children and adults, and between adults with different educational backgrounds, five components of aesthetic judgment were defined. These were named: “Attraction,” “Representation and realism,” “Emotional expression,” “Style and form,” and “Interpretation.” In a review of six studies with participants ranging from primary and secondary school children to various adult groups, it was investigated in which amount the five components characterized each group. For that purpose, explanations for art preferences