- Empirical Aesthetics: An Overview
- One Hundred Years of Empirical Aesthetics: Fechner to Berlyne (1876–1976)
- Revisiting Fechner’s Methods
- The Link between Empirical Aesthetics and Philosophy
- Appreciation Modes in Empirical Aesthetics
- Exploring the Landscape of Emotion in Aesthetic Experience
- The Neurobiology of Sensory Valuation
- The Evolution of Aesthetics and Beauty
- Historiometric Methods
- Observation Method in Empirical Aesthetics
- Observational Drawing Research Methods
- Implicit Measures in the Aesthetic Domain
- The Study of Eye Movements in Empirical Aesthetics
- Electrophysiology
- Functional Neuroimaging in Empirical Aesthetics and Neuroaesthetics
- Noninvasive Brain Stimulation: Contribution to Research in Neuroaesthetics
- Integrated Methods: A Call for Integrative and Interdisciplinary Aesthetics Research
- The Role of Collative Variables in Aesthetic Experiences
- Processing Fluency
- The Use of Visual Statistical Features in Empirical Aesthetics
- Color
- The Study of Symmetry in Empirical Aesthetics
- The Curvature Effect
- Facial Attractiveness
- The Empirical Aesthetics of Music
- The Aesthetics of Action and Movement
- Aesthetics of Dance
- The Audio-Visual Aesthetics of Music and Dance
- Aesthetic Responses to Architecture
- Aesthetics, Technology, and Popular Movies
- Empirical Aesthetics of Poetry
- Aesthetic Responses to the Characters, Plots, Worlds, and Style of Stories
- The Role of Attention, Executive Processes, and Memory in Aesthetic Experience
- Children’s Appreciation of Art
- The Influence of Expertise on Aesthetics
- The Influence of Personality on Aesthetic Preferences
- Aesthetic Sensitivity
- Cross-Cultural Empirical Aesthetics
- The General Impact of Context on Aesthetic Experience
- Empirical Aesthetics: Context, Extra Information, and Framing
- Studying Empirical Aesthetics in Museum Contexts
- Aesthetic Experience in Everyday Environments
- The Impact of the Social Context on Aesthetic Experience
- Design and Aesthetics
- The Role of Empirical Aesthetics in Consumer Behavior
- On the Empirical Aesthetics of Plating
Abstract and Keywords
Since the beginning of the time when researchers have endeavored to understand and identify giftedness and individual ability, they have been attentive to how individuals differ in their capacity to recognize aesthetic quality—a construct that is frequently referred to as aesthetic sensitivity. In this chapter, I first attempt to clarify what the intricate construct of aesthetic sensitivity refers to—and what it does not. Then, I briefly depict the century-old history of research on the topic. Later, I examine the main challenges that arise from the accurate measurement of aesthetic sensitivity, and the strategies used to face such challenges. Afterwards, I discuss the relations between aesthetic sensitivity and mental ability, as well as with personality. I later discuss the training and development of aesthetic sensitivity. Finally, I review the current limitations of—and propose future directions for—research on the topic.
Keywords: aesthetic ability, good taste, intelligence, perceptual ability, individual differences
Nils Myszkowski, Pace University, Psychology
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- Empirical Aesthetics: An Overview
- One Hundred Years of Empirical Aesthetics: Fechner to Berlyne (1876–1976)
- Revisiting Fechner’s Methods
- The Link between Empirical Aesthetics and Philosophy
- Appreciation Modes in Empirical Aesthetics
- Exploring the Landscape of Emotion in Aesthetic Experience
- The Neurobiology of Sensory Valuation
- The Evolution of Aesthetics and Beauty
- Historiometric Methods
- Observation Method in Empirical Aesthetics
- Observational Drawing Research Methods
- Implicit Measures in the Aesthetic Domain
- The Study of Eye Movements in Empirical Aesthetics
- Electrophysiology
- Functional Neuroimaging in Empirical Aesthetics and Neuroaesthetics
- Noninvasive Brain Stimulation: Contribution to Research in Neuroaesthetics
- Integrated Methods: A Call for Integrative and Interdisciplinary Aesthetics Research
- The Role of Collative Variables in Aesthetic Experiences
- Processing Fluency
- The Use of Visual Statistical Features in Empirical Aesthetics
- Color
- The Study of Symmetry in Empirical Aesthetics
- The Curvature Effect
- Facial Attractiveness
- The Empirical Aesthetics of Music
- The Aesthetics of Action and Movement
- Aesthetics of Dance
- The Audio-Visual Aesthetics of Music and Dance
- Aesthetic Responses to Architecture
- Aesthetics, Technology, and Popular Movies
- Empirical Aesthetics of Poetry
- Aesthetic Responses to the Characters, Plots, Worlds, and Style of Stories
- The Role of Attention, Executive Processes, and Memory in Aesthetic Experience
- Children’s Appreciation of Art
- The Influence of Expertise on Aesthetics
- The Influence of Personality on Aesthetic Preferences
- Aesthetic Sensitivity
- Cross-Cultural Empirical Aesthetics
- The General Impact of Context on Aesthetic Experience
- Empirical Aesthetics: Context, Extra Information, and Framing
- Studying Empirical Aesthetics in Museum Contexts
- Aesthetic Experience in Everyday Environments
- The Impact of the Social Context on Aesthetic Experience
- Design and Aesthetics
- The Role of Empirical Aesthetics in Consumer Behavior
- On the Empirical Aesthetics of Plating