One of the oldest research areas of psychology is experimental aesthetics (Fechner, 1998). Experimental aesthetics is an approach to researching artistic phenomena developed by Gustav Theodor Fechner (1801-1887) in Leipzig. He was a physicist, philosopher and physiologist who along with others psychologists like Hermann von Helmholtz and William Wundt gave birth to the field of psychophysics (Debru, 2001). In 1860 Fechner publishes the book Elements of Psychophysics (1998) in which he talks about the relationship between the properties correspondent to the physical world and the conscious experience of individuals. To measure sensations, the use of a reliable and quantifiable variable such as differential thresholds allowed to establish a minimum amount of energy to add or subtract from an already active stimulus so that the change is perceived subjectively. This threshold became a value that can only be approximated, given that it varies between subjects due to different psychological indications based in probability (Scheerer, 1987). This threshold value is considered as the intersection between the physical intensity, which is linear, and that experienced by the observer which is non-linear and heterogenous.
For example, if you were to light an extra candle when 10 are already lit the difference in light can be perceived, but when one candle is added to 100 we can hardly discern such difference. Weber (1795-1878) concluded that the difference between these two signals is proportional to their value. The formula that can be derived is the integral of the ratio known to this day as Weber-Fechner’s law shown below (Chukova, 2012). With the discovery of number neurons, neurons that are assumed to be the basis of mental number scales, an experiment found that the brain is able to discriminate between linear and logarithmic scales. When numbers increased, monkeys adopted an “approximated compressed scale” which confirms the approximation model through the use of logarithms rather than linearity, affirming Fechner’s law from 150 years ago (Dehaene, 2003).
𝜓 = 𝜒 log ( 𝐼 ) , 𝐼0
where 𝜓 is sensation, 𝜒 is a constant and 𝐼0 is the intensity of the stimulus in conditions of absolute threshold of sensation.
In the years following the release of his book, Fechner begins to study art from a psychophysical perspective. His studies surround mostly the inquiry around reactions of grandeur and preferences for aesthetic materials. He is one of the first to apply an experimental approach to art, controlling for different variables. To do this he strips art down to basic elements, such as lines or geometric figures (Phillips, Norman & Beers, 2011). His most successful studies surround the golden ratio, where participants had to express their preferences regarding a series of rectangles of different shapes. Observers tended to prefer rectangles which sides where related to each other with specific proportions, similarly in what is observed with the golden ratio (Hoge, 1995). This phenomenon has been known as the “golden rectangle”: where the sides are in proportion. There have been many findings since then regarding this specific proportion, “the golden section”, where a side a must be approximately .62 of side b. Recently the role of conditions in different types of presentation have been questioned, finding that rectangles that are smaller are more preferred than larger rectangles (Benjafield, 1976). An interesting facet of understanding why people prefer certain rectangles is still unknown. It has been found that using different measures such as the Big Five, Need for Cognition, Tolerance of Ambiguity, Schizotypy, Vocational Types and Aesthetic Activities have no correlation with rectangle preferences (McManus, Cook & Hunt, 2010).
Thanks to experimental aesthetics we return to the line of thought that from Plato to this day has reigned in aestheticism. Beauty and grandeur of the visible world is measurable and therefore can be rationally applied. There are implications for guaranteeing a certain level of aestheticism that can be measurable in both works of art and of functional purpose. Fechner proposes a bottom-up procedure founded on elementary perceptions received by the observer such as preference. This seems to be in contrast with art philosophy which uses as top-down approach, speculating on what might be beautiful.
To analyze aesthetic phenomena empirically, Fechner proposed that there must be different avenues and methods of research. Namely the methods of choice, production and use. The method of choice is showing subjects aesthetic stimuli to evoke preference. The method of production is submitting a subject to a stimulus conformed to their preference (stimulus doubling). Finally, the method of use (or application) is a formal, controlled statistical analysis of elements of a work of art and their relationships (Fechner, 1876; Hoge, 1995). To this day the method of choice is used widely, but the other two are widely neglected (Westphal-Fitch, 2019).
With the shift that occurred in psychology at the end of the 19th century Fechner along with Wilhelm Wundt started proposing more experimental approaches. Fechner’s interests in artistic phenomena highlight the importance of understanding behavior and experience of art in life. It is no coincidence that some of the first experiments involved aesthetics, underlining their power over our psyche, helping us understand who we are through aesthetic perception.
Works Cited
Fechner, G. T. (1998). Elemente der Psychophysik. Bristol: Thoemmes Press.
Debru, C. (2001). Helmholtz and the Psychophysiology of Time. Science in Context, 14(3), 471.
Scheerer, E. (1987). The unknown Fechner. Psychological research, 49(4), 197-202.
Chukova, Y. P. (2012). New Phase in History of the Weber-Fechner Law. SCIENTIFIC COSMOPOLITANISM AND LOCAL CULTURES: RELIGIONS, IDEOLOGIES, SOCIETIES, 658.
Dehaene, S. (2003). The neural basis of the Weber–Fechner law: a logarithmic mental number line.Trends in cognitive sciences, 7(4), 145-147.
Phillips, F., Norman, J. F., & Beers, A. M. (2011). Fechner’s aesthetics revisited. In Fechner's Legacy in Psychology (pp. 183-191). Brill.
Benjafield, J. (1976). The 'Golden Rectangle': Some New Data. The American Journal of Psychology, 89(4), 737-743. doi:10.2307/1421471
McManus, I. C., Cook, R., & Hunt, A. (2010). Beyond the Golden Section and normative aesthetics: Why do individuals differ so much in their aesthetic preferences for rectangles? Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 4(2), 113–126. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0017316
Höge, H. (1995). Fechner's experimental aesthetics and the golden section hypothesis today. Empirical Studies of the Arts, 13(2), 131-148.
Fechner, G. T. (1876). Vorschule der aesthetik (Vol. 1). Breitkopf & Härtel.Westphal-Fitch, G. (2019). Revisiting Fechner’s Methods. In The Oxford Handbook of Empirical Aesthetics. DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198824350.013.9
Sofia Wolfson
Emory University
University of Miami