<p>There was a target article published in <em>Brain and Behavioral Sciences</em> on a theory of art appreciation (<a href="http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&amp;aid=8862959&amp;fileId=S0140525X12000489">Bullott &amp; Reber, 2013</a>) that I read for some reason…but it looks like it will finally be relevant!</p>

<p>According to this theory, one of the ways that you might come to appreciate art is through <strong>basic exposure</strong>, which involves perceptual exploration of the artwork independent of your knowledge about its art-historical context. Exposure alone is not responsible for art appreciation; rather, it triggers a set of cognitive processes, whose nature determines your experience of aesthetic pleasure or displeasure.  This includes the ease with which you can process the artwork (i.e., processing fluency; <a href="http://psr.sagepub.com/content/8/4/364.short">Reber, Schwarz, &amp; Winkielman, 2004</a>) and the artwork's (un)predictability (<a href="http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&amp;aid=8862959&amp;fileId=S0140525X12000489">Hogan, 2013</a>).</p>

<p>With more exposure to the artwork, processing fluency increases, and so does your appreciation of it. However, over time, you also become more <strong>habituated</strong> to the artwork, view it as less salient, and appreciate it less.  This is akin to liking a song at first, then hating it after it's blasted on the radio 1,000 times. Indeed, repeated auditory exposure is associated with reduced emotional reactivity and reduced activation in a network involving the amygdala and certain cortical areas, thought to represent affective habituation (<a href="http://cercor.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2010/01/29/cercor.bhq001.short">Mutschler et al., 2010</a>).  </p>

<p><a href="http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&amp;aid=8862959&amp;fileId=S0140525X12000489">Hogan (2013)</a> thus suggests that the longevity of your appreciation for artwork depends on a mixture of predictability (fluency) and unpredictability. There are other variables like art-historical knowledge that influence liking over time, as well (<a href="http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&amp;aid=8862959&amp;fileId=S0140525X12000489">Bullott &amp; Reber, 2013</a>).</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-09-12T19:10:56.083Z
2015-09-12T19:10:56.083Z
mrt
<p>I am interested to know if the concept of a decreasing appreciation of a work of art through increased exposure to it exists, specifically:</p>

<ul>
<li>Does this idea exist and is there a term for it ?</li>
<li>Have any studies been performed around similar ideas ?</li>
</ul>

<p>For example, if one hears a Beethoven symphony for the <code>1st</code> time, the listeners reaction may be much more positive as opposed the <code>100th</code> time.</p>

<p>Many thanks in advance</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-09-10T12:22:14.057Z
As far as I know, it goes the other way round. Not only is familiarity and liking highly correlated, one of the best studies on it was done with works of art, showing that fMRI patterns are overlapping or even identical for seeing art one likes and art one is familiar with. But I'll have to burrow deep to find the reference again, and can't do it here at work.
rumtscho
<cognitive-psychology>
Studies on the appreciation of works of art
Sherlock
# Studies on the appreciation of works of art

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-09-10)

I am interested to know if the concept of a decreasing appreciation of a work of art through increased exposure to it exists, specifically:

* Does this idea exist and is there a term for it ?
* Have any studies been performed around similar ideas ?

For example, if one hears a Beethoven symphony for the `1st` time, the listeners reaction may be much more positive as opposed the `100th` time.

Many thanks in advance

**Tags:** cognitive-psychology

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: As far as I know, it goes the other way round. Not only is familiarity and liking highly correlated, one of the best studies on it was done with works of art, showing that fMRI patterns are overlapping or even identical for seeing art one likes and art one is familiar with. But I'll have to burrow deep to find the reference again, and can't do it here at work.  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2015-09-12. Score: 5 | Accepted answer

There was a target article published in *Brain and Behavioral Sciences* on a theory of art appreciation ([Bullott & Reber, 2013](http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=8862959&fileId=S0140525X12000489)) that I read for some reason…but it looks like it will finally be relevant!

According to this theory, one of the ways that you might come to appreciate art is through **basic exposure**, which involves perceptual exploration of the artwork independent of your knowledge about its art-historical context. Exposure alone is not responsible for art appreciation; rather, it triggers a set of cognitive processes, whose nature determines your experience of aesthetic pleasure or displeasure. This includes the ease with which you can process the artwork (i.e., processing fluency; [Reber, Schwarz, & Winkielman, 2004](http://psr.sagepub.com/content/8/4/364.short)) and the artwork's (un)predictability ([Hogan, 2013](http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=8862959&fileId=S0140525X12000489)).

With more exposure to the artwork, processing fluency increases, and so does your appreciation of it. However, over time, you also become more **habituated** to the artwork, view it as less salient, and appreciate it less. This is akin to liking a song at first, then hating it after it's blasted on the radio 1,000 times. Indeed, repeated auditory exposure is associated with reduced emotional reactivity and reduced activation in a network involving the amygdala and certain cortical areas, thought to represent affective habituation ([Mutschler et al., 2010](http://cercor.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2010/01/29/cercor.bhq001.short)).

[Hogan (2013)](http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=8862959&fileId=S0140525X12000489) thus suggests that the longevity of your appreciation for artwork depends on a mixture of predictability (fluency) and unpredictability. There are other variables like art-historical knowledge that influence liking over time, as well ([Bullott & Reber, 2013](http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=8862959&fileId=S0140525X12000489)).


---

