Seeing shapes in seemingly random spatial patterns: Fractal analysis of Rorschach inkblots
@article{Taylor2017SeeingSI, title={Seeing shapes in seemingly random spatial patterns: Fractal analysis of Rorschach inkblots}, author={R. P. Taylor and T. P. Martin and Rick D. Montgomery and Jonas Heide Smith and Adam P. Micolich and Cooper R. Boydston and B. C. Scannell and M. S. Fairbanks and Branka Spehar}, journal={PLoS ONE}, year={2017}, volume={12} }
Rorschach inkblots have had a striking impact on the worlds of art and science because of the remarkable variety of associations with recognizable and namable objects they induce. Originally adopted as a projective psychological tool to probe mental health, psychologists and artists have more recently interpreted the variety of induced images simply as a signature of the observers’ creativity. Here we analyze the relationship between the spatial scaling parameters of the inkblot patterns and…
20 Citations
The Implications of Fractal Fluency for Biophilic Architecture
- Art
- 2017
It is described how people can navigate easily through environments featuring mid-range fractals, which can be exploited by incorporating these natural patterns into buildings, representing a highly practical example of biophilic design.
Judged Beauty of Fractal Symmetries
- PsychologyEmpirical Studies of the Arts
- 2021
Fractals are patterns that show self-similarity at different levels of scale. Typically they appear in nature and this degree of similarity is approximate or statistical. However, artificial or exact…
Aesthetics and Psychological Effects of Fractal Based Design
- ArtFrontiers in Psychology
- 2021
This set of studies demonstrates that fractal preference is driven by a balance between increased arousal and decreased tension and can serve as a practical implementation of biophilic patterns in human-made environments to promote occupant wellbeing.
Processing visual ambiguity in fractal patterns: Pareidolia as a sign of creativity
- PsychologyiScience
- 2022
The Sinai Light Show: Using Science to Tune Fractal Aesthetics
- ArtThe Frontiers Collection
- 2019
Nature’s beauty is profound. To better understand the source of this beauty, here we will focus on the aesthetic impact of fractals. Fractals are patterns that repeat at increasingly fine size scales…
Fractals in architecture: The visual interest, preference, and mood response to projected fractal light patterns in interior spaces
- ArtJournal of Environmental Psychology
- 2019
The Potential of Biophilic Fractal Designs to Promote Health and Performance: A Review of Experiments and Applications
- PhysicsSustainability
- 2021
This work discusses fractal fluency and demonstrates how it enhances the observer’s visual capabilities by focusing on experiments that have important practical consequences for improving the built environment.
What Happens in Your Brain When You Walk Down the Street? Implications of Architectural Proportions, Biophilia, and Fractal Geometry for Urban Science
- PsychologyUrban Science
- 2022
This article reviews current research in visual urban perception. The temporal sequence of the first few milliseconds of visual stimulus processing sheds light on the historically ambiguous topic of…
Parametric Cortical Representations of Complexity and Preference for Artistic and Computer-Generated Fractal Patterns Revealed by Single-Trial EEG Power Spectral Analysis
- PsychologyNeuroImage
- 2021
Relaxing Floors: Fractal Fluency in the Built Environment.
- ArtNonlinear dynamics, psychology, and life sciences
- 2020
This year's cover artists are members of a newly formed team of designers and scientists known as the Science and Design Laboratory, along with flooring manufacturing experts from the Mohawk Group.…
References
SHOWING 1-10 OF 62 REFERENCES
A PSYCHO-PHYSICAL MODEL OF RORSCHACH'S INK-BLOTS USING FRACTAL ANALYSIS WITH ESTIMATION OF THE GENERALIZED FRACTAL DIMENSION AND FRACTAL VARIANCE FUNCTION
- Psychology
- 2009
We applied the methodology presented in references to study the possible fractal structure of ink-blots of Rorschach, a projective test of personality that may give information about the emotional…
Biophilic fractals and the visual journey of organic screen-savers.
- ArtNonlinear dynamics, psychology, and life sciences
- 2008
Fractal aesthetics and Draves's remarkable images are discussed and the opportunity for readers of this journal to have some visual fun is raised.
Fractals in art and nature: why do we like them?
- ArtElectronic Imaging
- 2013
Fractals have experienced considerable success in quantifying the visual complexity exhibited by many natural patterns, and continue to capture the imagination of scientists and artists alike.…
The perception of natural contour.
- PhilosophyPsychological review
- 1993
The perceptual protocols that underlie discrimination between fractals and between other types of random contour and fractals are examined and it is proposed that this disposition be understood as a principle of perceptual organization.
Perceptual and Physiological Responses to Jackson Pollock's Fractals
- ArtFront. Hum. Neurosci.
- 2011
A review of 10 years of scientific investigation of human response to fractals that examines the inter-relationship between the various results and discusses the artistic implications of the positive perceptual and physiological responses to fractal patterns.
A Complex Story: Universal Preference vs. Individual Differences Shaping Aesthetic Response to Fractals Patterns
- ArtFront. Hum. Neurosci.
- 2016
This article supports the established theory that the mid-range fractal patterns appear to be a universal construct underlying preference but also highlights the fragility of universal claims by demonstrating individual differences in preference for the interrelated concept of visual complexity.
Is the Geometry of Nature Fractal?
- PhysicsScience
- 1998
Ofer BihamDaniel LidarOfer Malcai
After fractals were first described in the 1970s, experimental researchers embraced them as a way to describe complex structures in nature. But is the world…
Aesthetic Responses to Exact Fractals Driven by Physical Complexity
- ArtFront. Hum. Neurosci.
- 2016
It is found that preference ratings for exact midpoint displacement fractals can be described by a linear trend with preference increasing as fractal dimension increases, and a set of four factors that influence complexity and preference judgments in fractals that may extend to other patterns are proposed.
Beauty and the beholder: the role of visual sensitivity in visual preference
- ArtFront. Hum. Neurosci.
- 2015
Broadly speaking, the results support assertions that there is a close relationship between aesthetic experience and the sensory coding of natural stimuli.