Easy on eye? Maybe also on brain
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-09-28 10:22
TORONTO - When someone is "easy on the eye," it could also be because they
are easy on the brain, according to a new international study.
Scientists from universities in the United States and New Zealand analyzed
previous studies and conducted new research to find that attractiveness could be
linked to ease of mental processing.
The study, published in the journal Psychological Science, looked at previous
research that found people rated images of standard-looking objects or people as
more attractive than variations of these things.
They also tested people by showing them a prototype image made up of dots and
geometric patterns and variations of it to see which people liked the most.
Piotr Winkielman of the University of California, San Diego, who led the
research, said the less time it took to classify a pattern, the more attractive
it was judged.
"We show that this preference for the prototype is a function of the
prototype being particularly easy to perceive," Winkielman told Reuters on
Tuesday. "So the easier the better."
Winkielman pointed out that this "beauty in averageness" could apply to
things like the silhouette of a car, a watch, as well as to people.
"You can even get it for the taste of chili," he said.
"An anecdote was reported in the paper that some guy won a chili cooking
contest by basically going around to various competitors and putting a spoon of
chili into his own pot and eventually he found the perfect, well balanced
flavor."
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