Perspective Slant Makes Symmetry Harder to Detect and Less Aesthetically Appealing

Abstract

Abstract symmetric patterns are generally preferred to less regular patterns. Here, we studied 2D patterns presented as 2D images in the plane, and therefore producing a symmetric pattern on the retina, and the same patterns seen in perspective. This perspective transformation eliminates the presence of perfect symmetry in terms of retinotopic coordinates. Stimuli were abstract patterns of local coplanar elements, or irregular polygons. In both cases they can be understood as 2D patterns on a transparent glass pane. In the first study we found that perspective increased reaction time and errors in a classification task, even when the viewing angle was kept constant over many images. In a second study we tested a large sample (148 participants) and asked for a rating of beauty for the same images. In addition, we used the Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT) to test the hypothesis that people who tend to give the more immediate and intuitive answer would also show a stronger preference for the symmetry presented in the frontoparallel plane (in the image and on the retina). Preference for symmetry was confirmed, and there was a cost for perspective viewing. CRT scores were not related to preference, thus not supporting the hypothesis of a stronger preference for symmetry in the image when people follow a more immediate and intuitive gut response.