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Decomposing Stimulus Complexes and Dissecting
Art:
A Theory of Evaluation
J. P. HUSTON
Institute of Physiological Psychology and Center for Biological
and Medical Research, University of Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf,
Germany
Summary
A theoretical model is presented, which attempts to account for
the evaluation of complex stimuli in terms of their constituent
elements that are relevant to the intent of the assessment. The
subjective evaluation of a compound stimulus is postulated to be
a function of the number, weight and integrity of critical
components, or sub-qualities, and their interactions. The model
has application to the evaluation of any stimulus complex
including works of “art”. For illustrative purpose, it will here
be applied to the analysis of pictorial works of art.
Key
words
Model • Complex stimuli • Art
Reprint
requests
Dr. J.P. Huston, Institute of Physiological Psychology,
University of Düsseldorf, Universitätsstr. 1, 40225 Düsseldorf,
Germany, Phone: +49 211 81-14296, Fax: +49 211 81-12024, Email:
huston@uni-duesseldorf.de
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