title: Decomposing stimulus complexes and dissecting art: a theory of evaluation.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physiological Psychology and Center for Biological and Medical Research, University of Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany. huston@uni-duesseldorf.de
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Huston
mesh_terms: D001154:Art; D006801:Humans; D008960:Models, Psychological; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*