title: Integrating holism and reductionism in the science of art perception.
abstract: The contextualist claim that universalism is irrelevant to the proper study of art can be evaluated by examining an analogous question in neuroscience. Taking the reductionist-holist debate in visual neuroscience as a model, we see that the analog of orthodox contextualism is untenable, whereas integrated approaches have proven highly effective. Given the connection between art and vision, unified approaches are likewise more germane to the scientific study of art.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Psychology, Department of Psychological Basic Research, University of Vienna, Vienna 1010, Austria. artstats@gmail.com
authors.forename: Daniel J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Graham
mesh_terms: D001154:Art / Q000266:history*; D003071:Cognition; D004954:Esthetics / Q000266:history* / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D011582:Psychological Theory; D011584:Psychology / Q000379:methods*