(A Factor Analytic Study) By

This study reviewed possibilities for looking at aesthetic perception in art using the D. E. Berlyne approach, identifying alternative methods, and reporting the results of a factor analytic study of preferences of young college adults for abstract art. The Berlyne approach used stimulus objects of simple to complex abstract components of the more complex works. Earlier methods such as the Barron method fostered studies that compared the aesthetic preference of children and adults to those of art experts. Eight art studies on aesthetic preference were reviewed. The stvdy design employed The Jones Art Slide Test to examine aesthetic preferences for abstract contemporary art. The population consisted of young adults age 17-20, divided equally by sex, who were taking a design history lecture course. The data showed that aesthetic preferences for works of art can be studied by factor analytic techniques. Aesthetic preference for works of art was predictable. The study found that the individual artist's style seemed to be less a factor in the aesthetic choices than were the variables more clearly associated with the perceptual and visual content of those objects. References and a list of the 59 slides utilized in the study are included. Four tables describing the analysis in th e. study appear at the end of the document. (CK) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document