An Assessment of the Relationship Between Cognitive Design Knowledge and Aesthetics in the Visual Arts

The purpose of this study was to compare the aesthetic tastes of
subjects with formal design training to the aesthetic tastes of the
general population. The Graves Design Judgment Test was used as the
Design Knowledge set of data in this correlational Ex post facto
study. The visual art stimuli were chosen by a panel of art experts
using dual 7 point bipolar scales for realism and design. Visual art
stimuli were reproduced from various worldwide gallery and museum
collections. A diverse set of art stimuli subject matter was used to
minimize content preference by subjects. A multivariate analysis of
variance, a correlation matrix, regression analysis, and principle
components were used to statistically discern a significant difference
between the groups studied. The group with a high cognate knowledge
of design showed a preference for non-objective or abstract art more
than the group without cognate design knowledge. Analysis of variance found a significant difference at the .05 level between the two
groups' preferences for non-objective art but revealed no significant
difference at the .05 level for either group's preferences for
realism. The results of this study are consistent with earlier art
preference research describing differences in trained and untrained
subjects' preferences.