Johan Wagemans is an experimental psychologist from Belgium who specializes in visual perception and how our brains organize the constant incoming flow of information. He agrees that symmetry is not just a design principle of the outside world. But on the other hand, too much symmetry can be a tad boring.
Wagemans found that while perfectly symmetrical designs are more pleasing to the brain, they're not necessarily more beautiful. Both art novices and experts prefer art that strikes an "optimal level of stimulation," says Wagemans. Studies have shown that babies as young as 4 months have a preference for vertical symmetry over horizontal symmetry or asymmetry.
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Mobile Newsletter chat subscribe. Physical Science. The interior of the dome of the Capitol, the seat of the United States Congress, is a perfect example of symmetry.
The moon orchid is a national flower of Indonesia. Nature is full of symmetry. Now That's Cool. In order to determine the degree of facial symmetry, the team acquired high-definition three-dimensional facial scans of each participant at age Twenty-one separate facial landmarks were marked and measured, from which researchers were able to calculate an individual asymmetry score. Their results were clear: Facial asymmetry in adolescents is in no way related to early childhood heath.
The results were published today in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. The researchers suggest that our attraction to symmetry might be a byproduct of our sensitivity to these major asymmetries — or possibly just a reflection of our aesthetic appreciation of symmetry in art and nature. Register or Log In. The Magazine Shop. Login Register Stay Curious Subscribe.
Loyau then gave some males an injection that made their immune systems leap into action. It was as if they were sick. These peacocks displayed their tails less than the healthy guys did. But that was only true if they had fewer eyespots. Females are better off avoiding sick mates, she explains. A female bird, she adds, also looks for good genes in the guy who will father her young. For example, it may help us find healthy mates.
Langlois and her team in Texas studied this question using a technique called EEG. EEGs measure electrical activity in the brain using a net of small electrodes placed on the outside of the head.
The scientists recruited college students for their brain study. Each student looked at a series of faces while wearing the electrode net. Human faces fell into one of three groups: highly attractive, unattractive or digitally morphed images that combined many features into an average face. Some chimpanzee faces were put in the mix too. The EEG recorded brain activity as each student viewed the pictures.
The researchers then searched the EEGs for patterns of electrical activity. Those patterns offered signs of what the brain was doing. That makes sense, the researchers now say, because people are more familiar with human faces.
The team also found that brains processed very attractive faces faster than unattractive ones. And they processed average faces even faster. Subjects also rated the averaged faces as most attractive. In sum, looks may go far more than skin deep after all. They also can affect how people interact. Scientists discovered long ago that people show favor to those with a pretty face.
Attractive people are more likely to get jobs. They make more money than their less attractive coworkers. We even tend to think attractive people are smarter and friendlier than less attractive people. And they found it. The scientists then chose the six photos with the lowest ratings and six with the highest. They chose another six photos that had ratings closest to the average or mean score.
Nearly college students were asked to view photos in a random order from the three image sets for 4 seconds each. After each quick view, the students had to answer a question about the person in that last picture.
For example, how likely was she to be popular, friendly, helpful, kind or smart? Both men and women ranked people with unattractive faces as less intelligent, less sociable and less likely to help others. Medium attractive people got similar rankings to highly attractive people for everything except sociability. Griffin and Langlois then repeated the experiment with children aged seven to nine. They got the same results. It can be hard to stop ourselves from stereotyping others.
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