Research output: Contribution to specialist publication › Book/Film/Article review
The influence of sensorimotor experience on beauty evaluation of preschool children. / Ardizzi, Martina ; Ferroni, Francesca ; Manini, Aurora ; Giudici, Claudia ; Uccelli , Stefano; Umilta', Maria Alessandra ; Maccaferri, Elena ; Gaevskaya, Elena (Editor).
In: Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, section Cognitive Neuroscience, Vol. 17, 14.06.2023.Research output: Contribution to specialist publication › Book/Film/Article review
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TY - GEN
T1 - The influence of sensorimotor experience on beauty evaluation of preschool children
AU - Ardizzi, Martina
AU - Ferroni, Francesca
AU - Manini, Aurora
AU - Giudici, Claudia
AU - Uccelli , Stefano
AU - Umilta', Maria Alessandra
AU - Maccaferri, Elena
A2 - Gaevskaya, Elena
PY - 2023/6/14
Y1 - 2023/6/14
N2 - Nowadays there is a broad consensus on the role of multimodality in the construction of an embodied aesthetic experience in adults, whereas little is known about the relationship between sensorimotor and aesthetic experience during development. To fill this gap, the present study investigated whether sensorimotor experience with sculpting natural materials (i.e., clay or sand) influences beauty judgments offered to abstract artifacts made by the same materials. Five years old children (n.47) were asked to rate tactile (How smooth is it?), visual (How dark is it?) and beauty (How much do you like it?) proprieties of two artifacts using a visual-analog measurement-tool ad hoc developed to fit children’s cognitive skills. Participants rated the artifacts before and after a free-hands manipulation with only one of the two sculpting materials, either sand or clay. Results showed that the greater the sensorimotor interaction experienced with the artifacts, the higher the increment of beauty rating offered to the artifacts made by the same material previously manipulated. No modulations were found for tactile and visual ratings. These results demonstrate that, even in pre-school children, aesthetic experience is specifically linked to its sensorimotor component, supporting, from a developmental perspective, the definition of aesthetic experience as intrinsically rooted on beholders’ bodily experience.
AB - Nowadays there is a broad consensus on the role of multimodality in the construction of an embodied aesthetic experience in adults, whereas little is known about the relationship between sensorimotor and aesthetic experience during development. To fill this gap, the present study investigated whether sensorimotor experience with sculpting natural materials (i.e., clay or sand) influences beauty judgments offered to abstract artifacts made by the same materials. Five years old children (n.47) were asked to rate tactile (How smooth is it?), visual (How dark is it?) and beauty (How much do you like it?) proprieties of two artifacts using a visual-analog measurement-tool ad hoc developed to fit children’s cognitive skills. Participants rated the artifacts before and after a free-hands manipulation with only one of the two sculpting materials, either sand or clay. Results showed that the greater the sensorimotor interaction experienced with the artifacts, the higher the increment of beauty rating offered to the artifacts made by the same material previously manipulated. No modulations were found for tactile and visual ratings. These results demonstrate that, even in pre-school children, aesthetic experience is specifically linked to its sensorimotor component, supporting, from a developmental perspective, the definition of aesthetic experience as intrinsically rooted on beholders’ bodily experience.
KW - aesthetics
KW - development
KW - embodiment
KW - mirror mechanisms
KW - simulation
UR - https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2023.1138420/full
M3 - Book/Film/Article review
VL - 17
JO - Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
JF - Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
SN - 1662-5161
ER -
ID: 107272701