AUTHOR=Jakesch Martina , Goller Juergen , Leder Helmut 

TITLE=Positive fEMG Patterns with Ambiguity in Paintings

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=8

YEAR=2017

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00785

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00785

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=<p>Whereas ambiguity in everyday life is often negatively evaluated, it is considered key in art appreciation. In a facial EMG study, we tested whether the positive role of visual ambiguity in paintings is reflected in a continuous affective evaluation on a subtle level. We presented ambiguous (disfluent) and non-ambiguous (fluent) versions of Magritte paintings and found that <italic>M. Zygomaticus major</italic> activation was higher and <italic>M. corrugator supercilii</italic> activation was lower for ambiguous than for non-ambiguous versions. Our findings reflect a positive continuous affective evaluation to visual ambiguity in paintings over the 5 s presentation time. We claim that this finding is indirect evidence for the hypothesis that visual stimuli classified as art, evoke a safe state for indulging into experiencing ambiguity, challenging the notion that processing fluency is generally related to positive affect.</p>