The edge orientation entropy of natural scenes is associated with infant visual preferences and adult aesthetic judgements.

Statistical regularities of oriented edges in natural scenes, 'edge co-occurrence statistics', are associated with adults' aesthetic responses, with greater preference for some images when the degree of randomness in the orientation of edges (Edge Orientation Entropy, EOE) across an i...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Philip McAdams, Sara Svobodova, Taysa-Ja Newman, Kezia Terry, George Mather, Alice E Skelton, Anna Franklin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2025-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0316555
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850190025067593728
author Philip McAdams
Sara Svobodova
Taysa-Ja Newman
Kezia Terry
George Mather
Alice E Skelton
Anna Franklin
author_facet Philip McAdams
Sara Svobodova
Taysa-Ja Newman
Kezia Terry
George Mather
Alice E Skelton
Anna Franklin
author_sort Philip McAdams
collection DOAJ
description Statistical regularities of oriented edges in natural scenes, 'edge co-occurrence statistics', are associated with adults' aesthetic responses, with greater preference for some images when the degree of randomness in the orientation of edges (Edge Orientation Entropy, EOE) across an image is relatively high. Here, we investigate whether this spatial image statistic is also associated with infants' visual preferences. We measure infant looking time for images of building façades previously used to identify the relationship between EOE and adult aesthetic judgements. Twenty-six 4-9-month-old infants and 29 adults looked freely at pairs of the images. Infants and adults both looked longest at images where all edge orientations are about equally likely to occur (high 1st-order EOE), and at images with low correlation of edge orientations across the image (high 2nd-order EOE). Infant looking time and adult pleasantness judgements were also strongly related: infants looked longer at the building façades that adults liked. Our results suggest that even as young as 4-months, infants' spatial vision is sensitive to edge co-occurrence statistics that are typical of natural scenes and faces, where edges are more evenly distributed across orientations. We discuss the implications for understanding the sensory component of adult aesthetic judgements, as well as the role of natural scene statistics in infant perception.
format Article
id doaj-art-fa762d09ac754acfa625b56c2f32aa0e
institution OA Journals
issn 1932-6203
language English
publishDate 2025-01-01
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
record_format Article
series PLoS ONE
spelling doaj-art-fa762d09ac754acfa625b56c2f32aa0e2025-08-20T02:15:24ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032025-01-01202e031655510.1371/journal.pone.0316555The edge orientation entropy of natural scenes is associated with infant visual preferences and adult aesthetic judgements.Philip McAdamsSara SvobodovaTaysa-Ja NewmanKezia TerryGeorge MatherAlice E SkeltonAnna FranklinStatistical regularities of oriented edges in natural scenes, 'edge co-occurrence statistics', are associated with adults' aesthetic responses, with greater preference for some images when the degree of randomness in the orientation of edges (Edge Orientation Entropy, EOE) across an image is relatively high. Here, we investigate whether this spatial image statistic is also associated with infants' visual preferences. We measure infant looking time for images of building façades previously used to identify the relationship between EOE and adult aesthetic judgements. Twenty-six 4-9-month-old infants and 29 adults looked freely at pairs of the images. Infants and adults both looked longest at images where all edge orientations are about equally likely to occur (high 1st-order EOE), and at images with low correlation of edge orientations across the image (high 2nd-order EOE). Infant looking time and adult pleasantness judgements were also strongly related: infants looked longer at the building façades that adults liked. Our results suggest that even as young as 4-months, infants' spatial vision is sensitive to edge co-occurrence statistics that are typical of natural scenes and faces, where edges are more evenly distributed across orientations. We discuss the implications for understanding the sensory component of adult aesthetic judgements, as well as the role of natural scene statistics in infant perception.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0316555
spellingShingle Philip McAdams
Sara Svobodova
Taysa-Ja Newman
Kezia Terry
George Mather
Alice E Skelton
Anna Franklin
The edge orientation entropy of natural scenes is associated with infant visual preferences and adult aesthetic judgements.
PLoS ONE
title The edge orientation entropy of natural scenes is associated with infant visual preferences and adult aesthetic judgements.
title_full The edge orientation entropy of natural scenes is associated with infant visual preferences and adult aesthetic judgements.
title_fullStr The edge orientation entropy of natural scenes is associated with infant visual preferences and adult aesthetic judgements.
title_full_unstemmed The edge orientation entropy of natural scenes is associated with infant visual preferences and adult aesthetic judgements.
title_short The edge orientation entropy of natural scenes is associated with infant visual preferences and adult aesthetic judgements.
title_sort edge orientation entropy of natural scenes is associated with infant visual preferences and adult aesthetic judgements
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0316555
work_keys_str_mv AT philipmcadams theedgeorientationentropyofnaturalscenesisassociatedwithinfantvisualpreferencesandadultaestheticjudgements
AT sarasvobodova theedgeorientationentropyofnaturalscenesisassociatedwithinfantvisualpreferencesandadultaestheticjudgements
AT taysajanewman theedgeorientationentropyofnaturalscenesisassociatedwithinfantvisualpreferencesandadultaestheticjudgements
AT keziaterry theedgeorientationentropyofnaturalscenesisassociatedwithinfantvisualpreferencesandadultaestheticjudgements
AT georgemather theedgeorientationentropyofnaturalscenesisassociatedwithinfantvisualpreferencesandadultaestheticjudgements
AT aliceeskelton theedgeorientationentropyofnaturalscenesisassociatedwithinfantvisualpreferencesandadultaestheticjudgements
AT annafranklin theedgeorientationentropyofnaturalscenesisassociatedwithinfantvisualpreferencesandadultaestheticjudgements
AT philipmcadams edgeorientationentropyofnaturalscenesisassociatedwithinfantvisualpreferencesandadultaestheticjudgements
AT sarasvobodova edgeorientationentropyofnaturalscenesisassociatedwithinfantvisualpreferencesandadultaestheticjudgements
AT taysajanewman edgeorientationentropyofnaturalscenesisassociatedwithinfantvisualpreferencesandadultaestheticjudgements
AT keziaterry edgeorientationentropyofnaturalscenesisassociatedwithinfantvisualpreferencesandadultaestheticjudgements
AT georgemather edgeorientationentropyofnaturalscenesisassociatedwithinfantvisualpreferencesandadultaestheticjudgements
AT aliceeskelton edgeorientationentropyofnaturalscenesisassociatedwithinfantvisualpreferencesandadultaestheticjudgements
AT annafranklin edgeorientationentropyofnaturalscenesisassociatedwithinfantvisualpreferencesandadultaestheticjudgements