The curvex: Simple order structure revealed in ratings of complexity, interestingness, and pleasantness

An alternative interpretation is offered of some factor analytic studies of ratings of aesthetic stimuli. Earlier interpretation has been in terms of two orthogonal factors, Evaluation and Activity. The re-interpretation is based on the circular fan-like structure of the factor plot, reflected in a high degree of order in the correlation matrix (the curvex structure), the semantically meaningful progression of the bi-polar adjective scales around the circle, and the fact that the stimulus objects in some cases are located along an ordered continuum in the factor space. Coombs and Kao's application of unfolding concepts to factor analysis of preferential choice data and Guttman's concept of order factor analysis is applied. It is proposed that the ratings reflect one underlying stimulus dimension, objective complexity, and that the rating scales represent ideal points along this dimension. The scales Pleasing, Interesting and Complex are hypothesized to reach their ideal point at increasingly higher levels of objective complexity. Ten of the 13 factor analyses studied were in agreement with the hypothesis.