How People Look at Pictures by Guy T. BuswellReview by: Nancy MilletteThe Art Bulletin, Vol. 18, No. 3 (Sep., 1936), p. 429Published by: College Art AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3045646 .

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NOTES AND REVIEWS NOTES AND REVIEWS

Expressionism.... in some respects a combination of the German vehemence and the French logic."

The really fine conclusion turns back to the memo- rable notion of the unintelligibility of contemporary phenomena. Resorting to emotion, shaming man of satisfaction with mere existence and of contentment with the cheaper spiritual pleasures, twitting him of possible exhaustion at the struggle for existence, he pleads: " It is inevitable that the artist should be unintelligible because his sensitive nature, inspired by fascination, bewilderment, and excitement, expresses itself in the profound and intuitive terms of ineffable wonder."

His readers may not be able to maintain his inten- sity of seriousness in connection with all the ideas turned up, but they must agree the book is richly packed with ideas, and so repays careful study.

JOHN ALLCOTT

How PEOPLE LOOK AT PICTURES. By Guy T. Bus- well. xvi, 198 pp.; z17 p/s. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1935. $ 3.

This book is a report of research work done by Pro- fessor Buswell in order to get objective data concern- ing the visual fixations of individuals when looking at pictures. Generalizations were continually made concerning the eye movements of people looking at pictures, but prior to this series of experiments there was no scientific check on their veracity. The author's purpose is "to find the extent to which objective evidence obtained from photographs of eye movements corroborates the hypotheses \shich have been built up subjectively relating to the general patterns of perception in looking at pictures." Light is thrown upon generalizations such as the common one: pre- dominant verticals lead the eye upward; and upon such questions as: how do art students differ from others in their visual response to a picture?

The author is known for his work in the measure- ment of eye movements in reading, and he has used a similar procedure in attacking this problem. "The method of securing a record of eye movements consists in photographing a beam of light from a six- volt ribbon-filament lamp reflected first to the cornea of the eye from silvered glass mirrors and then from the cornea to the second set of mirrors, through a camera lens and a set of wedge prisms to a moving kinetoscope film.... the beam of light is interrupted thirty times per second between the lens and the film in such a manner that on the film the line of light appears as a series of dots, each dot representing one-thirtieth of a second of time." This, of course, gives the position; and, by counting the number of dots in each fixation pause, it is possible to determine exactly how long the observer has looked at each position in the picture. All chances of inaccuracy

Expressionism.... in some respects a combination of the German vehemence and the French logic."

The really fine conclusion turns back to the memo- rable notion of the unintelligibility of contemporary phenomena. Resorting to emotion, shaming man of satisfaction with mere existence and of contentment with the cheaper spiritual pleasures, twitting him of possible exhaustion at the struggle for existence, he pleads: " It is inevitable that the artist should be unintelligible because his sensitive nature, inspired by fascination, bewilderment, and excitement, expresses itself in the profound and intuitive terms of ineffable wonder."

His readers may not be able to maintain his inten- sity of seriousness in connection with all the ideas turned up, but they must agree the book is richly packed with ideas, and so repays careful study.

JOHN ALLCOTT

How PEOPLE LOOK AT PICTURES. By Guy T. Bus- well. xvi, 198 pp.; z17 p/s. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1935. $ 3.

This book is a report of research work done by Pro- fessor Buswell in order to get objective data concern- ing the visual fixations of individuals when looking at pictures. Generalizations were continually made concerning the eye movements of people looking at pictures, but prior to this series of experiments there was no scientific check on their veracity. The author's purpose is "to find the extent to which objective evidence obtained from photographs of eye movements corroborates the hypotheses \shich have been built up subjectively relating to the general patterns of perception in looking at pictures." Light is thrown upon generalizations such as the common one: pre- dominant verticals lead the eye upward; and upon such questions as: how do art students differ from others in their visual response to a picture?

The author is known for his work in the measure- ment of eye movements in reading, and he has used a similar procedure in attacking this problem. "The method of securing a record of eye movements consists in photographing a beam of light from a six- volt ribbon-filament lamp reflected first to the cornea of the eye from silvered glass mirrors and then from the cornea to the second set of mirrors, through a camera lens and a set of wedge prisms to a moving kinetoscope film.... the beam of light is interrupted thirty times per second between the lens and the film in such a manner that on the film the line of light appears as a series of dots, each dot representing one-thirtieth of a second of time." This, of course, gives the position; and, by counting the number of dots in each fixation pause, it is possible to determine exactly how long the observer has looked at each position in the picture. All chances of inaccuracy

are prevented by further mechanical devices or are taken into account in the final computations. For this study photographic records of eye movements were obtained from two hundred individuals. Fifty- five different pictures were used with subject matter including modern paintings, architecture, sculpture, Japanese prints, furniture, tapestry, abstract designs, and advertising posters. The total of completed records used was I,877.

The first chapter recording experimental work has to do with centers of interest and patterns of percep- tion; the second has to do with the duration ot pauses; the third with variations in perception due to the characteristics of the particular picture being observed; the fourth with variations related to the characteristics of the individual observer. It was found that a survey type of perception characterizes the early part of an examination of a picture, whereas more detailed study, when it occurs, usually appears later. Also the duration of fixation pauses increases as one looks at a picture. Wide individual differences were found both in patterns of perception and duration of fixations. In general the differences in duration are more directly related to characteristics of the individuals than to differences in the pictures. The perceptual pattern for various types of repetitive designs shows that pattern of eye movement does not resemble even remotely the general pattern of the design. A predominance of verticals was found to carry the eye vertically, but the majority of the movements were down rather than up. As a group, art students made shorter fixations than others. There were no consistent differences between records taken from children and records taken from adults.

In conclusion the author remarks, " In general, the significance of the data presented in this investigation rests upon the fact that eye movements are objective symptoms of the perceptual processes of the person looking at a picture.... While the eye-movement records give no evidence whatever as to the quality of the mental processes going on and are to be considered as in no sense indicative of the type of appreciation experienced by subject; nevertheless, they do furnish the most objective evidence available of the centers of interest within a picture.... This investigation is, therefore, presented to students of art in the hope that the evidence herein contained may have, when interpreted from their point of view, even greater significance than is apparent to the psychologist without special training in the field of art." Whether such research, in its present elementary stage, has any value for artists and art scholars is doubtful. At least, it is of interest to know that such an experiment has just been conducted; and it in- dicates possibilites of clarifying debated points in the future by the application of scientific technique.

NANCY MILLETTE

are prevented by further mechanical devices or are taken into account in the final computations. For this study photographic records of eye movements were obtained from two hundred individuals. Fifty- five different pictures were used with subject matter including modern paintings, architecture, sculpture, Japanese prints, furniture, tapestry, abstract designs, and advertising posters. The total of completed records used was I,877.

The first chapter recording experimental work has to do with centers of interest and patterns of percep- tion; the second has to do with the duration ot pauses; the third with variations in perception due to the characteristics of the particular picture being observed; the fourth with variations related to the characteristics of the individual observer. It was found that a survey type of perception characterizes the early part of an examination of a picture, whereas more detailed study, when it occurs, usually appears later. Also the duration of fixation pauses increases as one looks at a picture. Wide individual differences were found both in patterns of perception and duration of fixations. In general the differences in duration are more directly related to characteristics of the individuals than to differences in the pictures. The perceptual pattern for various types of repetitive designs shows that pattern of eye movement does not resemble even remotely the general pattern of the design. A predominance of verticals was found to carry the eye vertically, but the majority of the movements were down rather than up. As a group, art students made shorter fixations than others. There were no consistent differences between records taken from children and records taken from adults.

In conclusion the author remarks, " In general, the significance of the data presented in this investigation rests upon the fact that eye movements are objective symptoms of the perceptual processes of the person looking at a picture.... While the eye-movement records give no evidence whatever as to the quality of the mental processes going on and are to be considered as in no sense indicative of the type of appreciation experienced by subject; nevertheless, they do furnish the most objective evidence available of the centers of interest within a picture.... This investigation is, therefore, presented to students of art in the hope that the evidence herein contained may have, when interpreted from their point of view, even greater significance than is apparent to the psychologist without special training in the field of art." Whether such research, in its present elementary stage, has any value for artists and art scholars is doubtful. At least, it is of interest to know that such an experiment has just been conducted; and it in- dicates possibilites of clarifying debated points in the future by the application of scientific technique.

NANCY MILLETTE

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