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finding:number-of-local-symmetries-correlates-almost-perfectly-with-perceived-cognitive-coherence-across-35-strip-patterns

Number of local symmetries correlates almost perfectly with perceived cognitive coherence across 35 strip patterns

The key experimental finding: the number of subsymmetries (locally symmetrical connected segments) in a pattern predicts its perceived coherence; most coherent strips have 9 subsymmetries, least coherent have 5; the measure correlates almost perfectly with combined experimental rank order

Neighborhood — ranked by edge-count

Claims (2)

claim

Overall symmetry in a system, by itself, is not a strong source of life or wholeness; local symmetries create coherence while overall symmetry is often naive and even brutal
supports
Claim distinguishing the deadening effect of large-scale neoclassicist symmetry from the vitalizing effect of numerous overlapping local symmetries
Local symmetries act as a kind of glue which holds space together; the more glue there is, the more the space is one, solid, unified, coherent—and the symmetrical segments must overlap for the glue to be effective
supports
Interpretation of the experimental finding: overlapping local symmetries are the hidden structural feature that creates perceived wholeness

Methods (1)

method

Subsymmetries Experiment
associated_with
Experimental method using 35 black-and-white strips of 7 squares each (3 black, 4 white) with multiple cognitive tasks (description, memorization, tachistoscopic recognition, subjective simplicity rating) to measure perceived coherence and correlate it with number of local symmetries

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