Periodic Reporting for period 1 - LEAP (Learning to Appreciate Aesthetic Values)
Reporting period: 2023-09-01 to 2025-08-31
Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project
The LEAP (Learning in Aesthetic Perception) project is situated at the intersection of philosophy, psychology, and art education. It seeks to address a longstanding gap in our understanding of how humans develop aesthetic preferences, that is, how we learn to perceive, value, and emotionally respond to aesthetic features in art, nature, and everyday life. While it is widely recognized that aesthetic choices influence culture, urban design, and environmental conservation—fields directly linked to several UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs 11.3 11.4 14.5 15.1)—the processes behind aesthetic learning remain largely obscure.
The project responds to this need by offering an original, empirically informed philosophical model of aesthetic learning, exploring how perception and emotion interact in shaping our aesthetic appreciation. This approach goes beyond traditional theories by integrating insights from cognitive science and philosophy of mind.
LEAP identifies two main philosophical debates about two psychological phenomena to engage with, namely:
1) Perceptual learning, i.e. perceptual modifications resulting from training. LEAP explores the possibility that aesthetic perception (e.g. seeing beauty or expressiveness) can be trained as a genuine perceptual capacity or rather requires higher-level cognitive processes such as imagination or beliefs.
2) Aesthetic emotions, i.e. the nature of our emotional reactions aesthetic stimuli (e.g. artworks, nature, and everyday scenes). LEAP investigates the relationships between bodily reactions and values in aesthetic experiences.
By combining these debates, LEAP outlines a model of aesthetic learning that captures both the perceptual and emotional dimensions of aesthetic experience. This model will as been shared and refined through discussion and collaborations with art educators, curators, and artists, in order to ensure both theoretical rigor and practical applicability to art teaching and appreciation.
Methodologically, the project employs the analytic philosophy approach, integrating philosophical reasoning with empirical research from psychology.
In terms of impact, LEAP:
- Contributes to the philosophical understanding of the nature of aesthetic experience by offering the first comprehensive theory of aesthetic learning grounded in both perceptual and emotional processes.
- Strengthen the connection between academic research in aesthetic and art education by developing a model that can inform teaching strategies, making aesthetic understanding more accessible to students and the wider public.
- Contribute socially and culturally by deepening awareness of aesthetic values and their role in human well-being, cultural heritage preservation, and environmental appreciation.
Overall, LEAP frames aesthetic learning as a fundamental (both in the sense of basic and of crucial) human phenomenon. The project’s scale of impact extends beyond academia, fostering dialogue between philosophers, psychologists, artists, and educators, and promoting a richer understanding of how humans learn to perceive and value artifacts and also the natural environment.
The project responds to this need by offering an original, empirically informed philosophical model of aesthetic learning, exploring how perception and emotion interact in shaping our aesthetic appreciation. This approach goes beyond traditional theories by integrating insights from cognitive science and philosophy of mind.
LEAP identifies two main philosophical debates about two psychological phenomena to engage with, namely:
1) Perceptual learning, i.e. perceptual modifications resulting from training. LEAP explores the possibility that aesthetic perception (e.g. seeing beauty or expressiveness) can be trained as a genuine perceptual capacity or rather requires higher-level cognitive processes such as imagination or beliefs.
2) Aesthetic emotions, i.e. the nature of our emotional reactions aesthetic stimuli (e.g. artworks, nature, and everyday scenes). LEAP investigates the relationships between bodily reactions and values in aesthetic experiences.
By combining these debates, LEAP outlines a model of aesthetic learning that captures both the perceptual and emotional dimensions of aesthetic experience. This model will as been shared and refined through discussion and collaborations with art educators, curators, and artists, in order to ensure both theoretical rigor and practical applicability to art teaching and appreciation.
Methodologically, the project employs the analytic philosophy approach, integrating philosophical reasoning with empirical research from psychology.
In terms of impact, LEAP:
- Contributes to the philosophical understanding of the nature of aesthetic experience by offering the first comprehensive theory of aesthetic learning grounded in both perceptual and emotional processes.
- Strengthen the connection between academic research in aesthetic and art education by developing a model that can inform teaching strategies, making aesthetic understanding more accessible to students and the wider public.
- Contribute socially and culturally by deepening awareness of aesthetic values and their role in human well-being, cultural heritage preservation, and environmental appreciation.
Overall, LEAP frames aesthetic learning as a fundamental (both in the sense of basic and of crucial) human phenomenon. The project’s scale of impact extends beyond academia, fostering dialogue between philosophers, psychologists, artists, and educators, and promoting a richer understanding of how humans learn to perceive and value artifacts and also the natural environment.
Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far
LEAP has developed through:
- individual research
- participation in local and international seminars and conferences
- organisation of academic and public seminar activities
- publication of scientific contributions (authored and co-authored)
- teaching
The main theoretical achievements can be summarized as follows.
The phenomenon of AESTHETIC LEARNING can be understood primarily as a process that unfolds between PERCEPTUAL CATEGORISATION and LINGUISTIC LABELING. Through PERCEPTUAL LEARNING, individuals refine their sensitivity to subtle aesthetic properties; through labeling, they conceptually organize and communicate these experiences. The interplay between perceptual and conceptual dimensions explains how people come to appreciate aesthetic features that are not immediately evaluative yet form the foundation of aesthetic understanding.
The affective component of aesthetic learning can fruitfully been assesses by resorting to the concept of AFFECTIVE AFFORDANCE, which was developed in ecological psychology to capture the ways in which the material world contributes to regulating our emotions and shaping our affective life. While this notion has been interpreted as referring to tools for managing felt affective states, such a view is too restrictive. By analyzing the EXPRESSIVE PROPERTIES of objects and spaces, we can see that our environment supports emotional regulation even without directly eliciting feelings. This revised conception becomes particularly significant in the context of AESTHETIC EXPERIENCE. Among the central questions in aesthetics is the role of emotions in aesthetic appreciation — how affective engagement underpins the evaluative and expressive character of our perceptual experiences of artworks and environments. Affective affordances can account for the dual role of such emotions: they are simultaneously perceptual experiences and norm-sensitive affective responses shaped by contextual and cultural expectations. So-conceived esthetic learning combines affective affordances, expressive perception, and conceptual articulation as what gradually shapes human aesthetic appreciation.
Taken together, these insights outline a unified model of situated affectivity and aesthetic learning, where perception, emotion, and cognition co-constitute our engagement with aesthetic values. By integrating affective affordances into theories of aesthetic perception and learning, this framework advances a more holistic account of how humans come to perceive, feel, and understand beauty and expressiveness in their environments.
LEAP resulted in the publication of:
5 Scientific Papers about the following topics:
- Affective Affordances and Expressive Properties in Affective Regulation (https://doi.org/10.1007/s11245-024-10037-8(opens in new window))
- Perceptual Learning and Aesthetic Criticism (https://www.eurosa.org/proceedings/latest-volume/(opens in new window))
- Aesthetic Experience and Affective Affordances (https://link.springer.com/collections/ejfdebghja(opens in new window))
- Aesthetic learning between perceptual categorisation and linguistic labels (https://doi.org/10.53242/syzetesis/(opens in new window))
- The role of concepts in the perceptual learning of aesthetic properties (forthcoming in Rivista Italiana di Filosofia del Linguaggio)
2 Special Issues about:
- aesthetic learning and sustainability (https://fmkjournals.fmk.edu.rs/index.php/AM/issue/view/33(opens in new window))
- learning processes and aesthetic practices (forthcoming in Syzetesis: https://www.syzetesis.it/rivista.html?view=article&id=242:about-the-journal&=(opens in new window))
1 Encyclopedia entry about:
- expressiveness in music (http://www.sefaweb.es/expresividad-musical/(opens in new window))
1 Book Chapter:
- about perceptual learning and critical discourse (ISBN: 9788410702912)
20 Conference/Seminar presentations about:
- Perceptual learning and criticism
- Perceptual learning, aesthetics, and the music/noise distinction
- Affective affordances and aesthetics
- Conceptual and perceptual categorisation in aesthetic experiences
- Emotions in fiction
- Epistemic emotions and aesthetics
Organization of 2 Public Seminars about:
- learning and aesthetics
- emotions and contemporary arts
Organization of 1 Book Symposium about Affordances and of 1 international workshop about Nature and Aesthetics
Aesthetics teaching encompassing:
- Classics of Aesthetics
- Expressiveness
- Emotions in the Arts
- Philosophy of Perception
- Aesthetic experience in Wittgenstein & Goodman
- Environmental Aesthetics
- individual research
- participation in local and international seminars and conferences
- organisation of academic and public seminar activities
- publication of scientific contributions (authored and co-authored)
- teaching
The main theoretical achievements can be summarized as follows.
The phenomenon of AESTHETIC LEARNING can be understood primarily as a process that unfolds between PERCEPTUAL CATEGORISATION and LINGUISTIC LABELING. Through PERCEPTUAL LEARNING, individuals refine their sensitivity to subtle aesthetic properties; through labeling, they conceptually organize and communicate these experiences. The interplay between perceptual and conceptual dimensions explains how people come to appreciate aesthetic features that are not immediately evaluative yet form the foundation of aesthetic understanding.
The affective component of aesthetic learning can fruitfully been assesses by resorting to the concept of AFFECTIVE AFFORDANCE, which was developed in ecological psychology to capture the ways in which the material world contributes to regulating our emotions and shaping our affective life. While this notion has been interpreted as referring to tools for managing felt affective states, such a view is too restrictive. By analyzing the EXPRESSIVE PROPERTIES of objects and spaces, we can see that our environment supports emotional regulation even without directly eliciting feelings. This revised conception becomes particularly significant in the context of AESTHETIC EXPERIENCE. Among the central questions in aesthetics is the role of emotions in aesthetic appreciation — how affective engagement underpins the evaluative and expressive character of our perceptual experiences of artworks and environments. Affective affordances can account for the dual role of such emotions: they are simultaneously perceptual experiences and norm-sensitive affective responses shaped by contextual and cultural expectations. So-conceived esthetic learning combines affective affordances, expressive perception, and conceptual articulation as what gradually shapes human aesthetic appreciation.
Taken together, these insights outline a unified model of situated affectivity and aesthetic learning, where perception, emotion, and cognition co-constitute our engagement with aesthetic values. By integrating affective affordances into theories of aesthetic perception and learning, this framework advances a more holistic account of how humans come to perceive, feel, and understand beauty and expressiveness in their environments.
LEAP resulted in the publication of:
5 Scientific Papers about the following topics:
- Affective Affordances and Expressive Properties in Affective Regulation (https://doi.org/10.1007/s11245-024-10037-8(opens in new window))
- Perceptual Learning and Aesthetic Criticism (https://www.eurosa.org/proceedings/latest-volume/(opens in new window))
- Aesthetic Experience and Affective Affordances (https://link.springer.com/collections/ejfdebghja(opens in new window))
- Aesthetic learning between perceptual categorisation and linguistic labels (https://doi.org/10.53242/syzetesis/(opens in new window))
- The role of concepts in the perceptual learning of aesthetic properties (forthcoming in Rivista Italiana di Filosofia del Linguaggio)
2 Special Issues about:
- aesthetic learning and sustainability (https://fmkjournals.fmk.edu.rs/index.php/AM/issue/view/33(opens in new window))
- learning processes and aesthetic practices (forthcoming in Syzetesis: https://www.syzetesis.it/rivista.html?view=article&id=242:about-the-journal&=(opens in new window))
1 Encyclopedia entry about:
- expressiveness in music (http://www.sefaweb.es/expresividad-musical/(opens in new window))
1 Book Chapter:
- about perceptual learning and critical discourse (ISBN: 9788410702912)
20 Conference/Seminar presentations about:
- Perceptual learning and criticism
- Perceptual learning, aesthetics, and the music/noise distinction
- Affective affordances and aesthetics
- Conceptual and perceptual categorisation in aesthetic experiences
- Emotions in fiction
- Epistemic emotions and aesthetics
Organization of 2 Public Seminars about:
- learning and aesthetics
- emotions and contemporary arts
Organization of 1 Book Symposium about Affordances and of 1 international workshop about Nature and Aesthetics
Aesthetics teaching encompassing:
- Classics of Aesthetics
- Expressiveness
- Emotions in the Arts
- Philosophy of Perception
- Aesthetic experience in Wittgenstein & Goodman
- Environmental Aesthetics
Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)
Beyond expectations, LEAP promoted the integration of analytic aesthetics not only with the philosophy of mind and mainstream cognitive sciences, but above all with an ecological approach to perception.
This has advanced aesthetic reflection using tools from ecological psychology, on the one hand, and attracted the attention of ecological philosophers and psychologists to the issues raised by the topic of aesthetic experience, on the other. This reciprocal influence between still-distant fields is particularly promising both from the point of view of academic collaborations and more generally of a broadening of perspectives to address problems such as disagreement in aesthetic evaluation, the role of normativity in decisions involving aesthetic values, and the importance of perceptual training in the education of art critics.
LEAP revealed three further applications of this integrated approach that the researcher will develop beyond the life of the project, namely
1) the application of affective affordances in the explanation of environmental affective qualities such as atmospheres (the researcher has been already involved in conferences and in the writing of two articles on this topic)
2) the application of perceptual learning to the specific case of children's aesthetic appreciation of music (the researcher will undertake a period of research at the CNR to develop this empirical hypothesis)
3) the application of aesthetic learning to the case of nature (the researcher has an article and a book proposal under review on the topic of the emotional relationship and aesthetic experience of nature through narratives)
This has advanced aesthetic reflection using tools from ecological psychology, on the one hand, and attracted the attention of ecological philosophers and psychologists to the issues raised by the topic of aesthetic experience, on the other. This reciprocal influence between still-distant fields is particularly promising both from the point of view of academic collaborations and more generally of a broadening of perspectives to address problems such as disagreement in aesthetic evaluation, the role of normativity in decisions involving aesthetic values, and the importance of perceptual training in the education of art critics.
LEAP revealed three further applications of this integrated approach that the researcher will develop beyond the life of the project, namely
1) the application of affective affordances in the explanation of environmental affective qualities such as atmospheres (the researcher has been already involved in conferences and in the writing of two articles on this topic)
2) the application of perceptual learning to the specific case of children's aesthetic appreciation of music (the researcher will undertake a period of research at the CNR to develop this empirical hypothesis)
3) the application of aesthetic learning to the case of nature (the researcher has an article and a book proposal under review on the topic of the emotional relationship and aesthetic experience of nature through narratives)