Aesthetics and Learning

In the Aesthetics and Learning lab, we aim to understand how aesthetic experiences can be a source of learning and what can be learned from aesthetic experience. The lab takes a blended approach that aims to transfer findings from controlled experimental laboratory settings to ecologically valid real-life informal learning settings with a particular focus on museums.

Focus of the lab

Our aim is to uncover generalisable patterns and to understand which factors (e.g. the type of media people engage with) can influence and shape both the aesthetic experience and the learning process. We use a broad conceptualisation of learning that does not focus exclusively on knowledge transfer but also considers e.g., sense-making, experience-based learning, epistemic emotions and episodic memories. The lab uses a variety of methods (e.g. eye-tracking, VR) covering the entire continuum from computer-based tasks to real-life engagement.

Employees

Portrait of Eva Specker
Prof. Dr. Eva Specker

Head of Lab

+49 7071 979-290e.specker@iwm-tuebingen.de
Dr. Gemma Schino

Deputy Head of Lab

+49 7071 979-293g.schino@iwm-tuebingen.de
Nina Schmidt

Team assistance

+49 7071 979-291n.schmidt@iwm-tuebingen.de
Anna Lena Knoll

Scientist

+49 7071 979-294a.knoll@iwm-tuebingen.de
Portrait of Maximilian Kenzo Molitor
Maximilian Kenzo Molitor

Scientist

+49 7071 979-337m.molitor@iwm-tuebingen.de

Projects

  • Quantum Arcade: video games as a tool to communicate concepts of quantum computing

    Aesthetics and Learning

    Duration 02/2026 - 01/2027

    Quantum Arcade Evaluation: In this project (already running) we take over the evaluation part where a previous partner had to drop out. Basically 2 arcade games have been developed that are exhibited in museums. Through playing these games, people can learn about (complex) quantum physics. Our aim is to see how this informal learning takes shape by comparing both the two games (that are designed differently) as well as interaction in a museum vs. a workshop setting.

    Go to project

  • Future Innovation Space

    Aesthetics and Learning

    Duration 11/2023 - open

    The IWM's 300 m² experience and experimentation space explores how advanced, innovative technologies, educational research and concepts can be effectively combined to support digital teaching and learning. By enabling hands-on experimentation with emerging technologies, it makes the future of education tangible while encouraging reflection on the opportunities and challenges they present. The goal is to develop well-founded didactic applications for future classrooms. Opened in 2023, the Future Innovation Space (FIS) is part of the “lernen.digital” competence network.

    Go to project

Publications

 

Articles (peer-reviewed) | Books and book chapters | Other publications

Articles (peer-reviewed)

  • Chana, K., Dehove, M., Mikuni, J., Specker, E., Knoll, A. L., Barrière, T., Trupp, M. D., Pelowski, M., Oberzaucher, E., & Leder, H. (2026). Aesthetic components of urban environments and their relation to wellbeing: A scoping review. Cities & Health. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/23748834.2025.2569732

    Open Access

  • Fekete, A., Specker, E., Mikuni, J., Trupp, M. D., & Leder, H. (2025). When the painting meets its musical inspiration: The impact of multimodal art experience on aesthetic enjoyment and subjective well-being in the museum. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 19(6), 1549-1564. https://doi.org/10.1037/aca0000641

    View article

  • Knoll, A. L., Mikuni, J., & Specker, E. (2025). Looking at people looking at art: Observations of art interactions in an everyday urban environment. Frontiers in Psychology, 16, Article 1658946. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1658946

    Open AccessDataStudy materialCode

  • Ruta, N.*, Schino, G.*, Wolfe, B., & Iosifyan, M. (2025). Ready-made bodily sensations. Scientific Reports, 15, Article 30223. *shared first authorship. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-14061-5

    Open Access

  • Specker, E., Cotter, K. N., & Kim, K. Y. (2025). The next step for the VAIAK: An item-focused analysis. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 19(4), 684-695. https://doi.org/10.1037/aca0000559

    View article

  • Specker, E. (2025). A personal perspective on psychology of aesthetics and the arts: Ecologically valid, interdisciplinary, and diverse methodologies. Creativity Research Journal, 37(2), 293-300. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2023.2269339

    Open Access

  • Rodriguez-Boerwinkle, R.M., & Specker, E. (2024). Building bridges: The importance of bringing together the empirical sciences & the humanities. Itinera, 28, 34‑50. https://doi.org/10.54103/2039-9251/27833

    Open Access

  • Hostler, T., Poerio, G., Nader, C., Mank, S., Lin, A., Villena-González, M., Plutzik, N., Ahuja, N., Baker, D., Bannister, S., Barratt, E., Bedwell, S., Billot, P.-E., Blakey, E., Cardini, F., Cash, D., Davis, N., Del Sette, B., Erfanian, M., ... Zehetgrube, J. (2024). Research priorities for autonomous sensory meridian response: An interdisciplinary Delphi study. Multisensory Research, 37(6-8), 499-528. https://doi.org/10.1163/22134808-bja10136

    Open Access

  • Pelowski, M., Cotter, K. N., Specker, E., Fingerhut, J., Trupp, M. D., & Speidel, K. (2024). How lasting is the impact of art? An exploratory study of the incidence and duration of art exhibition-induced prosocial attitude change using a 2-week daily diary method. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/aca0000670

    Open Access

  • Specker, E.*, Douda, M.*, & Leder, H. (2024). How do we understand artworks? Exploring the role of artwork inherent features in art processing. Empirical Studies of the Arts, 42(2), 469-497. *shared first authorship. https://doi.org/10.1177/02762374231201074

    Open Access

  • Specker, E., Knoll, A. L., Barrière, T., & Leder, H. (2024). Varieties of aesthetic experience: Considering breadth, length, and depth. Nodes, 23, 85-91. https://doi.org/10.57633/NODES-23/2-ENG

    Open Access

  • Specker, E. (2024). Further validating the VAIAK: Defining a psychometric model, configural measurement invariance, reliability, and practical guidelines. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 18(3), 449-462. https://doi.org/10.1037/aca0000427

    View article

  • Knoll, A. L., Barrière, T., Weigand, R., Jacobsen, T., Leder, H., & Specker, E. (2024). Experiencing beauty in everyday life. Scientific Reports, 14, Article 9463. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-60091-w

    Open Access

  • Kühnapfel, C., Fingerhut, J., Brinkmann, H., Ganster, V., Tanaka, T., Specker, E., Mikuni, J., Güldenpfennig, F., Gartus, A., Rosenberg, R., & Pelowski, M. (2024). How do we move in front of art? How does this relate to art experience? Linking movement, eye tracking, emotion, and evaluations in a gallery-like setting. Empirical Studies of the Arts, 42(1), 86-146. https://doi.org/10.1177/02762374231160000

    Open Access

  • Pelowski, M.*, Specker, E.*, Boddy, J., Immelmann, B., Haiduk, F., Spezie, G., Ibáñez de Aldecoa, P., Jean-Joseph, H., Leder, H., & Markey, P. S. (2023). Together in the dark? Investigating the understanding and feeling of intended emotions between viewers and professional artists at the Venice Biennale. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 17(6), 772-792. *shared first authorship. https://doi.org/10.1037/aca0000436

    View article

  • Boddy, J., Brinkmann, H., Specker, E., Forster, M., Leder, H., & Rosenberg, R. (2023). The universality of aesthetic effects. Zeitschrift für Ästhetik und Allgemeine Kunstwissenschaft, 68(2), 148-170. https://doi.org/10.28937/9783787345656_13

    View article

  • Specker, E. (2023). Review of the Routledge International Handbook of Neuroaesthetics edited by Martin Skov & Marcos Nadal. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 18(3), 464. https://doi.org/10.1037/aca0000632

    View article

  • Fekete, A., Pelowski, M., Specker, E., Brieber, D., Rosenberg, R., & Leder, H. (2023). The Vienna Art Picture System (VAPS): A data set of 999 paintings and subjective ratings for art and aesthetics research. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 17(5), 660-671. https://doi.org/10.1037/aca0000460

    View article

  • Trupp, M. D., Bignardi, G., Specker, E., Vessel, E. A., & Pelowski, M. (2023). Who benefits from online art viewing, and how: The role of pleasure, meaningfulness, and trait aesthetic responsiveness in computer-based art interventions for well-being. Computers in Human Behavior, 145, Article 107764. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2023.107764

    Open Access

  • Specker, E., Arató, J., & Leder, H. (2023). How are real artworks and reproductions judged? The role of anchoring in empirical investigations of the genuineness effect. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 108, Article 104494. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2023.104494

    Open Access

  • Specker, E., Fekete, A., Trupp, M. D., & Leder, H. (2023). Is a “real” artwork better than a reproduction? A meta-analysis of the genuineness effect. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 17(3), 294-306. https://doi.org/10.1037/aca0000399

    View article

  • Pittelkow, M.-M., Field, S. M., Isager, P. M., van’t Veer, A. E., Anderson, T., Cole, S. N., Dominik, T., Giner-Sorolla, R., Gok, S., Heyman, T., Jekel, M., Luke, T. J., Mitchell, D. B., Peels, R., Pendrous, R., Sarrazin, S., Schauer, J. M., Specker, E., Tran, U. S., ... van Ravenzwaaij, D. (2023). The process of replication target selection in psychology: what to consider? Royal Society Open Science, 10(2), Article 210586. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.210586

    Open Access

  • Trupp, M. D., Bignardi, G., Chana, K., Specker, E., & Pelowski, M. (2022). Can a brief interaction with online, digital art improve wellbeing? A comparative study of the impact of online art and culture presentations on mood, state-anxiety, subjective wellbeing, and loneliness. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, Article 782033. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.782033

    Open Access

  • Fekete, A., Maidhof, R. M., Specker, E., Nater, U. M., & Leder, H. (2022). Does art reduce pain and stress? A registered report protocol of investigating autonomic and endocrine markers of music, visual art, and multimodal aesthetic experience. PLOS ONE, 17(4), Article e0266545. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0266545

    Open Access

  • Mikuni, J., Specker, E., Pelowski, M., Leder, H., & Kawabata, H. (2022). Is there a general “art fatigue” effect? A cross-paradigm, cross-cultural study of repeated art viewing in the laboratory. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 16(2), 343-360. https://doi.org/10.1037/aca0000396

    View article

  • Specker, E., & Leder, H. (2022). Testing the facsimile accommodation hypothesis. Acta Psychologica, 222, Article 103482. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2021.103482

    Open Access

  • Matzinger, T., Specker, E., Ritt, N., & Fitch, T. (2021). Aesthetic perception of prosodic patterns as a factor in speech segmentation. Proceedings of the 43. Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society (CogSci), 43. https://doi.org/https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4tm94762

    Open Access

  • Specker, E., Fried, E. I., Rosenberg, R., & Leder, H. (2021). Associating with art: a network model of aesthetic effects. Collabra: Psychology, 7(1), Article 24085. https://doi.org/10.1525/collabra.24085

    Open Access

  • Lukács, G., & Specker, E. (2020). Dispersion matters: Diagnostics and control data computer simulation in concealed information test studies. PLOS ONE, 15(10), Article e0240259. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0240259

    Open Access

  • Pelowski, M., Specker, E., Gerger, G., Leder, H., & Weingarden, L. S. (2020). Do you feel like I do? A study of spontaneous and deliberate emotion sharing and understanding between artists and perceivers of installation art. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 14(3), 276-293. https://doi.org/10.1037/aca0000201

    View article

  • Specker, E., Forster, M., Brinkmann, H., Boddy, J., Immelmann, B., Goller, J., Pelowski, M., Rosenberg, R., & Leder, H. (2020). Warm, lively, rough? Assessing agreement on aesthetic effects of artworks. PLOS ONE, 15(5), Article e0232083. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0232083

    Open Access

  • Reitstätter, L., Brinkmann, H., Santini, T., Specker, E., Dare, Z., Bakondi, F., Miscená, A., Kasneci, E., Leder, H., & Rosenberg, R. (2020). The display makes a difference: A mobile eye tracking study on the perception of art before and after a museum’s rearrangement. Journal of Eye Movement Research, 13(2), 1-29. https://doi.org/10.16910/jemr.13.2.6

    Open Access

  • Specker, E., Forster, M., Brinkmann, H., Boddy, J., Pelowski, M., Rosenberg, R., & Leder, H. (2020). The Vienna Art Interest and Art Knowledge questionnaire (VAIAK): A unified and validated measure of art interest and art knowledge. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 14(2), 172-185. https://doi.org/10.1037/aca0000205

    View article

  • Pelowski, M., Graser, A., Specker, E., Forster, M., von Hinüber, J., & Leder, H. (2019). Does gallery lighting really have an impact on appreciation of art? An ecologically valid study of lighting changes and the assessment and emotional experience with representational and abstract paintings. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, Article 2148. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02148

    Open Access

  • Lauring, J. O., Pelowski, M., Specker, E., Ishizu, T., Haugbøl, S., Hollunder, B., Leder, H., Stender, J., & Kupers, R. (2019). Parkinson’s disease and changes in the appreciation of art: A comparison of aesthetic and formal evaluations of paintings between PD patients and healthy controls. Brain and Cognition, 136, Article 103597. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandc.2019.103597

    Open Access

  • Grüner, S., Specker, E., & Leder, H. (2019). Effects of context and genuineness in the experience of art. Empirical Studies of the Arts, 37(2), 138-152. https://doi.org/10.1177/0276237418822896

    Open Access

  • Specker, E., & Leder, H. (2018). Looking on the bright side: Replicating the association between brightness and positivity. Collabra: Psychology, 4(1), Article 34. https://doi.org/10.1525/collabra.168

    Open Access

  • Pelowski, M., Leder, H., Mitschke, V., Specker, E., Gerger, G., Tinio, P. P., Vaporova, E., Bieg, T., & Husslein-Arco, A. (2018). Capturing aesthetic experiences with installation art: An empirical assessment of emotion, evaluations, and mobile eye tracking in Olafur Eliasson’s “Baroque, Baroque!”. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, Article 1255. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01255

    Open Access

  • Specker, E., Leder, H., Rosenberg, R., Hegelmaier, L. M., Brinkmann, H., Mikuni, J., & Kawabata, H. (2018). The universal and automatic association between brightness and positivity. Acta Psychologica, 186, 47-53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2018.04.007

    Open Access

  • Specker, E., Tinio, P. P., & van Elk, M. (2017). Do you see what I see? An investigation of the aesthetic experience in the laboratory and museum. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 11(3), 265-275. https://doi.org/10.1037/aca0000107

    View article

  • van Elk, M., Karinen, A., Specker, E., Stamkou, E., & Baas, M. (2016). ‘Standing in awe’: The effects of awe on body perception and the relation with absorption. Collabra: Psychology, 2(1), Article 4. https://doi.org/10.1525/collabra.36

    Open Access

Books and book chapters

To overview
  • Specker, E., & Leder, H. (2026). Fragebogen: Mithilfe geeigneter Fragen subjektive Ausstellungserfahrungen erforschen. In L. Reitstätter & C.-M. Schorr (Hrsg.). Methoden der Ausstellungsanalyse (1 Aufl., S. 133-142). transcript.

    Open Access

  • Specker, E. (2025). Die Farbe der Gefühle: Eine psychologische Betrachtung. In L. F. Mattheis & J. Schmidt-Boddy (Hrsg.). Into the Dark – Grafik von Ensor bis Munch (S. 48-51). Saarlandmuseum – Moderne Galerie.
  • Tinio, P. P., & Specker, E. (2023). For emotion’s sake … The centrality of emotions in the art experience. In Z. Ivcevic, J. D. Hoffmann, & J. C. Kaufman (Eds.). The Cambridge Handbook of Creativity and Emotions (pp. 358-375). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009031240.024

    View book chapter

  • Specker, E., & Pelowski, M. (2022). How can engagement in the arts effect our emotional lives? In Z. Ivcevic (Ed.). Creativity, emotions, and the arts: Research, application, and impact. Fundación Botín Report (pp. 74-83). Centro Botín.

    Open Access

  • Pelowski, M., & Specker, E. (2020). The general impact of context on aesthetic experience. In M. Nadal, & O. Vartanian (Eds.). The Oxford handbook of empirical aesthetics (pp. 885-920). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198824350.013.42

    Open Access

  • Tinio, P. P., & Specker, E. (2020). Observation method in empirical aesthetics. In M. Nadal & O. Vartanian (Eds.). The Oxford handbook of empirical aesthetics (pp. 219-234). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198824350.013.10

    View book chapter

Other publications

To overview
  • Hochstetter, G., Peiffer-Siebert, L., Özbek, O., Molitor, M. K., Maiero, J., & Brucker, B. (2026). Virtuelle Realität im Kunstunterricht - Architektur und Plastik in VR ästhetisch erleben und verstehen. BDK-Mitteilungen, 2026(1), 28.
  • Hochstetter, G., Peiffer-Siebert, L., Özbek, O., Molitor, M. K., Maiero, J., & Brucker, B. (2025). Virtuelle Realität im Kunstunterricht - Architektur und Plastik in VR ästhetisch erleben und verstehen. BDKinform 2025: Das Mitteilungsblatt des BDK-Landesverbandes Baden-Württemberg.
  • Fekete, A., Maidhof, R. M., Specker, E., Gartus, A., Nater, U. M., & Leder, H. (2025). Registered report: How does art impact pain and stress? Exposure to multimodal art (music + visual) and music alone enhances pain tolerance more than visual art, but neither art form impacts autonomic or endocrine markers. PsyArXiv. https://doi.org/osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/mfwev_v1

    View preprintPreregistrationDataStudy materialCode

  • Brinkmann, H., Boddy, J., Immelmann, B., Specker, E., Pelowski, M., Leder, H., & Rosenberg, R. (2018). Ferocious colors and peaceful lines describing and measuring aesthetic effects. Wiener Jahrbuch für Kunstgeschichte, 65(1), 7-26. https://doi.org/10.7767/wjk.2018.65.1.7

    Open Access