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
Nina Schmidt
Team assistance
+49 7071 979-291n.schmidt@iwm-tuebingen.de
Publications
Articles (peer-reviewed)
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- Specker, E., & Leder, H. (2022). Testing the facsimile accommodation hypothesis. Acta Psychologica, 222, Article 103482. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2021.103482
- 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
- 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
Books and book chapters
- 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.
Other publications
- 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