Browsing by Author "Kaksonen, Marika"

The way humans observe art is affected by several factors, including the background of the observer. The purpose of this study was to determine whether and how nationality and gender impact gaze patterns when viewing paintings. A total of 26 Chinese and 20 Finnish subjects were shown paintings by Chinese and Finnish artists, and the eye movements of the subjects were recorded using an eye tracker. ANOVA analyses showed that Chinese females displayed a pattern of fewer and longer fixations compared to Chinese males, while no such gender difference could be observed for the Finnish subjects. Female subjects fixated the faces longer than the male subjects and Finnish subjects longer than the Chinese subjects. In conclusion, both gender and cultural background affected the way subjects viewed works of art. Some gender differences in visual processing appeared to be due to cultural background, while others were apparent regardless of nationality.