A Kinetic Ecological Approach to Beauty Perception: A Perspective Review on the Case of Symmetry and the Golden Ratio.

In the 1970s, the psychologist J.J. Gibson developed an "ecological approach to visual perception", suggesting that humans perceive the environment exploiting environmental affordances-surrounding invariant features that define possible individuals-object interactions-without top-down mediation of cognitive processes. Shepard extended this approach, suggesting that common environmental features are internalized defining perceptual constraints, such as the circadian rhythm, three-dimensional space, and gravity. In this perspective review, we apply these concepts to neuroaesthetics and beauty perception, discussing how the internalization of invariants may influence our perception of beauty. Within this framework, special emphasis was placed on symmetry and golden ratio, typically considered as two benchmarks for beauty, and two geometrical features that can be considered as environmental affordances. Moreover, we suggest that kinetic aspects play a role in beauty perception of these proportions, particularly by the internal model of gravity.