Daphne Maurer, PhD
Distinguished University Professor, McMaster University

Why We Like Some Songs, Faces, Foods, Plays, Pictures, Poems, etc., and Dislike Others
Homo sapiens are aesthetic beasts. Individuals have decorated their environments since palaeolithic times. This talk will draw on evidence from human development to explain how such aesthetic preferences are formed. Their origin appears to lie in how the environment interacts with the malleable structure of the nervous system. A baby's structural biases and limitations constrain attention, making some stimuli easier to process and some of those particularly salient. From these structures and limitations, the mechanism of aesthetic preferences emerges. Dr. Maurer will illustrate this with sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and touch. This talk will draw on her 50 years of laboratory research on the development of perception plus background research for her new book, Pretty Ugly.

This free lecture  is made possible a generous endowment from Professor Allen L. Edwards.