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    The Aesthetic Preference for Nature Sounds Depends on Sound Object Recognition
    with Stephen C. Van Hedger, Howard C. Nusbaum, Shannon L. M. Heald, Hiroki P. Kotabe, and Marc G. Berman
    Cognitive Science 43 (5). 2019.
    People across the world seek out beautiful sounds in nature, such as a babbling brook or a nightingale song, for positive human experiences. However, it is unclear whether this positive aesthetic response is driven by a preference for the perceptual features typical of nature sounds versus a higher‐order association of nature with beauty. To test these hypotheses, participants provided aesthetic judgments for nature and urban soundscapes that varied on ease of recognition. Results demonstrated t…Read more