HUMANS and certain other species find symmetrical patterns more attractive than
asymmetrical ones. These preferences may appear in response to biological signals1–3, or …

SYMMETRICAL visual patterns have a salient status in human perception, as evinced by
their prevalent occurrence in art1, and also in animal perception, where they may be an …

DARWIN1 suggested that many apparently deleterious secondary sexual characters in
males, such as bright colours, elaborate ornaments and conspicuous displays, evolved as a …

Why are some humans considered more beautiful than others? Theory suggests that
sexually reproducing organisms should choose mates displaying characters indicative of …

FLUCTUATING asymmetry (FA) refers to the random, stress-induced deviations from perfect
symmetry that develop during the growth of bilaterally symmetrical traits1, 2. Individual …

SIR-Sullivan et al. suggested in Scientific Correspondencel that the use of fluctuating
asymmetry as an indicator of selective pressures on ornamental characters in animals is …

Stereoscopic depth perception is based on measuring tiny differences between the two
eyes' images which arise as a result of binocular parallax1. Julesz2 used random-dot …

THE finding that photographic1–4 and digital5 composites (blends) of faces are considered
to be attractive has led to the claim that attractiveness is averageness5. This would …

MANY secondary sexual characters are supposed to have evolved as a response to female
choice of the most extravagantly ornamented males1, a hypothesis supported by studies …

Exposure to visual patterns of high contrast (for example, gratings formed by alternating
white and black bars) creates after-effects in perception. We become temporarily insensitive …