Simplicity/Complexity or Symmetry/Asymmetry? A Re-Analysis of the Barron-Welsh Art Scales

Abstract

The Barron-Welsh Art Scale has been interpreted as a measure of Simplicity/Complexity within people. Re-analysis of the test by scaling the individual figures revealed that the stimulus dimension of Simplicity/Complexity (S/C) was highly confounded with the stimulus dimension of Symmetry/Asymmetry (S/A). It proved possible to separate these two stimulus dimensions and evaluate their significance independently. S/C and S/A appeared to be of equivalent and usually small importance in determining figure preferences. These results suggest the need for caution in attributing preferences to the single S/C attribute of the stimulus figures, or by extension, to the psychological simplicity or complexity of test-takers.

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