Weapons of Mass Distraction: Optimal Innovation and Pleasure Ratings

In 6 experiments we test the Optimal Innovation Hypothesis, according to which an optimally innovative stimulus, such that induces a novel response while allowing for the recovery of a salient one (Giora, 1997b, 2003), would be rated as more pleasing than either a more or a less familiar stimulus. Experiment 1 shows that it is the stimulus that meets the requirements for optimal innovativeness that is most pleasurable. Reading times obtained in Experiment 2 support the assumption that the stimuli found most pleasurable involve processing a salient meaning. Experiment 3 corroborates the results of Experiment 1 and Experiment 2, showing that they also hold for identical (rather than different) stimuli. Experiment 4 controls for the possibility that the lengthy reading times found earlier might reflect lack of understanding. Experiment 5 shows that optimal innovation supersedes figurativity. Experiment 6 demonstrates that the Optimal Innovation Hypothesis applies to nonverbal stimuli as well.