CROSS-NATIONAL RANKINGS OF TREE SHAPE

College students in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Israel, Japan, and the United States rated the attractiveness of two sets of stimulus figures representing variations in tree shape. As predicted by the theories o f Appleton, Orians and Heerwagen, and Ulrich, there was a preference a cross nationality for spreading and globular trees and away from conic al and columnar forms. Consistent with research demonstrating familiar ity effects, there was also a preference for trees most common in earl y experience. While both formal characteristics and early experience i nfluence the perceived attractive ness of tree shapes, formal characte ristics appear to play the greater role.