This study investigates the effects of perceptual fluency on affective judgments. Three experiments were conducted to examine how perceptual fluency influences liking and other affective responses. In Experiment 1, participants judged target pictures as more pleasant when preceded by a matching prime rather than a nonmatching one. In Experiment 2, higher figure-ground contrast led to more positive judgments of prettiness and less negative judgments of ugliness. In Experiment 3, longer presentation times resulted in more positive liking and less negative disliking. The findings suggest that perceptual fluency increases liking and that the experience of fluency is affectively positive, leading to more positive judgments of stimuli. The study also explores whether perceptual fluency is affectively neutral or positive. The results indicate that perceptual fluency is affectively positive, leading to more positive judgments regardless of the question's focus. This finding is in contrast to previous research suggesting that perceptual fluency may be attributed to whatever feature participants focus on, resulting in evaluations of the stimulus as brighter, darker, or clearer. The experiments used three different manipulations to facilitate the visual discrimination or recognition of the stimulus: visual priming, figure-ground contrast, and exposure duration. These manipulations are different from the repeated-exposure manipulation, which relies on activation of information stored in memory. However, all the discussed manipulations are similar in that they facilitate processing of the stimulus. The findings suggest that preference for neutral stimuli can be enhanced by manipulations of fluency in the perceptual domain, independently of stimulus repetition. The results also indicate that perceptual fluency is affectively positive, leading to increased liking and decreased disliking of stimuli. The study concludes that perceptual fluency manipulated by means other than repetition enhances preference for different kinds of visual stimuli.This study investigates the effects of perceptual fluency on affective judgments. Three experiments were conducted to examine how perceptual fluency influences liking and other affective responses. In Experiment 1, participants judged target pictures as more pleasant when preceded by a matching prime rather than a nonmatching one. In Experiment 2, higher figure-ground contrast led to more positive judgments of prettiness and less negative judgments of ugliness. In Experiment 3, longer presentation times resulted in more positive liking and less negative disliking. The findings suggest that perceptual fluency increases liking and that the experience of fluency is affectively positive, leading to more positive judgments of stimuli. The study also explores whether perceptual fluency is affectively neutral or positive. The results indicate that perceptual fluency is affectively positive, leading to more positive judgments regardless of the question's focus. This finding is in contrast to previous research suggesting that perceptual fluency may be attributed to whatever feature participants focus on, resulting in evaluations of the stimulus as brighter, darker, or clearer. The experiments used three different manipulations to facilitate the visual discrimination or recognition of the stimulus: visual priming, figure-ground contrast, and exposure duration. These manipulations are different from the repeated-exposure manipulation, which relies on activation of information stored in memory. However, all the discussed manipulations are similar in that they facilitate processing of the stimulus. The findings suggest that preference for neutral stimuli can be enhanced by manipulations of fluency in the perceptual domain, independently of stimulus repetition. The results also indicate that perceptual fluency is affectively positive, leading to increased liking and decreased disliking of stimuli. The study concludes that perceptual fluency manipulated by means other than repetition enhances preference for different kinds of visual stimuli.