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Article History

Received: 23 December 2023

Accepted: 25 September 2025

First Online: 17 November 2025

Competing interests

: The authors declare no competing interests.

: According to Article 32 of the Measures for the Ethical Review of Life Sciences and Medical Research Involving Human Beings (National Health Commission of China, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Science and Technology, and State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 2023, ), life science and medical research involving human data or biological samples may be exempt from ethical review if it does not cause harm to the human body, and does not involve sensitive personal information or commercial interests. The present research employed a minimal-risk experimental design, in which participants were assigned to view different sets of museum artefact images and provided responses through experimental tasks, questionnaires, rating scales, and interviews. The procedures involved no anticipated physical, psychological, or social risks, and no vulnerable populations were included. All data were de-identified prior to analysis and treated in anonymised form. Given that this research did not involve risks that are subject to ethical review under institutional or national regulations, this research did not require formal ethical approval, and a formal application to the Institutional Review Board was not sought. All procedures were conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and relevant guidelines/regulations for research involving human participants.

: In Study 1, written informed consent was obtained between 18 April 2022 and 28 June 2022 in the laboratory at the School of Art and Archaeology, Zhejiang University, by the first author. Participants have been fully informed of the research scope, purposes, anonymity, and possible risks, and have authorised the study to use anonymised data. All participants provided handwritten signatures and dates. In Study 2, informed consent was obtained electronically from all participants between 13 September 2022 and 20 October 2022, and between 21 September 2023 and 22 October 2023 by the first author. The consent process was conducted online via the NAODAO platform, where participants were provided with the full study information, including research scope, purposes, anonymity, possible risks, and the following use of the anonymised data before their participation. Participants indicated their agreement by clicking an “I agree” button (the operation has been recorded by the platform). Neither study involves vulnerable individuals or minors.