James D. Laird
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- April 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195098891
- eISBN:
- 9780199893614
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195098891.001.0001
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology
Feelings argues for the counter-intuitive idea that feelings do not cause behavior, but rather follow from behavior, and are, in fact, the way that we know about our own bodily states ...
More
Feelings argues for the counter-intuitive idea that feelings do not cause behavior, but rather follow from behavior, and are, in fact, the way that we know about our own bodily states and behaviors. This point of view, often associated with William James, is called self-perception theory. Self-perception theory can be empirically tested by manipulating bodily states and behaviors in order to see if the corresponding feelings are produced. This volume presents hundreds of studies, all demonstrating that feelings do indeed follow from behavior. Behaviors that have been manipulated include facial expressions of emotion, autonomic arousal, actions, gaze, and postures. The feelings that have been induced include happiness, anger, fear, romantic love, liking, disliking, hunger, and feelings of familiarity. These feelings do not feel like knowledge because they are knowledge-by-acquaintance, such as the knowledge we have of how an apple tastes, rather than verbal, knowledge-by-description, such as the knowledge that apples are red, round, and edible. Many professional theories of human behavior, as well as common sense, explain actions by an appeal to feelings as causes. This book argues to the contrary that if feelings are information about behaviors that are already ongoing, feelings cannot be causes, and that the whole mechanistic model of human behavior as “caused” in this sense seems mistaken. It proposes an alternative, cybernetic model, involving hierarchically stacked control systems. In this model, feelings provide feedback to the control systems, and in a further elaboration, this model suggests that the stack of control systems matches a similar stack of levels of organization of the world.Less
Feelings argues for the counter-intuitive idea that feelings do not cause behavior, but rather follow from behavior, and are, in fact, the way that we know about our own bodily states and behaviors. This point of view, often associated with William James, is called self-perception theory. Self-perception theory can be empirically tested by manipulating bodily states and behaviors in order to see if the corresponding feelings are produced. This volume presents hundreds of studies, all demonstrating that feelings do indeed follow from behavior. Behaviors that have been manipulated include facial expressions of emotion, autonomic arousal, actions, gaze, and postures. The feelings that have been induced include happiness, anger, fear, romantic love, liking, disliking, hunger, and feelings of familiarity. These feelings do not feel like knowledge because they are knowledge-by-acquaintance, such as the knowledge we have of how an apple tastes, rather than verbal, knowledge-by-description, such as the knowledge that apples are red, round, and edible. Many professional theories of human behavior, as well as common sense, explain actions by an appeal to feelings as causes. This book argues to the contrary that if feelings are information about behaviors that are already ongoing, feelings cannot be causes, and that the whole mechanistic model of human behavior as “caused” in this sense seems mistaken. It proposes an alternative, cybernetic model, involving hierarchically stacked control systems. In this model, feelings provide feedback to the control systems, and in a further elaboration, this model suggests that the stack of control systems matches a similar stack of levels of organization of the world.
David S. Holmes
- Published in print:
- 1990
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198521945
- eISBN:
- 9780191688478
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198521945.003.0005
- Subject:
- Psychology, Developmental Psychology
This chapter presents a review of research on somatic arousal reduction during meditation. Here the chapter takes a look at the evidence and comes to conclusions which ...
More
This chapter presents a review of research on somatic arousal reduction during meditation. Here the chapter takes a look at the evidence and comes to conclusions which will no doubt further fuel the flames of controversy. The analysis of the evidence leads to the conclusion that the claims made for meditation have far exceeded the evidence to date. This review focuses not just on arousal reduction during meditation, but also on the claimed stress-inhibiting function of meditation practice. This chapter offers rejoinders to the critics of an 1984 review and offers further challenges.Less
This chapter presents a review of research on somatic arousal reduction during meditation. Here the chapter takes a look at the evidence and comes to conclusions which will no doubt further fuel the flames of controversy. The analysis of the evidence leads to the conclusion that the claims made for meditation have far exceeded the evidence to date. This review focuses not just on arousal reduction during meditation, but also on the claimed stress-inhibiting function of meditation practice. This chapter offers rejoinders to the critics of an 1984 review and offers further challenges.
Kim Cornish and John Wilding
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195179941
- eISBN:
- 9780199864652
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195179941.003.0002
- Subject:
- Neuroscience, Behavioral Neuroscience, Development
Chapter 2 introduces the notion of attention and examines the various taxonomies of attention that have been proposed. Selective processes are the core of attention; some are automatic but most ...
More
Chapter 2 introduces the notion of attention and examines the various taxonomies of attention that have been proposed. Selective processes are the core of attention; some are automatic but most require control processes to organize selection. Control processes (executive functions) marshal excitation and inhibition to select inputs and actions and organize complex sequences of behavior. Interactions between executive functions and arousal systems ensure that alertness and efficient functioning are maintained. An outline is given of current research and theory on each of these aspects of attention. Future research must continue to disentangle component processes involved in complex tasks and the hierarchical systems that enable selective behavior.Less
Chapter 2 introduces the notion of attention and examines the various taxonomies of attention that have been proposed. Selective processes are the core of attention; some are automatic but most require control processes to organize selection. Control processes (executive functions) marshal excitation and inhibition to select inputs and actions and organize complex sequences of behavior. Interactions between executive functions and arousal systems ensure that alertness and efficient functioning are maintained. An outline is given of current research and theory on each of these aspects of attention. Future research must continue to disentangle component processes involved in complex tasks and the hierarchical systems that enable selective behavior.
Paul J. Silvia
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195158557
- eISBN:
- 9780199786824
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195158557.003.0003
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Neuroscience
What makes something interesting? This chapter critically reviews the long body of thought on the causes of interest. D. E. Berlyne’s seminal research on curiosity, arousal, and reward is reviewed in ...
More
What makes something interesting? This chapter critically reviews the long body of thought on the causes of interest. D. E. Berlyne’s seminal research on curiosity, arousal, and reward is reviewed in detail. In his theories, Berlyne traced curiosity to a set of collative variables (novelty, complexity, uncertainty, and conflict) that affected curiosity by modifying arousal levels. Changes in arousal levels affected reward and preference according to an inverted U. The chapter then turns to later theories of interest: Nunnally's information conflict theory, Tomkins's emotion theory, Fowler's boredom drive theory, and Loewenstein's information gaps theory. The chapter then develops a new model rooted in appraisal theories of emotion, in which interest is caused by two appraisals: (1) a novelty-complexity appraisal (“is this complex or unfamiliar?”), and (2) a coping potential appraisal (“is this comprehensible?”). Recent experiments that support the author's appraisal model are reviewed.Less
What makes something interesting? This chapter critically reviews the long body of thought on the causes of interest. D. E. Berlyne’s seminal research on curiosity, arousal, and reward is reviewed in detail. In his theories, Berlyne traced curiosity to a set of collative variables (novelty, complexity, uncertainty, and conflict) that affected curiosity by modifying arousal levels. Changes in arousal levels affected reward and preference according to an inverted U. The chapter then turns to later theories of interest: Nunnally's information conflict theory, Tomkins's emotion theory, Fowler's boredom drive theory, and Loewenstein's information gaps theory. The chapter then develops a new model rooted in appraisal theories of emotion, in which interest is caused by two appraisals: (1) a novelty-complexity appraisal (“is this complex or unfamiliar?”), and (2) a coping potential appraisal (“is this comprehensible?”). Recent experiments that support the author's appraisal model are reviewed.
Anna Powell
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748632824
- eISBN:
- 9780748651139
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748632824.001.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This book offers a typology of altered states, defining dream, hallucination, memory, trance and ecstasy in their cinematic expression, and presenting altered states films as significant ...
More
This book offers a typology of altered states, defining dream, hallucination, memory, trance and ecstasy in their cinematic expression, and presenting altered states films as significant neurological, psychological and philosophical experiences. Chapters engage with films that simultaneously present and induce altered consciousness, and consider dream states and the popularisation of alterity in drugs films. The altered bodies of erotic arousal and trance states are explored, using haptics and synaesthesia. Cinematic distortions of space and time, as well as new digital and fractal directions, are opened up. The text's distinctive re-mapping of the film experience as altered state uses a Deleuzian approach to explore how cinema alters us by ‘affective contamination’. Arguing that specific cinematic techniques derange the senses and the mind, the author makes an assemblage of philosophy and art, counter-cultural writers and filmmakers to provide insights into the cinematic event as intoxication. The book applies Deleuze, alone and with Guattari, to mainstream films such as Donnie Darko, as well as arthouse and experimental cinema. Offering innovative readings of ‘classic’ altered states movies such as 2001, Performance and Easy Rider, it includes ‘avant-garde’ and ‘underground’ work. The book asserts the Deleuzian approach as itself a kind of altered state that explodes habitual ways of thinking and feeling.Less
This book offers a typology of altered states, defining dream, hallucination, memory, trance and ecstasy in their cinematic expression, and presenting altered states films as significant neurological, psychological and philosophical experiences. Chapters engage with films that simultaneously present and induce altered consciousness, and consider dream states and the popularisation of alterity in drugs films. The altered bodies of erotic arousal and trance states are explored, using haptics and synaesthesia. Cinematic distortions of space and time, as well as new digital and fractal directions, are opened up. The text's distinctive re-mapping of the film experience as altered state uses a Deleuzian approach to explore how cinema alters us by ‘affective contamination’. Arguing that specific cinematic techniques derange the senses and the mind, the author makes an assemblage of philosophy and art, counter-cultural writers and filmmakers to provide insights into the cinematic event as intoxication. The book applies Deleuze, alone and with Guattari, to mainstream films such as Donnie Darko, as well as arthouse and experimental cinema. Offering innovative readings of ‘classic’ altered states movies such as 2001, Performance and Easy Rider, it includes ‘avant-garde’ and ‘underground’ work. The book asserts the Deleuzian approach as itself a kind of altered state that explodes habitual ways of thinking and feeling.
Buzsáki György
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195301069
- eISBN:
- 9780199863716
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195301069.003.0010
- Subject:
- Neuroscience, Neuroendocrine and Autonomic, Techniques
The variation of our motor and cognitive abilities is present at multiple time scales, expanding from periods of tens of milliseconds to hours. The brain-state variability to a large extent is ...
More
The variation of our motor and cognitive abilities is present at multiple time scales, expanding from periods of tens of milliseconds to hours. The brain-state variability to a large extent is internally coordinated even in the waking brain. This internal coordination is not simply “correlated noise.” Instead, the time-evolving brain states are an important source of mental operations. A brain's current state is, in part, dependent on a prior one. In order to predict the state of a neuronal network, one needs to have access to its recent history. The 1/f brain dynamic is often reflected by a similar 1/f scale freedom of overt behaviors, such as various mental operations and motor outputs. From this perspective, the neuronal “signal” in response to a given environmental perturbation of the brain state is not an initial condition but, rather, a modification of a perpetually evolving network pattern in the brain's landscape.Less
The variation of our motor and cognitive abilities is present at multiple time scales, expanding from periods of tens of milliseconds to hours. The brain-state variability to a large extent is internally coordinated even in the waking brain. This internal coordination is not simply “correlated noise.” Instead, the time-evolving brain states are an important source of mental operations. A brain's current state is, in part, dependent on a prior one. In order to predict the state of a neuronal network, one needs to have access to its recent history. The 1/f brain dynamic is often reflected by a similar 1/f scale freedom of overt behaviors, such as various mental operations and motor outputs. From this perspective, the neuronal “signal” in response to a given environmental perturbation of the brain state is not an initial condition but, rather, a modification of a perpetually evolving network pattern in the brain's landscape.
Diana C. Mutz
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691165110
- eISBN:
- 9781400865871
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691165110.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
This chapter explores how emotional arousal is a common component of everyday experience. Arousal can be positive and/or negative, and it can vary greatly in its intensity. Importantly, arousal is a ...
More
This chapter explores how emotional arousal is a common component of everyday experience. Arousal can be positive and/or negative, and it can vary greatly in its intensity. Importantly, arousal is a state of excitation that involves activation of the autonomic nervous system and heightened activity in both mind and body. Television has been viewed as particularly capable of prompting emotional arousal relative to print. Studies of media effects have focused primarily on the effects of television on arousal in the form of fear and aggression in response to violent media. The chapter uses highly controlled laboratory experiments to evaluate the consequences of close-ups and incivility for viewers' levels of emotional arousal and their memory of political television content.Less
This chapter explores how emotional arousal is a common component of everyday experience. Arousal can be positive and/or negative, and it can vary greatly in its intensity. Importantly, arousal is a state of excitation that involves activation of the autonomic nervous system and heightened activity in both mind and body. Television has been viewed as particularly capable of prompting emotional arousal relative to print. Studies of media effects have focused primarily on the effects of television on arousal in the form of fear and aggression in response to violent media. The chapter uses highly controlled laboratory experiments to evaluate the consequences of close-ups and incivility for viewers' levels of emotional arousal and their memory of political television content.
CHERYL REGEHR and TED BOBER
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195165029
- eISBN:
- 9780199864089
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195165029.003.0005
- Subject:
- Social Work, Health and Mental Health
The training and personality style of emergency responders prepares them to deal with high drama situations. However, this exposure has an impact on their emotional and psychological well-being. This ...
More
The training and personality style of emergency responders prepares them to deal with high drama situations. However, this exposure has an impact on their emotional and psychological well-being. This chapter discusses the symptoms of post-traumatic stress and the various levels of symptoms that people can experience from mild distress to symptoms that significantly affect function. Factors associated with higher levels of symptoms based on previous research are also reviewed. The coping mechanism most frequently described by emergency responders involves the deliberate use of cognitive strategies such as conscious attempts to shut out the emotional reactions of family members of the victim, visualizing the next technical step to be accomplished, and shutting down their own emotions. Other types of strategies involve having a positive personal life, talking to family, exercise, and blowing off steam with colleagues. The effectiveness of various strategies for self-care and coping are discussed.Less
The training and personality style of emergency responders prepares them to deal with high drama situations. However, this exposure has an impact on their emotional and psychological well-being. This chapter discusses the symptoms of post-traumatic stress and the various levels of symptoms that people can experience from mild distress to symptoms that significantly affect function. Factors associated with higher levels of symptoms based on previous research are also reviewed. The coping mechanism most frequently described by emergency responders involves the deliberate use of cognitive strategies such as conscious attempts to shut out the emotional reactions of family members of the victim, visualizing the next technical step to be accomplished, and shutting down their own emotions. Other types of strategies involve having a positive personal life, talking to family, exercise, and blowing off steam with colleagues. The effectiveness of various strategies for self-care and coping are discussed.
C. Daniel Batson
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195341065
- eISBN:
- 9780199894222
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195341065.003.0004
- Subject:
- Psychology, Social Psychology
This chapter identifies possible behaviors that can satisfy different proposed empathy-induced motives, providing a basis for distinguishing these motives empirically. The hedonic calculus prompted ...
More
This chapter identifies possible behaviors that can satisfy different proposed empathy-induced motives, providing a basis for distinguishing these motives empirically. The hedonic calculus prompted by altruistic motivation is compared with the hedonic calculus prompted by egoistic motives for helping, including reward seeking, punishment avoiding, and reducing aversive arousal. Empathic over-arousal, personal distress, and egoistic drift are discussed, and the extensive evidence for an empathy-helping relationship is reviewed. Three egoistic alternatives to the empathy-altruism hypothesis are introduced: Empathy-specific rewards, empathy-specific punishments, and aversive-arousal reduction. A unique configuration of possible behaviors associated with each of these motives and with altruistic motivation is identified, providing a basis for empirical tests of the nature of the motivation produced by empathic concern.Less
This chapter identifies possible behaviors that can satisfy different proposed empathy-induced motives, providing a basis for distinguishing these motives empirically. The hedonic calculus prompted by altruistic motivation is compared with the hedonic calculus prompted by egoistic motives for helping, including reward seeking, punishment avoiding, and reducing aversive arousal. Empathic over-arousal, personal distress, and egoistic drift are discussed, and the extensive evidence for an empathy-helping relationship is reviewed. Three egoistic alternatives to the empathy-altruism hypothesis are introduced: Empathy-specific rewards, empathy-specific punishments, and aversive-arousal reduction. A unique configuration of possible behaviors associated with each of these motives and with altruistic motivation is identified, providing a basis for empirical tests of the nature of the motivation produced by empathic concern.
Michael I. Posner
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199791217
- eISBN:
- 9780199932207
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199791217.003.0002
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Neuroscience, Cognitive Psychology
This chapter reviews the idea of brain states underlying conscious processing arising from studies of patient populations including coma, vegetative state, and locked-in syndrome. The default state ...
More
This chapter reviews the idea of brain states underlying conscious processing arising from studies of patient populations including coma, vegetative state, and locked-in syndrome. The default state in normal people is achieved by an instruction to lie quietly without any deliberate activity and with eyes opened or closed. It shows the importance of intrinsic brain activity in maintaining brain networks. However, there are many other brain states, and alertness itself creates a special state. Every stimulus has influence on brain arousal as well as on specific sensory and other systems. The use of a warning signal can separate the brain state related to alerting from activity produced by a target or by expecting a target. The ability to measure the key functions of attention is central to using neuroimaging to examine recovery of brain function and to the development of rehabilitation programs.Less
This chapter reviews the idea of brain states underlying conscious processing arising from studies of patient populations including coma, vegetative state, and locked-in syndrome. The default state in normal people is achieved by an instruction to lie quietly without any deliberate activity and with eyes opened or closed. It shows the importance of intrinsic brain activity in maintaining brain networks. However, there are many other brain states, and alertness itself creates a special state. Every stimulus has influence on brain arousal as well as on specific sensory and other systems. The use of a warning signal can separate the brain state related to alerting from activity produced by a target or by expecting a target. The ability to measure the key functions of attention is central to using neuroimaging to examine recovery of brain function and to the development of rehabilitation programs.
Aaron Kerner and Jonathan Knapp
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9781474402903
- eISBN:
- 9781474422000
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474402903.001.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
Extreme Cinema surveys post-millennial trends in transnational cinema—particularly in its highly stylized treatment of explicit sex and violence. In many cases these cinematic embellishments skirt ...
More
Extreme Cinema surveys post-millennial trends in transnational cinema—particularly in its highly stylized treatment of explicit sex and violence. In many cases these cinematic embellishments skirt narrative motivation or even impede narrative progression, favoring instead the possibility to elicit an affective response in the spectator: physical sensation separate from cognition and emotion. As a result, in many instances extreme cinema is not governed according to narrative conventions (narrative arcs driven by character motivation), and instead emphasizes spectacles. If not episodic in structure, then, extreme cinema might host abrupt ruptures in the diegetic narrative—experiments in form and/or composition (editing, extreme close-ups, visual disorientation, sounds that straddle the boundary between non-diegetic and diegetic registers), the exhibition of intense violence and pain, acute intimacy with bodies in the throes of sex. In more episodic films, like the musical, or pornography, extreme cinema frequently showcases set cinematic numbers that flood sensory channels with auditory and/or visual stimulus. Extreme cinema wields the potential to manipulate the viewing body (as demonstrated by “reaction” videos posted on hosting sites such as YouTube). Crucially, the affects and emotions prompted by these films can vary wildly: abjection, disgust, arousal, laughter. Films considered include those of the American torture porn genre, as well as films that other scholars and marketers have classified as “New French Extremity” and “Asia Extreme.” While content is assuredly a concern, what Extreme Cinema explores, above all, is the importance of cinematic form.Less
Extreme Cinema surveys post-millennial trends in transnational cinema—particularly in its highly stylized treatment of explicit sex and violence. In many cases these cinematic embellishments skirt narrative motivation or even impede narrative progression, favoring instead the possibility to elicit an affective response in the spectator: physical sensation separate from cognition and emotion. As a result, in many instances extreme cinema is not governed according to narrative conventions (narrative arcs driven by character motivation), and instead emphasizes spectacles. If not episodic in structure, then, extreme cinema might host abrupt ruptures in the diegetic narrative—experiments in form and/or composition (editing, extreme close-ups, visual disorientation, sounds that straddle the boundary between non-diegetic and diegetic registers), the exhibition of intense violence and pain, acute intimacy with bodies in the throes of sex. In more episodic films, like the musical, or pornography, extreme cinema frequently showcases set cinematic numbers that flood sensory channels with auditory and/or visual stimulus. Extreme cinema wields the potential to manipulate the viewing body (as demonstrated by “reaction” videos posted on hosting sites such as YouTube). Crucially, the affects and emotions prompted by these films can vary wildly: abjection, disgust, arousal, laughter. Films considered include those of the American torture porn genre, as well as films that other scholars and marketers have classified as “New French Extremity” and “Asia Extreme.” While content is assuredly a concern, what Extreme Cinema explores, above all, is the importance of cinematic form.
E. Glenn Schellenberg
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199586974
- eISBN:
- 9780191738357
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199586974.003.0022
- Subject:
- Psychology, Music Psychology, Health Psychology
This chapter reviews studies that examined the effects of music listening on cognitive performance. It focuses on performance after listening to music. The arousal and mood hypothesis offers an ...
More
This chapter reviews studies that examined the effects of music listening on cognitive performance. It focuses on performance after listening to music. The arousal and mood hypothesis offers an explanation of the Mozart effect that has nothing to do with Mozart or with spatial abilities. Rather, it proposes that Mozart's music is simply one example of a stimulus that can change how people feel, which, in turn, influences how they perform on tests of cognitive abilities. In other words, the hypothesis offers a simple and sensible explanation of the effect when it is evident. There does not appear to be a specific link between music listening and cognitive abilities, and certainly not between listening to Mozart and spatial abilities. Hence, the direct benefits of listening to music on cognition are more of a fantasy than a reality. On the other hand, it is clear that music can change listeners' emotional states, which, in turn, may impact on their cognitive performance, and the fact that the link is mediated by arousal and mood does not make it less meaningful.Less
This chapter reviews studies that examined the effects of music listening on cognitive performance. It focuses on performance after listening to music. The arousal and mood hypothesis offers an explanation of the Mozart effect that has nothing to do with Mozart or with spatial abilities. Rather, it proposes that Mozart's music is simply one example of a stimulus that can change how people feel, which, in turn, influences how they perform on tests of cognitive abilities. In other words, the hypothesis offers a simple and sensible explanation of the effect when it is evident. There does not appear to be a specific link between music listening and cognitive abilities, and certainly not between listening to Mozart and spatial abilities. Hence, the direct benefits of listening to music on cognition are more of a fantasy than a reality. On the other hand, it is clear that music can change listeners' emotional states, which, in turn, may impact on their cognitive performance, and the fact that the link is mediated by arousal and mood does not make it less meaningful.
John E. Richards
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195366709
- eISBN:
- 9780199863969
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195366709.003.0002
- Subject:
- Psychology, Developmental Psychology, Vision
This chapter reviews work being done on infant attention that was inspired by the early work of Cohen (e.g., Cohen, 1972). It looks at behavioral and psychophysiological studies showing that infant ...
More
This chapter reviews work being done on infant attention that was inspired by the early work of Cohen (e.g., Cohen, 1972). It looks at behavioral and psychophysiological studies showing that infant attention consists of multiple phases, controlled by different processes, which have differing levels of information processing. This research was consistent with the conclusions of Cohen (1972) and his evaluation of the significance of his research. It then discusses the development of neurodevelopmental models of infant attention. It reviews an explanatory neural model for the heart-rate-defined attention phases, as well as some work that looks “inside the baby's head” to find how the brain arousal system, measured by heart rate changes, affects neural processes involved in cognition and attention. Developmental changes in the brain can now be related to developmental changes in attention, perception, cognition, and behavior with the “spatiotemporal functional neuroimaging” techniques being developed.Less
This chapter reviews work being done on infant attention that was inspired by the early work of Cohen (e.g., Cohen, 1972). It looks at behavioral and psychophysiological studies showing that infant attention consists of multiple phases, controlled by different processes, which have differing levels of information processing. This research was consistent with the conclusions of Cohen (1972) and his evaluation of the significance of his research. It then discusses the development of neurodevelopmental models of infant attention. It reviews an explanatory neural model for the heart-rate-defined attention phases, as well as some work that looks “inside the baby's head” to find how the brain arousal system, measured by heart rate changes, affects neural processes involved in cognition and attention. Developmental changes in the brain can now be related to developmental changes in attention, perception, cognition, and behavior with the “spatiotemporal functional neuroimaging” techniques being developed.
Derek Matravers
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199243167
- eISBN:
- 9780191697227
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199243167.003.0010
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Aesthetics, Philosophy of Mind
The analogy between expression and colour is interesting not only for the light which it throws on expression, but also for its own sake — colour and aesthetic properties fall within that interesting ...
More
The analogy between expression and colour is interesting not only for the light which it throws on expression, but also for its own sake — colour and aesthetic properties fall within that interesting class of properties defined in terms of an observer's experience. The fundamental analogy between colour and expressive judgement lies in the process by which the content of the judgement is caused. Both involve a non-cognitive mental state which is caused by perception and which causes the belief expressed by the judgement. This chapter considers two problems: that it is simply not true that an expressive work of art provokes the relevant response in everyone whenever it is witnessed, and that the arousal theory defines the content of the belief that a work of art is expressive in terms of a ‘private’ mental state.Less
The analogy between expression and colour is interesting not only for the light which it throws on expression, but also for its own sake — colour and aesthetic properties fall within that interesting class of properties defined in terms of an observer's experience. The fundamental analogy between colour and expressive judgement lies in the process by which the content of the judgement is caused. Both involve a non-cognitive mental state which is caused by perception and which causes the belief expressed by the judgement. This chapter considers two problems: that it is simply not true that an expressive work of art provokes the relevant response in everyone whenever it is witnessed, and that the arousal theory defines the content of the belief that a work of art is expressive in terms of a ‘private’ mental state.
Derek Matravers
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199243167
- eISBN:
- 9780191697227
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199243167.003.0011
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Aesthetics, Philosophy of Mind
Although judgements attributing secondary qualities to objects are normally made on the basis of an experience of a kind which defines the quality in question, these judgements are not about the ...
More
Although judgements attributing secondary qualities to objects are normally made on the basis of an experience of a kind which defines the quality in question, these judgements are not about the experience. The experience causes a belief about the object. What makes these judgements about objects true in each case is that something about the object is causing the relevant experience in a qualified observer under perceptually normal conditions. Hence, the judgement that a ball is red is true if something about the ball was, in such circumstances, the cause of the experience which formed the basis of that judgement. In other words, the fact that some property or properties of the ball caused the suitably placed and qualified observer to experience it as red, is what makes his subsequent belief — that it is red — true. Although expressive judgements are grounded in feelings aroused by works of art, they are no more about those feelings than colour judgements are about the visual sensation of colour. The judgements are about the works themselves; specifically, about their capacity to cause certain sorts of experiences. This chapter looks at Mary Mothersill's influential claim that nothing systematic can be said about the relation between the causally efficacious properties of a work and the experience they arouse. It argues that putting expression on a causal basis enables us to accommodate Mothersill's intuitions without such a radical reappraisal of the basis for criticism. Furthermore, it enables us to make better sense of actual critical practice. The chapter concludes that the arousal theory is not refuted by any of the many arguments currently ranged against it. In addition, it has the advantage over contemporary cognitivism of providing a philosophically satisfactory solution to the problem under consideration.Less
Although judgements attributing secondary qualities to objects are normally made on the basis of an experience of a kind which defines the quality in question, these judgements are not about the experience. The experience causes a belief about the object. What makes these judgements about objects true in each case is that something about the object is causing the relevant experience in a qualified observer under perceptually normal conditions. Hence, the judgement that a ball is red is true if something about the ball was, in such circumstances, the cause of the experience which formed the basis of that judgement. In other words, the fact that some property or properties of the ball caused the suitably placed and qualified observer to experience it as red, is what makes his subsequent belief — that it is red — true. Although expressive judgements are grounded in feelings aroused by works of art, they are no more about those feelings than colour judgements are about the visual sensation of colour. The judgements are about the works themselves; specifically, about their capacity to cause certain sorts of experiences. This chapter looks at Mary Mothersill's influential claim that nothing systematic can be said about the relation between the causally efficacious properties of a work and the experience they arouse. It argues that putting expression on a causal basis enables us to accommodate Mothersill's intuitions without such a radical reappraisal of the basis for criticism. Furthermore, it enables us to make better sense of actual critical practice. The chapter concludes that the arousal theory is not refuted by any of the many arguments currently ranged against it. In addition, it has the advantage over contemporary cognitivism of providing a philosophically satisfactory solution to the problem under consideration.
Derek Matravers
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199243167
- eISBN:
- 9780191697227
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199243167.003.0007
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Aesthetics, Philosophy of Mind
There are two obvious candidates for an account of expressive judgements. Putting these candidates in their roughest and least plausible forms, the arousal theory claims that music is sad if it makes ...
More
There are two obvious candidates for an account of expressive judgements. Putting these candidates in their roughest and least plausible forms, the arousal theory claims that music is sad if it makes one sad; cognitivism claims that music is sad if it resembles a sad person. The most prolific champion of cognitivism in recent years has been Peter Kivy, who argues that music expressing a certain emotion resembles the appearance and behaviour of a person expressing that emotion. Other cognitivists, including Bruce Vermazen, Jerrold Levinson, and Malcolm Budd, have avoided the pitfalls of Kivy's account by abandoning it as an analysis of expression — although they retain it as a supplement to such an analysis. However, their proposals do not connect the experience of expressive music and the expressive judgement in a way that reveals the link between music and the emotions. Instead, music is expressive in virtue of the feelings it arouses in the appropriate listener.Less
There are two obvious candidates for an account of expressive judgements. Putting these candidates in their roughest and least plausible forms, the arousal theory claims that music is sad if it makes one sad; cognitivism claims that music is sad if it resembles a sad person. The most prolific champion of cognitivism in recent years has been Peter Kivy, who argues that music expressing a certain emotion resembles the appearance and behaviour of a person expressing that emotion. Other cognitivists, including Bruce Vermazen, Jerrold Levinson, and Malcolm Budd, have avoided the pitfalls of Kivy's account by abandoning it as an analysis of expression — although they retain it as a supplement to such an analysis. However, their proposals do not connect the experience of expressive music and the expressive judgement in a way that reveals the link between music and the emotions. Instead, music is expressive in virtue of the feelings it arouses in the appropriate listener.
Derek Matravers
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199243167
- eISBN:
- 9780191697227
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199243167.003.0008
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Aesthetics, Philosophy of Mind
The experience of expression in art can be explained analogously to one's experience of the expression of emotion in people. The most important facet of the analogy between expressive music and ...
More
The experience of expression in art can be explained analogously to one's experience of the expression of emotion in people. The most important facet of the analogy between expressive music and expressive people concerns the way in which it is appropriate to react in either situation. It is inappropriate, when faced with a human expression of emotion, merely to form a belief to this effect. The appropriate reaction is, rather, to feel some kind of emotion oneself. This chapter considers five well-known objections to the arousal theory: that listeners do not, as a matter of fact, react to expressive music with a feeling; that if they did, this would have the unacceptable consequence that listeners would have a good reason to shun music expressive of the ‘negative emotions’; that emotions have an essential cognitive component which non-representational art (in particular, music) could not arouse; that any emotion aroused by music would be inexplicable and therefore mysterious; and that the type of emotion aroused by music is not necessarily the type expressed by it.Less
The experience of expression in art can be explained analogously to one's experience of the expression of emotion in people. The most important facet of the analogy between expressive music and expressive people concerns the way in which it is appropriate to react in either situation. It is inappropriate, when faced with a human expression of emotion, merely to form a belief to this effect. The appropriate reaction is, rather, to feel some kind of emotion oneself. This chapter considers five well-known objections to the arousal theory: that listeners do not, as a matter of fact, react to expressive music with a feeling; that if they did, this would have the unacceptable consequence that listeners would have a good reason to shun music expressive of the ‘negative emotions’; that emotions have an essential cognitive component which non-representational art (in particular, music) could not arouse; that any emotion aroused by music would be inexplicable and therefore mysterious; and that the type of emotion aroused by music is not necessarily the type expressed by it.
Derek Matravers
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199243167
- eISBN:
- 9780191697227
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199243167.003.0009
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Aesthetics, Philosophy of Mind
Sophisticated opposition to the arousal theory begins with the thought that a causal characterization of the sort it provides could never be sufficient to analyze expression. This chapter considers ...
More
Sophisticated opposition to the arousal theory begins with the thought that a causal characterization of the sort it provides could never be sufficient to analyze expression. This chapter considers two different arguments to this conclusion. The first argues directly that the relation between an expressive work of art and the mental state of a listener is not causal but intentional. Asking what it is about a work of art that is expressive is — it claims — not a request for a psychological explanation, but a request for the work to be redescribed in a way which matches the listener's mental state. Hence, a causal theory such as the arousal theory is irrelevant to the analysis of expression. The second argument concedes that causality might be necessary for the analysis of expression, but claims it is not sufficient. To achieve sufficiency, one would need, once again, to construe the relation as intentional.Less
Sophisticated opposition to the arousal theory begins with the thought that a causal characterization of the sort it provides could never be sufficient to analyze expression. This chapter considers two different arguments to this conclusion. The first argues directly that the relation between an expressive work of art and the mental state of a listener is not causal but intentional. Asking what it is about a work of art that is expressive is — it claims — not a request for a psychological explanation, but a request for the work to be redescribed in a way which matches the listener's mental state. Hence, a causal theory such as the arousal theory is irrelevant to the analysis of expression. The second argument concedes that causality might be necessary for the analysis of expression, but claims it is not sufficient. To achieve sufficiency, one would need, once again, to construe the relation as intentional.
A. D. Nuttall
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198187660
- eISBN:
- 9780191674747
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198187660.003.0004
- Subject:
- Literature, Drama
To move in one stride from Sophocles to William Shakespeare may appear historically licentious, or else merely silly. The not-so-covert presumption of this book, that tragedy is somehow One Thing, is ...
More
To move in one stride from Sophocles to William Shakespeare may appear historically licentious, or else merely silly. The not-so-covert presumption of this book, that tragedy is somehow One Thing, is at last exposed for the absurdity it is; in fact there are Greek tragedies, Roman tragedies, Elizabethan, Jacobean, neo-classical; each of these kinds is distinct; Aristotle was talking about one of them and one only; there is no reason to suppose that his remarks will be applicable in any way to the others. Certainly the fact that they are all called ‘tragedies’ does not mean that they must share a common essence. Elizabethan tragedy differs from Greek, but Shakespearean tragedy differs from Marlovian, King Lear is utterly distinct from Othello, and the Quarto and Folio texts of King Lear actually furnish the readers with two plays, not one. In tragedy, the irresponsible pleasure of arousal is joined with bonds of iron to the responsibilities of probable knowledge and intellectual assent.Less
To move in one stride from Sophocles to William Shakespeare may appear historically licentious, or else merely silly. The not-so-covert presumption of this book, that tragedy is somehow One Thing, is at last exposed for the absurdity it is; in fact there are Greek tragedies, Roman tragedies, Elizabethan, Jacobean, neo-classical; each of these kinds is distinct; Aristotle was talking about one of them and one only; there is no reason to suppose that his remarks will be applicable in any way to the others. Certainly the fact that they are all called ‘tragedies’ does not mean that they must share a common essence. Elizabethan tragedy differs from Greek, but Shakespearean tragedy differs from Marlovian, King Lear is utterly distinct from Othello, and the Quarto and Folio texts of King Lear actually furnish the readers with two plays, not one. In tragedy, the irresponsible pleasure of arousal is joined with bonds of iron to the responsibilities of probable knowledge and intellectual assent.
Torben Grodal
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198159834
- eISBN:
- 9780191673719
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198159834.003.0012
- Subject:
- Literature, Film, Media, and Cultural Studies
This chapter analyses aspects of the melodrama, emphasizing especially its nature as a conflict between active and passive reactions. It illustrates lyrical and melodramatic patterns in Gone With the ...
More
This chapter analyses aspects of the melodrama, emphasizing especially its nature as a conflict between active and passive reactions. It illustrates lyrical and melodramatic patterns in Gone With the Wind and Vertigo, with emphasis on the relations between temporal rearrangements and passive, lyrical, or melodramatic-autonomic mechanism, and on the mechanisms of relabelling arousal.Less
This chapter analyses aspects of the melodrama, emphasizing especially its nature as a conflict between active and passive reactions. It illustrates lyrical and melodramatic patterns in Gone With the Wind and Vertigo, with emphasis on the relations between temporal rearrangements and passive, lyrical, or melodramatic-autonomic mechanism, and on the mechanisms of relabelling arousal.
