Music: a Link Between Cognition and Emotion

CURRENT DIRECTIONS IN PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE

tend closely to the words, and, Music: A Link Between Cognition most decisively, much of the world’s and Emotion music is instrumental, without words. Another possibility is that 1 Carol L. Krumhansl music imitates the sounds of ob- Department of Psychology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York jects or events with emotional con- notations. Yet such iconic use of sounds is rather limited when the great variety of music is surveyed. Abstract ing to music is its emotional effect. Thus, musical sounds may in- Cognition and emotion are And people listen to music a great herently have emotional meaning. closely linked in music. The in- deal, often hours a day. How is it Support for this comes from the terplay between expectations that patterns of sound in time can classic study by Hevner (1936), and the sounded events is hy- have such a profound effect? What who had listeners choose emotion pothesized to play a central is it in the music that causes the adjectives for instrumental selec- role in creating musical tension emotion? Are musical emotions tions. The adjectives fell on a circle and relaxation. The research like other emotions? Antecedents similar to that proposed for non- summarized here is part of an of emotion in real life are generally musical emotions, with underly- ongoing program investigating conditions that have real, or per- ing dimensions of positive-nega- how this dynamic aspect of ceived, consequences for an indi- tive and degree of activity. For musical emotion relates to the vidual’s well-being. Emotions may example, although both happy and cognition of musical structure. prepare the individual to act on the serene are positive emotions, Musical emotions change over prevailing conditions to attain or happy has a high level of activity, time in intensity and quality, maintain a state of well-being. In whereas serene has a low level of and these emotional changes contrast, music does not obviously activity. Musical characteristics de- covary with changes in psycho- change an individual’s material termining the adjective choices in- physiological measures. Per- state, nor does it necessarily elicit cluded major versus minor mode, ceptual studies support music- any action. Despite these differ- firm versus flowing rhythm, and theoretic descriptions of musical ences, psychological evidence indi- complex and dissonant versus sim- structures that underlie listen- cates musical emotions are at least ple and consonant harmonies. ers’ expectations. Cross-cultural to some degree like other emotions. Studies such as this one have dem- comparisons suggest that cer- onstrated associations between tain psychological principles of global aspects of musical structure expectation are quite general, and the overall mood of the music. but that musical cultures em- EXPLAINING MUSICAL Is it possible to describe more pre- phasize these differentially. A EMOTIONS cisely the musical structures that schema of temporal organiza- produce musical emotions, which tion that relates episodes of One commonly held view is that may change in intensity and qual- tension and relaxation to musi- music acquires its emotional mean- ity over time? The research di- cal form and expressive aspects ing by association with consequen- rected at this goal, reviewed here, of musical performance is de- tial events. Particular pieces of uses the concept of musical tension scribed. Finally, some results music are often connected to signif- to link the cognition of musical suggest that the expression of icant personal memories. If this structures with musical emotions. emotion in music shares prop- were all, then emotional responses erties with the expression of to music would vary greatly from emotion in speech and dance. individual to individual depending on their unique past experi- TENSION, EXPECTATION, Keywords ences. But listeners agree remark- AND MUSICAL EMOTION music cognition; music emotion ably well with one another in labeling musical emotions. Some- The theoretical starting point for thing in the music must produce this research is the seminal work of The emotional effect of music this agreement. Words of songs the musicologist Leonard Meyer raises a number of basic psycholog- may carry emotion. However, we (1956, 1967), who wrote: “Music is ical questions. People report that respond to songs in languages we a dynamic process. Understanding their primary motivation for listen- do not understand, we may not at- and enjoyment depend upon the

46 VOLUME 11, NUMBER 2, APRIL 2002 perception of and response to at- mental excerpts chosen to repre- physiological responses were re- tributes such as tension and repose, sent the emotions of sadness (e.g., corded. These covered a fairly instability and stability, and ambi- Albinoni’s Adagio), fear (e.g., Mus- wide spectrum of physiological guity and clarity” (Meyer, 1967, p. sorgsky’s Night on Bare Mountain), measures of emotional responses, 43). Meyer proposed that expecta- and happiness (e.g., Vivaldi’s La and included measures of cardiac tions play the central psychological Primavera from The Four Seasons). function, blood flow, electrical con- role in musical emotions. Some Previous research had shown mu- ductance of the skin, and respira- points in the music engender strong sic is reliably described at the level tory function. The measures taken expectations for continuation, cre- of basic emotions. The sad excerpts during the music differed signifi- ating a sense of tension and insta- had slow tempos, minor harmo- cantly from baseline levels. Most bility. Other points in the music nies, and fairly constant ranges of measures either remained at a fulfill expectations, and units are pitch and dynamics. The fear ex- fairly constant level or increased perceived as closed off and com- cerpts had rapid tempos, dissonant during the music. All the musical pleted. Musical meaning and emo- harmonies, and large variations of excerpts produced the same direc- tion depend on how the actual dynamics and pitch. The happy ex- tion of change compared with events in the music play against this cerpts had relatively rapid tempos, baseline levels, suggesting that background of expectations. dancelike rhythms, major harmo- music has an overall effect on emo- Music theory provides technical nies, and relatively constant ranges tion physiology. In addition, the descriptions of how styles organize of pitch and dynamics. The ex- measures showed different musical sounds and offers insights cerpts were approximately 3 min in amounts of change depending on about musical structures that might duration and were not previously the emotional quality of the ex- underlie listeners’ expectations. known by most of the participants. cerpt. The primary focus was on Cognitive science has recently influ- Listeners in one condition were the relationship between the physi- enced music theory. A major devel- instructed to adjust the position of ological measures and the dynamic opment is Lerdahl and Jackendoff’s a computer indicator to reflect how ratings of emotions, following (1983) generative theory of tonal the amount of sadness they experi- Meyer’s proposal that emotions are music and its recent extension in enced changed over time while lis- time-locked to events in the music. Lerdahl’s (2001) tonal-pitch-space tening to each of the excerpts. Lis- Sad ratings were most strongly theory. It proposes cognitive repre- teners in two other conditions associated with changes in heart sentations of meter, grouping, event similarly judged the amount of fear rate, blood pressure, and skin con- hierarchies, and harmonic tension. and happiness that they experi- ductance and temperature. The Another cognitively oriented theory enced. Ratings for the intended fear ratings were associated with is Narmour’s (1990) implication- emotion were significantly higher changes in the rate and amplitude realization model of melodic expec- than ratings for the unintended emo- of blood flow. The happy ratings tations, which proposes principles tions, but still varied considerably were associated with changes in rooted in psychological processes. over the duration of the excerpts. respiration measures. The correla- Later I describe some empirical For comparison with music-theoretic tions were fairly low, however. A studies testing these theories. First, accounts, a fourth group judged limiting factor may have been char- however, I summarize the results of the amount of tension. Tension cor- acteristic response times and lags a study that examined more directly related most strongly with the fear of physiological systems. The gen- the dynamics of musical emotions. ratings, but also with the happy and eral difficulty of identifying emo- sad ratings, especially when these tion-specific changes in these psy- were predominant. Thus, tension chophysiological measures should appears to be a multivalent quality, also be noted. Nonetheless, this ex- DYNAMIC RATINGS OF influenced to some degree by all ploratory study found physiologi- BASIC EMOTIONS three of the basic emotions repre- cal changes that depended on the AND TENSION sented by these excerpts. amount and type of musical emotion. Do the physiological changes A recent trend in studies of mu- found for musical emotions corre- sic is to collect listeners’ responses spond to those for nonmusical continuously while the music is PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL emotions found in other studies? played, recognizing that retrospec- MEASURES The degree of correspondence de- tive judgments are not sensitive to pended on the emotion-eliciting unfolding processes. In one study Another group of listeners manipulation. Greatest agreement (Krumhansl, 1997), I used instru- heard the same excerpts while their was found when the experimental

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CURRENT DIRECTIONS IN PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 47

manipulation was extended over time, as were the musical excerpts.

MUSICAL TENSION AND TONAL STRUCTURE

These selections were chosen to have strongly contrasting musical characteristics. Physiological measures were also obtained while listeners heard a single piece lasting approximately 8 min. It was the first movement of Mozart’s Piano Sonata in E-flat major, K. 282. An- other group of listeners (Krum- hansl, 1996) had made various perceptual judgments on the piece: how it is segmented, when new musical ideas are introduced, and the degree of tension. The tension ratings correlated with heart rate and blood pressure despite the relative homogeneity of the piece (Krumhansl, 2000). Analyzing the Piano Sonata also uncovered a number of features that covaried with tension (Krum- hansl, 1996). Some of the surface features related to tension were the pitch height of the melody, the density of notes, dissonance, and dynamics. Other more cognitive Fig 1. The main branches of Lerdahl’s (2001) tree model for the first eight measures features were key changes, the ap- of Mozart’s Piano Sonata in E-flat major, K. 282 (top panel) and the tension ratings made by listeners (Krumhansl, 1996; bottom panel). From “Music and Affect: Empirical pearance of chromatic (nonscale) and Theoretical Contributions From Experimental Psychology,” by C.L. Krumhansl, tones, interruption of a harmonic 2000. In D. Greer (Ed.), Musicology and Sister Disciplines: Past, Present, and Future, p. 91. process, and denial of stylistic ex- Copyright 2000 by Oxford University Press. Reprinted with permission of Oxford pectations. However, Lerdahl’s University Press. (2001) tonal-pitch-space model provided the most precise musical analysis. subsection subordinate to the first. theoretic descriptions relating tonal This model proposes that ten- As predicted, the tension values structure to its emotional effect. sion is a combination of surface were generally higher for the sec- dissonance and the position of each ond subsection than the first. A event in a tree structure. The top of closer look shows that tension Figure 1 shows the major branch- judgments dropped at events most MUSICAL TENSION, ings of the tree for the first eight directly linked to the root of the MUSICAL FORM, AND measures of this sonata. The tree is tree. For example, tension drops at PERFORMANCE inverted, such that the root is at the the beginning of measure 4, when top. Events that are more directly events that link quite directly to the The study of the Mozart Piano linked to the root have less tension root are sounded. A quantitative Sonata also suggested that varia- than those that are less directly reformulation of the tree fit the tions in tension are related to musi- linked to the root. The section sub- tension ratings well. This result en- cal form (the overall structure of divides into two, with the second courages the development of music- the piece) and performance expres-

48 VOLUME 11, NUMBER 2, APRIL 2002 sion. The tempo and dynamics of movements from Mozart’s String in music and dance. It used the the performance of this work by a Quintet in C major, K. 515, and Minuetto from Mozart’s Diverti- renowned pianist, together with Beethoven’s String Quartet in A mento no. 15 choreographed by the perceptual judgments, fol- minor, op. 132. Listeners (Krum- George Balanchine. One group of lowed a pattern, shown in Figure 2, hansl, 1998) made real-time judg- participants only heard the music. that recurred throughout the piece. ments of memorability, degree of A second group only saw the The beginnings of segments were openness (whether there is a sense dance. A third group both heard associated with new musical ideas, that the music must continue or the music and saw the dance. All a neutral tempo, and low tension whether the section has ended), groups made real-time judgments levels. The tension levels tended to and amount of emotion. All three of when sections ended, when new increase within segments, with ac- judgments could be accounted for ideas occurred, and the amount of companying increases in dynam- by the music analysis. The topics in tension and emotion expressed. ics and note density. The tension the Mozart piece functioned prima- The judgments in all three stimulus curves usually had an asymmetric rily to establish the musical form; conditions conformed to the gen- peak toward the end (see Fig. 1 as that is, they coincided with the sec- eral pattern of Figure 2. This result an example). The section ends were tions of the piece. In contrast, the suggests that this temporal organi- marked by slow tempos, lower dy- topics in the Beethoven piece were zation operates in both music and namics and note density, and rap- more strongly associated with con- dance, and that the two artistic idly decreasing levels of tension. trasts in the amount of emotion. forms are closely coordinated. This pattern of temporal organi- Thus, different composers may use In addition, the participants zation in music may be analogous topics to variously highlight struc- judged the emotional quality of to patterns of intonational units in tural and emotional aspects of the the stimulus. As can be seen in Fig- discourse. In discourse, topics are music. ure 3, these judgments were re- introduced and developed, and markably similar across the condi- then closed off with slowing of tions. This was true even though speech rate, drops in pitch and dy- the stimuli were completely differ- namics, and pauses. A tradition of EMOTION IN MUSIC ent in the music-only and the music analysis identifies topics in AND DANCE dance-only conditions. Analysis of classical music, each with distinc- the music and dance suggested a tive rhythmic, melodic, dynamic, Another study (Krumhansl & number of features that may con- and affective qualities. Agawu Schenck, 1997) investigated the vey the shared emotional quali- (1991) identified the topics in similarity of emotional expression ties. These include the tempo of the music and dance, melodic and choreographic gestures, and the high degree of symmetry and reg- ularity in both music and dance. Additional factors may be the pac- ing of segment endings and new ideas, and the experienced con- tours of tension and emotion. The finding that music and dance can express such similar emotional qualities suggests nonaccidental re- lationships between music and bodily movement.

MELODIC EXPECTATION

The theoretical starting point for this research was that musical Fig. 2. The temporal organization found for Mozart’s Piano Sonata in E-flat major, emotions depend on the interplay K. 282, showing the relationship between tension judgments, tempo, dynamics, and between expectations and the note density. events sounded in the music. Nar-

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CURRENT DIRECTIONS IN PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 49

investigation directed at understanding how the dynamic aspect of musical emotion relates to the cognition of musical structure. A number of other approaches provide complementary results. De- velopmental studies indicate in- fants are surprisingly sensitive to various musical properties. Brain- imaging techniques reveal areas of activation associated with music listening. Studies of patients with brain damage find they may react to the emotional content of music even though their song recognition is poor. Research on musical performance suggests that musicians vary such attributes as tempo, dy- Fig. 3. The emotion-quality judgments made for the three conditions: music only, namics, and attack to express dif- dance only, and both music and dance. From “Can Dance Reflect the Structural and ferent emotions. Finally, surveys of Expressive Qualities of Music? A Perceptual Experiment on Balanchine’s Choreogra- the contexts in which people make phy of Mozart’s Divertimento No. 15,” by C.L. Krumhansl and D.L. Schenck, 1997, Musicae Scientiae, 1, p. 75. Copyright 1997 by the European Society for the Cognitive and listen to music demonstrate Sciences of Music. Reprinted with permission. that it serves highly significant, but remarkably diverse functions. These various approaches promise new insights into the psy- mour’s (1990) implication-realiza- cerpts from Finnish spiritual folk chological effects of music. The tion model proposes that melodic hymns. The second used excerpts methods of cognitive neuroscience expectations are governed by gen- from vocal music, called yoiks, of can reveal the extent to which neu- eral principles of perceptual orga- the Sami in northern Scandinavia. ral substrates for music overlap nization, presumed to be universal. Both studies compared listeners those for emotion, memory, and To test the model, I used excerpts who were active in the musical cul- language. Comparisons across from British folk songs, atonal ture in question with Western mu- stages of development, cultural ori- songs, and Chinese folk songs sicians unfamiliar with the music. gin, and level of musical training (Krumhansl, 1995). Listeners The results generally supported provide tools to examine how mu- judged different tones (presented the implication-realization model. sic cognition and emotion are as possible continuations of the However, the relative importance shaped by experience. Finally, songs) as to how well they fit with of the principles varied across closer examination of musical emo- their expectations. In the cases of styles, and even listeners unfamil- tions can reveal whether humans the Western musical excerpts, iar with the music showed sensitiv- have an aesthetic response that is judgments of musicians and non- ity to this variation. In sum, these distinct from the currently more musicians were compared. In the results support the idea that music well-understood basic emotions. case of the Chinese excerpts, judg- draws on common psychological ments of native Chinese and Amer- principles of expectation, but that Recommended Reading ican listeners were compared. The musical cultures shape these in results supported the principles of unique ways. Blood, A.J., Zatorre, R.A., Bermudez, the model, and, consistent with its P., & Evans, A.C. (1999). Emo- claims concerning universality, the tional responses to pleasant and differences between the groups unpleasant music correlate with CONCLUDING COMMENTS activity in paralimbic brain regions. were relatively small. Nature Neuroscience, 2, 382–387. Two cross-cultural studies Juslin, P.N. (2000). Cue utilization in (Krumhansl, Louhivuori, Toivi- Musical emotion is currently an communication of emotion in mu- ainen, Järvinen, & Eerola, 1999; active area of psychological re- sic performance: Relating perfor- Krumhansl et al., 2000) tested the search. The series of studies sum- mance to perception. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Per- model further. The first used ex- marized here represents one line of

50 VOLUME 11, NUMBER 2, APRIL 2002

References Krumhansl, C.L., Louhivuori, J., Toiviainen, P., ception and Performance, 26, 1797– Järvinen, T., & Eerola, T. (1999). Melodic ex- 1813. pectation in Finnish spiritual folk hymns: Con- Agawu, V.K. (1991). Playing with signs. Princeton, vergence of statistical, behavioral, and Juslin, P.N., & Sloboda, J.A. (2001). NJ: Princeton University Press. Music and emotion: Theory and re- computational approaches. Music Perception, Hevner, K. (1936). Experimental studies of the ele- 17, 151–195. search. New York: Oxford Univer- ments of expression in music. American Journal Krumhansl, C.L., & Schenck, D.L. (1997). Can of Psychology, 48, 246–268. sity Press. dance reflect the structural and expressive Peretz, I., Gagnon, L., & Bouchard, B. Krumhansl, C.L. (1995). Music psychology and qualities of music? A perceptual experiment (1998). Music and emotion: Per- music theory: Problems and prospects. Music on Balanchine’s choreography of Mozart’s Di- Theory Spectrum, 17, 53–80. vertimento No. 15. Musicae Scientiae, 1, 63–85. ceptual determinants, immediacy, Krumhansl, C.L. (1996). A perceptual analysis of and isolation after brain damage. Krumhansl, C.L., Toivanen, P., Eerola, T., Toivi- Mozart’s Piano Sonata K. 282: Segmentation, ainen, P., Järvinen, T., & Louhivuori, J. (2000). Cognition, 68, 111–141. tension, and musical ideas. Music Perception, Cross-cultural music cognition: Cognitive Sloboda, J. (1999). Music—where 13, 401–432. methodology applied to North Sami yoiks. cognition and emotion meet. The Krumhansl, C.L. (1997). An exploratory study of mu- Cognition, 76, 13–58. sical emotions and psychophysiology. Canadian Lerdahl, F. (2001). Tonal pitch space. New York: Ox- Psychologist, 12, 450–455. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 51, 336–352. ford University Press. Krumhansl, C.L. (1998). Topic in music: An empir- Lerdahl, F., & Jackendoff, R. (1983). A generative ical study of memorability, openness, and theory of tonal music. Cambridge, MA: MIT emotion in Mozart’s String Quintet in C major Press. and Beethoven’s String Quartet in A minor. Note Music Perception, 16, 119–134. Meyer, L.B. (1956). Emotion and meaning in music. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Krumhansl, C.L. (2000). Music and affect: Empiri- 1. Address correspondence to Carol L. cal and theoretical contributions from experi- Meyer, L.B. (1967). Music, the arts, and ideas. Chi- mental psychology. In D. Greer (Ed.), cago: University of Chicago Press. Krumhansl, Department of Psychology, Musicology and sister disciplines: Past, present, Narmour, E. (1990). The analysis and cognition of ba- Uris Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY and future (pp. 88–99). New York: Oxford Uni- sic melodic structures: The implication-realization 14853; e-mail: [email protected]. versity Press. model. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

acteristics of the person that Situation-Behavior Profiles as a Locus of remain invariant across contexts Consistency in Personality and situations. Further, it has been assumed that the manifestations of 1 Walter Mischel, Yuichi Shoda, and Rodolfo Mendoza-Denton invariance in personality should be Psychology Department, Columbia University, New York, New York (W.M., R.M.-D.), seen in consistent differences be- and Psychology Department, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington (Y.S.) tween individuals in their behavior across many different situations. For example, a person who is high in conscientiousness should be Abstract of situation-behavior relations more conscientious than most peo- Traditional approaches have (e.g., she does X when A but Y ple in many different kinds of situ- long considered situations as when B). These if . . . then . . . ations (at home, at school, with a “noise” or “error” that ob- profiles constitute behavioral boss, with friends). The data over scures the consistency of per- “signatures” that provide po- the course of a century, however, sonality and its invariance. tential windows into the indi- made it increasingly evident that Therefore, it has been custom- vidual’s underlying dynamics. the individual’s behavior on any ary to average the individual’s Processing models that can ac- dimension varies considerably behavior on any given dimen- count for such signatures pro- across different types of situations, sion (e.g., conscientiousness) vide a new route for studying thus greatly limiting the ability to across different situations. personality types in terms of make situation-specific predic- Contradicting this assumption their shared dynamics and tions and raising deep questions and practice, recent studies characteristic defining profiles. about the nature and locus of con- have demonstrated that by in- sistency in personality (Mischel, corporating the situation into Keywords 1968; Mischel & Peake, 1982). the search for consistency, a personality; consistency; interac- By the 1970s, the discrepancy new locus of stability is found. tionism; if . . . then . . . profiles between the data and the field’s Namely, people are character- fundamental assumptions precipi- ized not only by stable individ- tated a paradigm crisis (Bem & ual differences in their overall Traditionally, personality psy- Allen, 1974). The crux of this crisis levels of behavior, but also by chology has been devoted to un- was captured in the so-called per- distinctive and stable patterns derstanding the dispositional char- sonality paradox: How can our in-

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