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In this issue:
v- ;md Cognition! Consequences for * '"* -jVfl^ Kxperimental Aesthetics _
Hel mut Lcder, f6*'0 JRi 1 Mr«»thec Auguslin. and Benno Belke tS^^f
( ategorization Affects Hedonic vMSiS^9*^m * Contrast in the Visual Arts v • **£^'^ R • -*/>&*. Si,0 7? * M1. 'issaJ. Dolese, DebraA.Zcllner, ^/4 M. .his Vasscrman, and Scott Parker
The Aesthetic Trinity: Vwe, Being Moved, Thrills
\ ':ui;mir J. Konecni
n.li dual Differences in the Validity , ^>gf lYer Ratings of Creative • >"'uiiigs: For.hidi'WM^( rea!ivity Dot- u "Take (?sk; t •» Ki»«)\\ * mi
:• l r.v Dear Division 10 Members,
We'd like to thank you for your kind words on the last issue, and your offers for help and suggestions. Please keep them coming (we're especially receptive to kind words). If you have a manuscript or are working on one, or have an idea for a special issue and would like to discuss it with us, please just send us an email (listed on the masthead page).
This issue begins with an interview with Chinese master landscape painter Zhemin Ji. It is his beautiful painting that graces the cover of this issue. We were fortunate to get an interview with him, as he was visiting Kean University and had an exhibition on campus. We would like to express our gratitude to Mr. Ji, his daughter Annie Ji, who served as a translator for us, and to Peijia Zha, who assisted us in the preparation of the interview. We hope you find Mr. Ji's insights as fascinating as we did.
There are four scholarly articles in this issue of the Bulletin. The first is Helmut Leder's, "Art and cognition! Consequences for experimental aesthetics." Helmut examines the issue of what it might mean to understand and measure aesthetic appreciation, building on his previous work in developing an information-processing model of aesthetics.
Stephen J. Dollinger asks whether judges of creative production need to be creative persons themselves. In "Individual differences in the validity of peer ratings of creative drawings: For judging creativity does it 'Take one to know one?'" Stephen looks at the question empirically by using Amabile's Consensual Assessment Technique with more creative and less creative college students. The answer to Stephan's question is in the article.
In "The aesthetic trinity: Awe, being moved, thrills," Vladimir J. Konecni proposes that three related states — aesthetic awe, being moved or touched, and thrills or chills - should be employed as more appropriate and useful descriptions of response to great works of art than terms such as "aesthetic emotions" and "musical emotions."
In "Categorization affects hedonic contrast in the visual arts," Melissa Dolese, Debra Zellner, Marsha Vasserman, and Scott Parker examine aspects of Fechner's Principle of Aesthetic Contrast using art stimuli. In an experimental study, they attempt to demonstrate positive hedonic contrast using paintings and to examine the influence of categorization on positive hedonic contrast.
We hope you enjoy the issue and choose to participate in the conversation on psychology and the arts in the Bulletin.
Best, Jeff and Lisa Smith Contents
Title: Page:
APA Division 10 Chairs and Officers 2
Interview with artist Zhenmin Ji 5
Art and Cognition! Consequences for Experimental Aesthetics 11
Helmut Leder, Dorothee Augustin, and Benno Belke
Categorization Affects Hedonic Contrast in the Visual Arts 21
Melissa J. Dolese, Debra A. Zellner, Marsha Vasserman, and Scott Parker
The Aesthetic Trinity: Awe, Being Moved, Thrills 27
Vladimir J. Konecni
Individual Differences in the Validity of Peer Ratings of Creative Drawings: Forjudging Creativity Does It "Take One to Know One? 45
Stephen J. Dollinger
Message from the President 56
Message from the President-Elect 57
Credit on Cover Art: Finding Its Way Downhill (26.8 inch x 53.6 inch) Zhenmin Ji ^nywwjpyaiw^tfwy i
Bulletin of Psychology and the Arts Editors— Co-Editors: Jeffrey K. Smith Department of Educational Psychology Graduate School of Education Rutgers University New Brunswick, NJ 08901
Lisa F. Smith Psychology Department Kean University Union, NJ 07083
Associate Editor:
Izabella I. Waszkielewicz Department of Educational Psychology Rutgers University New Brunswick, NJ 08901
Board of Editors:
Sarah Benolken, New York, NY Paul Camic, Columbia College Diana Deutsch, University of California, San Diego Leonid Dorfman, Perm State INstitute of Arts and Culture Gregory J. Feist, University of California, Davis Norman Holland, University of Florida Paul Locher, Montclair State University Pavel Machotka, University of California, Santa Cruz Mark Runco, California State University, Fullerton Dean Keith Simonton, University of California, Davis Jerome Singer, Yale University Robert J. Sternberg, Yale University Will Wadlington, Pennsylvania State University Ellen Winner, Boston College -J p
Division 10 Society for the Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts
Officers:
President —Paul Locher Secretary-Treasurer—Lauren S. Seifert Department of Psychology Department of Psychology Montclair State University Malone College Upper Montclair, NJ 07043-1624 515 25th Street N W Library, (973)655-7381 3rd Floor Canton, OH 44709-3823 FAX: (973) 655-5121 (330)471-8558
President-Elect—Gregory Feist Council Representative—Sandra Russ Department of Psychology University of California at Davis Members-at-Large-- Davis5CA 95616 James C. Kaufman (03-06) (530)752-8178 Margery B. Franklin (02-05) Jonathan Plucker (02-05) Past President— Diana Deutsch Department of Psychology UC San Diego LaJolla,CA92093 (858)534-4615 FAX: (858) 453-4763
Chairs:
Membership-Paul Locher, Montclair State University Fellows- Jerome L. Singer, Yale University - Publications-Jeffrey Smith, Rutgers University and Lisa Smith, Kean University Nominations-Sandra Russ, Case Western University Awards-Gregory Feist, University of California at Davis Web Site-Michael Lucas, California State University, San Bernardino A General Call for
Submissions
Ideas for Special Issues
Offers to Serve as Reviewers
Suggestions for the Bulletin
As the editors of the Bulletin of Psychology and the Arts, we are actively seeking out collaborators in this endeavor. We are asking for manuscript submissions to the journal along with ideas for special issues, new features, offers to serve as reviewers of submitted manuscripts, and other suggestions for making the Bulletin an outstanding publication by and for Division 10, the Society for the Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts. Please send any correspondence to Jeffrey Smith at: [email protected] **•!*&• , * t-
ZHENMIN JI AND HIS LANDSdPAE PAINTINGS
"...boldly start, boldly draw, and end carefully."
Zheranin Ji isfrom Tianjin, China which is located near the capital city of Beijing. He studied Western oil painting and Chinese traditional painting at the Tianjin Fine Art Academy where he received his BFA in 1964. He is a member of the Artists Association of China, serves on the Executive Council of Calligraphers in Tianjin and is Vice President of the Nankai Research Institute of Chinese Paintings. Zhenmin Ji's works have been included in national art exhibitions and he has received numerous prizes and awards. Overseas, his paintings have been shown in countries such as Korea, Singapore, and Malaysia. Additionally, the Japanese Artist's Association hosted two solo shows of his artwork. Zhenmin Ji's landscape paintings have been presented as gifts to public dignitaries of Great Britain, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Germany when delegates of the Chinese government visited these countries. Mr. Ji has published works titled Art Skills for Elementary Training and An Album of Landscapes by Zhenmin Ji. Editors: Can you please tell us how you began? How did you get started as an artist?
Artist: I started painting when I was a boy. As a little boy, I felt free to draw everything. I grew up in a rural area of China. At that time, rural areas in China did not have any tools for painting. Sometimes not even a pencil and paper. I always drew on the ground with whatever I had. Sometimes, I used stones to draw on the ground or on the wall. That was how I started to paint.
Editors: Did you get any training? Did you go to a school for the arts?
Artist: I went to elementary school, middle school!, and high school. At that time, schools would ask students to prepare school newspapers. I drew all of the pictures for these newspapers in my schools. My fine arts teacher noticed my pictures and recognized my potential for painting. Before I graduated from high school, my fine arts teacher highly recommended that I take the entrance examination for the Hebei [a province in northern China] Fine Arts Institute. I was admitted. That institute is now called Tianjin Academic of Fine Arts. I studied oil painting in the first three years until I realized that I was actually strongly interested in Chinese painting. So I submitted an application asking for a transfer into the Chinese painting department. They approved my application. So, I learned Chinese painting in my last two college years. I became a fine arts teacher after graduating from college. I have taught fine arts for forty years.
Editors: Would you say that you follow traditional forms or do you also invent in your paintings?
Artist: Firstly, Chinese painting should be associated with Chinese traditions. You have to follow traditional painting styles when you are learning to paint. Professionals do not accept works from artists with poor traditional painting styles. Therefore, to get approval from professionals, one had to obtain the basic skills that reflected traditional painting styles. However, it is not enough to just follow traditions; you also need to be creative. There would be no point in painting if everybody's paintings were exactly the same. It would not be necessary for modern artists to paint at all if their paintings looked exactly like the work of the ancient masters. In short, you must put some of your own style into the tradition.
Editors: Do you think about the audience when you are working or do you focus more on the work that you are creating? Do you ever wonder how people are going to see it?
Artist: There are two goals for painting. First, your paintings should contain ideas. These ideas may encourage your viewers to move forward and make progress. The audience may become strongly encouraged by the works after viewing. The second goal is that your painting must be artistic. This artistic quality should be able to purify people's mind and foster people's aesthetic perceptions. These two goals are absolutely necessary. 'V.T-:;'^<.^ri
Editors: Do you feel that you are communicating thoughypjar paintings or do the pieces you create stand alone by themselves?
Artist: Audiences should make such [interpretive] decisions by themselves. Chinese paintings should not be interpreted by language. When audiences look at paintings, they should have some feelings about them. Paintings are the universal language of the world.
Editors: Do you ever wonder what people are thinking about when they are looking at your work?
Artist: It is possible for some members of the audience to experience the same feelings and emotions as the artist, but not every individual can have such feelings. Every viewer has his/her own feelings about the painting. Since everyone has different life experiences, he/she will have different understandings of the painting. For example, if the individual had been to Huang Mountain [one of the most famous and beautiful mountains in China], he/she will recognize the content of the painting. This individual will make a connection between the painting and the mountain. A person who has never been to the mountain will not understand the painting. Once again, audiences' different experiences create different feelings. The assessment of the painting does not depend on the artist. It depends on how much the audience understands the painting.
Editors: Are you interested in what people think about your paintings?
Artist: Of course, every artist wants to know that. The audience and artist should communicate with the artist and discuss the painting.
Editors: There's a great sense of harmony and balance in your work, can you talk a little about how you achieve them and how important these aspects are to your work?
Artist: Artists always seek harmony and balance in their paintings. Every artist will try to make his/her painting perfect, but no artist can reach that. Every painting should have a sense of inner harmony and balance. This is something that all artists pursue.
Editors: Do your paintings ever surprise you?
Artist: Yes, especially landscapes. It's a very strong feeling. You will have something in mind before you actually start painting. For example, you might want to draw Huang Mountain, the Chinese Huang Mountain. There is water in the mountain, water from rains. This very beautiful image of the landscape might be the one you have in mind to draw. However, when you start, there might be some unexpected situations that arise. These unexpected situations will change your original ideas. In Chinese painting, these kinds of situations are labeled by a phrase, "boldly start, boldly draw, and end carefully." Your question is very important in Chinese painting, it is the central question. Chinese painting has three different levels: masterwork, normal work, and sub-standard work. Actually, every artist produces all three kinds of work. A masterwork is a painting done without stopping. When artists start drawing, they do not intentionally try to make masterworks. It is impossible to draw masterwork when you intentionally plan to make it a masterwork. The masterwork only comes accidentally. Actually, this kind of accidental performance is the expression of the artist's real feelings. An artist may only have three or five masterworks in his/her whole life. Not every work will become a masterwork.
Editors: How do you begin your work? How do you decide, this is what I am going to do today or this is what I am trying to convey today?
Artist: Traditional Chinese paintings require a lot of work. There is a saying that to draw for 10 minutes, requires 10 years of preparation. To draw a Chinese painting does not take much time, but it requires the artist to be artistically accomplished. The Chinese painting is executed on Xuan paper with a Chinese brush, which increases some of the uncontrollable situations during drawing. Therefore, for the artist to express what he/she wants, the artist must be able to turn the uncontrollable into the controllable. This requires very strong artistic accomplishment. Think before you start. You need to have a basic idea of what you want to draw. For example, today I am going to draw the Huang Mountain. I will also draw clouds in the mountain. After I have this basic idea, I draw a sketch of it with pencil. It is very important to know exactly what you want to draw. If not, it is very easy to get lost once you start. There is a Chinese proverb: "With may draw the bamboo, the innermost feelings have the bamboo." Applied to Chinese Landscape, "with may draw the mountain and water, the innermost feelings have the mountain and water."
Editors: What do the Chinese characters represent in this painting [one of Master Ji 's paintings] ?
Artist: This word means safely, peacefully and this word means life. Together this means a safe and peaceful life. And after that is the Chinese year, and my signature is here.
Editors: So this is the title of painting, the signature, and the year.
Artist: Chinese paintings have to point out the topic of the painting. For example, in the present painting, the title of the painting itself is the traditional folk song in north China. But when you translate that, you do not get the feeling of that. It's a name. I want to represent the mountain in the north area, so that you can see the farmer going back home with his cattle and with corn; actually, this is a peaceful picture. So, when one looks at it, it's like you can hear a famous song come out from the picture. That is the idea. -.^j-S^r^-tiT; -•"
Editors: It takes you to that place...... -.,
Artist: Yes. There is a house in the painting. This is easy to understand. There are other houses and people behind this house. According to Chinese tradition, living in a village surrounded by water from two sides has meaning. Water represents fortune in Chinese culture. Therefore, being surrounded by water from two sides means getting fortune from both sides.
Editors: Are there any western artists that influenced you or that you particularly admire?
Artist: I am very interested in the Western paintings from the Renaissance period, such as DaVinci. All realistic artists.
Editors: How do you decide that the work is finished?
Artist: You are finished when you have expressed what you thought about in the painting. You are satisfied with it and it is artistic. Then your work is finished.
Editors: Do you work in the studio or the outside?
Artist: A Chinese proverb says: "In addition to burying himself in volumes of books, a consummate scholar frees himself by traveling great distances and meeting various people." As a Chinese artist, you need to read books; you should be knowledgeable person. You should also travel to a lot of places. If you want to draw landscapes, you should have been to all the famous mountains and great rivers. If you want to draw figures, you should deeply understand the folk customs and local traits that surround the figures. With these preparations, you can go back to your studio and start to draw. Actually, what Chinese artists paint are their impressions of something in their mind. Chinese paintings are usually associated with impressions, not realities.
Editors: So you paint indoors?
Artist: Actually, I go outdoors for inspiration. I go out only with ink, no water. When I was very young, we didn't have much transportation, so I would just walk to a mountain and live in the mountain until I finished. But for the majority of my artwork, I go back home and work in the studio.
Editors: Did you want your daughter to be an artist?
Artists daughter: Actually, to be honest, my father is the artist. When I was very young, I liked to paint very muck I grew up with my father's art works and art books, but I did not get training directly from my father. You know, in a traditional Chinese family fathers pay more attention to boys than girls. When I entered college, I asked my father why he paid more attention and provided more training in the arts to my brother. To my surprise, he said it's not because you are a girl, it's because he thinks that being an artist takes a lifetime of hard work and he loves his little girl so much that he doesn 't want her to have to do that. But I selected architecture as my major in the college and was working very hard to improve my painting skills. Now my father tells me that if he knew that I wanted to be a painter, he should have taught me earlier.
Editors: One last question, when you work on apiece, does everything else disappear?
Artist: Yes, yes.
Artist's daughter: Actually, in my family my mom takes care of everything. My father only needs to focus on his painting and his art work.
Artist: Back to 1500 years ago, the Chinese painting was called the Literati painting. Literati are those who have knowledge. When they are free, they would draw something. Just for fun.
Editors: Our Journal is directed at people who study creativity. Some of these individuals study how people make art, how people understand art, and appreciate art. Is there anything else that would like to say to these people?
Artist: Artists are those who are willing to sacrifice themselves. Once they involve themselves in this life, they will forget everything. They will dedicate their lives to art. It's a long-term task. So as an artist, you should be fully prepared to sacrifice yourself for art and dedicate your whole life to this career. It is with such sprit that you can achieve your goals. At the same time, as a good artist, you should have high sense of responsibility and deep confidence in loving human beings and life. -: '/'J >f:t)r]:>/^r^i«f^ 3'-3
Art and Cognition! Consequences for experimental aesthetics
Helmut Leder University of Vienna, Austria Freie Universitat Berlin, Germany
Dorothee Augustin and Bermo Belke Freie Universitat Berlin, Germany
Abstract Based on an information-processing model of aesthetic appreciation the present article discusses consequences for empirical research. Recently Leder, Belke, Oeberst, and Augustin (2004) have presented a model which identifies stages of information processing and variables that affect aesthetic processing on each stage. The model aims to provide a framework for empirical research. Classifying research methods according to the model has direct consequences for research strategies and the evaluation of results. Here we discuss different ways to understand and measure aesthetic appreciation. The phenomena dealt with range from simple preferences to enthusiastic experiences of flow. The complexity of components that affect the perception of art requires careful consideration and control of the manifold variables involved in aesthetic processing.
Recently aesthetic research has had a re processing viewpoint. The cognitive model of aes naissance in Psychology, due to a number of rea thetic experience recently proposed by Leder et sons: new methods have emerged in neuropsy al. (2004) is briefly described and set in relation chology (Blood & Zatorre, 2001; Ramachandran to different conceptions of what aesthetic behav & Hirstein, 1999; Vartanian & Goel, 2004 a, ior might be. 2004b), applied questions seem to be economi The aim of psychological aesthetic re cally important for the aesthetics of design search is to understand aesthetic phenomena in (Hekkert, Snelders, & van Wieringen, 2003; humans, their function, the processes involved and Leder & Carbon, in press), and there is an in the variables that mediate them. In everyday life creasing interest in affect and emotion (Scherer, aesthetic experiences characterize a number of dif 2003). Furthermore the need for a better under ferent situations. The most prototypical aesthetic standing of the complexity and specifity of aes situation regards experiences with high culture thetic experiences has produced new insights from (Winston & Cupchik, 1992). Visual art is found cognitive psychologists' perspectives (Leder et al., (and experienced) in museums, art galleries and 2004). In the present article aesthetics and art different media Smith and Smith (2001) revealed appreciation are discussed from an information- the temporal properties of such experiences mea-
11 sured in museums. Music is present nearly every of modern art. According to this analysis art not where, but high culture of music usually occurs in only provides a sensory visual input, but also re concert halls and opera houses. The latter also fers to conceptual and abstracted information. provide a multi-sensory aesthetic experience. Be For example, over the past century stylistic con yond these examples, the question of aesthetics is cepts have highly gained in importance - espe also relevant for choices of design and judgments cially with the appearance of abstract art, which of facial beauty (see, e. g., Etcoff, 1999). Fur per definition lacks recognizable content. More thermore, in many cases product selection relies over, latest since the DAD A movement art has at least partly on aesthetic criteria. However, un extended its borders in a number of ways, al derstanding the processes that occur during the lowing artworks of any shape and temporal di consumption of high culture products is presum mensions to enter museums and concert halls. ably the main challenge of aesthetic research. Sometimes the perceptual object itself is even only a kind of relict symbolizing a complex per A model of aesthetic experience formance - for example when the blackboard of a performance by Joseph Beuys is presented in We have recently proposed a model of a museum. Thus, it is particularly modem art, aesthetic experience that describes a number of which provides an aesthetic experience that ex processing stages involved in art appreciation ceeds elementary sensation. Moreover, modern (Leder et al., 2004). Among the sources that were art offers new qualities of aesthetic experiences important for the development of this model are that cannot be reduced to impressions of beauty Kreitler and Kreitler 's (1984) concepts and find or harmony (Leder, 2002). ings regarding meaning assignment in perception. The model of aesthetic appreciation is Our model is thought to provide a framework for mainly concerned with visual art, although we dis aesthetic research and was based on an analysis cussed the relation to other forms of aesthetic
Figure L A model of aesthetic experience
CONTEXT
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Top-down Cognition:
previous stomal zpvcMz expztih-a exasasnce
' r ' ' ' ' Aesthetic Judgment Perceptua! BwlleH. Genitive EvaliaaSan ARTWORK Analyses —. Classification ^ Jteterilng iim«gt«tion *-~ Aesthetic Em ©lion
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Table 1: A Systematization of Different Aesthetic Measures
Affective Cognitive Measure component component Important variables
Judgments - Preferences ++ + Familiarity, Prototypicality - Liking + + - Beauty + ++ Expertise, Personal taste - Pleasure ++ - Mood, Affective state - Interest - ++ Expertise - Aesthetic quality - ++ Expertise
Thoughts, Associations - ++ Expertise, State of interest
Psychophysiology
- PET, fMRI ++ -
Inventars of flow ++ + Mood, State of interest works according to certain criteria, alternative mea some cases its results can also be transformed to sures that specifically aim to assess the affective ordinal or even interval data (see Law of Com part of the aesthetic experience and methods fo parative Judgment, Thurstone, 1927 ). One of cusing on the concepts relevant during the inter the disadvantages of pairwise comparisons is that pretation of an artwork. The measures listed also subjects often have to make a high number of differ with respect to the extent that they are spe choices. cific for experiences with art. In the following sec Rankings, on the other hand, allow a per tion the different conceptions and measurements son to compare all objects under discussion si of the aesthetic experience are briefly discussed, multaneously. As for rating scales, the most obvi and consequences for empirical research are ous advantage is the opportunity to analyze the shown. resulting data at interval level. Yet, one has to take The most common approach to measure into account that it is not always realistic to expect aesthetic experiences is by means of aesthetic judg subjects to make a meaningful distinction between ments: Persons are asked to judge artworks ac seven or nine different levels of pleasingness, cording to certain criteria. This can be done in dif beauty, or interestingness. ferent ways, for example by asking for simple The probably most general kind of aes pairwise comparisons, by having participants rank thetic judgments are simple preferences, which a set of artworks or by supplying them with scales are frequently used in studies related to aesthetics on which to evaluate the objects. Each of these (Kruglanski, Freund, & Bar, 1996; Kunst-Wilson methods certainly has its advantages and disad & Zajonc, 1980; Reber, Winkielmann, & vantages. Comparisons constitute a fairly simple Schwarz, 1998). Mostly such preferences are re task that is unlikely to strain the participants' abil quired in the shape of pairwise comparisons or of ity or will to differentiate and therefore keeps the choices of the preferred works from a wider set danger of experimental artifacts fairly low. Even if of objects. Preferences are believed to be rela it does not seem to yield "differentiated" data, in tively unspecific in that they represent a rather gen- eral tendency of approach or avoidance and pre Belke & Leder, 2004) is fairly "neutral," since it is sumably cover both cognitive and emotional as believed to equally measure affective and cogni pects (Leder et al., 2004). Yet, according to the tive results of aesthetic processing. Setting the cri above-mentioned study by Kunst-Wilson and terion of beauty is strongly related to the stimulus Zajonc (1980) preferences can probably also be and supposedly rather cognitively based. How given on an affective basis alone. According to our ever, standards of beauty in art vary with exper model this should for example be the case, if stimu tise and personal taste (Parsons, 1987). Pleasure lus presentation time is too short for explicit full presumably represents the affective aspects of processing ofconten t or meaning. Yet, in such cases aesthetics, and thus mainly assesses the affective not only preferences are affectively based. Rather, state of the perceiver (Leder et al., 2004). Inter we believe that in order to differentiate between est, according to our model has a motivational different aspects of their experience subjects al component, which might be affective, but presum ways need some time. If processing is interrupted ably has higher proportion of cognition. This dis at a very early stage, any measure will therefore tinction is in terms with the results of Cupchik and probably assess the same phenomenon - that is, Gebotys (1990). Finally, asking for the aesthetic the state of the continuous affective evaluation. quality of an artwork probably reveals cognitive Concerning simple preferences, the fact that the aspects rather than affect. An opportunity to si instruction does not specify a criterion makes it multaneously consider multiple response dimen difficult to draw conclusions about the bases of sions is provided by the semantic differential. It choice. Thus, this kind of measure is most appro combines a number of affective and cognitive di priate when the researcher systematically varies mensions and allows the analyses of profiles of stimulus dimensions that can then be attributed to attitudes (Osgood, Suci, & Tannenbaum, 1957). distributions of preference. Analyzing data which were collected with a se To overcome the problems related to mantic differential method often reveals three fac simple preferences, many studies make use of tors: evaluation, activity, and potency (Osgood, explicit evaluation (Belke & Leder, 2004; 1962). Yet, this method is expensive to apply to Cupchik, Shereck, & Spiegel, 1994; Millis, 2001; large numbers of stimuli. We believe that future Russel, 2003). The instructions are more specific research will help to systematically develop task- than in the case of simple preferences and allow dependendent, optimal measures for aesthetic ex the researcher to choose an appropriate criterion. periences. Most studies in empirical aesthetics use evalua As has been illustrated in the previous sec tion scales asking for "howbeautiful," "how aes tion, asking subjects to compare or rate paintings thetically pleasing" etc. an object is. However, it is according to certain dimensions offers a wide range important to keep in mind that different criteria of possibilities to measure different aspects and largely vary as to the aspects of the aesthetic ex facets of the aesthetic response. Yet, what has of perience they relate to. In Table 1 we distinguished ten been neglected in aesthetic research are alter five questions (others are also possible) which native methods to specifically focus on the affec cover a range of aspects of the aesthetic experi tive part of the experience. This is probably due ence. The measures listed vary with respect to the to the lack of differentiation between aesthetic judg amount of cognitive and affective components in ments and emotion. What seems to be very prom volved. The term cognitive component refers to ising in this respect are the permanent advances the extent to which the measure refers to the con regarding psychophysiological measures. For ex tent and cognitive result of the cognitive mastering ample, Blood and Zatorre (2001) provided an phase rather than its affective by-product. In this impressive example of aesthetic research employ respect, the measure of liking (employed, e.g., by ing positron emission tomography (PET). They in- ;c.^;~
vestigated strong emotions in listening to one's fa been measured very often. A combination of dif vorite music. Therefore they selected stimuli by ferent scales to consider more than one aspect asking participants to bring their favorite music might provide a possible solution (as in Millis, pieces into the laboratory and used the same stimuli 2001). Yet, we believe that combining measures as controls for other participants. Verbal aesthetic of different nature, as was done, for example, by ratings of the excerpts correlated with activation Blood and Zatorre (2001), might be most prom of the reward centers in the brain. Similar results ising to understand the affective and cognitive fac for the realm of paintings were recently reported ets of aesthetic experiences. Moreover, in trying by Vartanian and Goel (2004a), who used the to get hold of "real" aesthetic experiences a num method of fMRI. Both studies provide successful ber of points have to be considered. For example, examples of the combination of experimental and not all artworks might have the capacity to elicit neuropsychological methods. But neuropsychol strong experiences and individual differences have ogy is not the only way to measure the emotional to be taken into account. Measuring experiences part of the aesthetic experience. Alternatives come of flow (see above) provides the same challenges from the extensive literature on general emotion for the researcher. The self-reports used in this research and for example include questionnaires context could perhaps be interesting material for and self-reports. One example of this is the Posi empirical aesthetics, too. In any case, due to the tive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS) by importance of inter-individual differences and do- Watson, Clark, andTellegen (1988). main-specifiry, research concerning experiences of A third class of methodsfrequently use d this kind needs careful planning. What we call real in empirical aesthetics is specialized on the mea aesthetic experience andflow, are both difficult to surement of cognitive aspects of the aesthetic ex measure by simply sampling data over participants. perience. In terms of the above-described model these methods mostly serve to reveal the concepts Conclusions and thoughts relevant during the cognitive master ing phase. Therefore they focus on the bases of We have discussed how different mea evaluation rather than on its results. For example, sures in empirical aesthetics differentially refer to thoughts and associations elicited by the artwork cognitive and affective components ofth e aesthetic directly refer to the cognitive activities of "finding experience. We hope that the classification of these meaning." The ways of eliciting such thoughts and measures helps to better understand human aes associations might differ and rangefrom free de thetic experiences and behavior in future research. scriptions of thoughts to more structured meth Most important, the difference in nature of the ods, such as the Repertory Grid technique (Kelly, measures listed in Table 1 could be an important 1955). Furthermore, data collected by means of aspect regarding the question of biological foun the above-mentioned methods of comparison and dations of aesthetics. It touches a central issue in rating of artworks can be used as bases for analy Psychology: the debate on dominance of cogni ses such as Multidimensional Scaling (see, e.g., tion or affect. To some extent it can be assumed Berlyne & Ogilivie, 1974) or Unfolding - as was, that the primacy of affect reported by Kunst-Wil for example, done by Stich, Knauper and Leder son and Zajonc (1980) is more likely in the case (2004). Such analyses can reveal interesting de of measures that are not specific for the realm of tails concerning the concepts important for the ex art and do not measure very intense experiences. perience of art and the relations that viewers see For example, as can be seen in Table 1, prefer among different artworks. ences in the sense of simple tendencies of approach Unfortunately, real aesthetic experiences, or avoidance do not require much cognition. They that means experiences in the full scale, have not may be based on simple heuristics such as famil- iarity, particularly when there is no time for explicit Blood, A. I, &Zatorre, R. J. (2001). Intensely evaluation. In this case we believe them to de pleasurable response to music correlate pend on affective rather than cognitive informa with activity in the brain regions tion. In contrast to this, strong emotional experi implicated in reward and emotion. ences of high art always combine affective and Proceedings of the National Academy evaluative, that is cognitive, activities. of Science, 98 (20), 11818-11823. What kind of measure seems to be most Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1997). Creativity: Flow appropriate in empirical research, depends on the and the psychology of discovery and perspective of the researcher and on the aims of invention. New York: HarperCollins his study. Measuring spontaneous, simple prefer Cupchik, G. C. (1992). From perception to ences might avoid a number of top-down influ production: A multilevel analysis of the ences and leave control to stimulus dimensions. It aesthetic process. In G. C. Cupchik, & can therefore be used to investigate stimulus prop J. Laszlo (Eds.), Emerging visions of erties which are under the control of the experi the aesthetic process (pp. 83-99). menter. The more of the later stages of aesthetic New York: Cambridge University Press. experiences (see Figure 1) are involved, the more Cupchik, G. C, & Gebotys, R. J. (1990). attention needs to be given to either systematically Interest and pleasure as dimensions of control or analyze important variables. Measuring aesthetic response. Empirical Studies . expertise, emotional states and mood, or differ of the Arts, S(\), 1-14. ences in personal taste therefore cannot be avoided Cupchik, G. C, Shereck, L., & Spiegel, S. but might offer the solution to the complexity of (1994). The effects oftextual the behavior in question (Belke & Leder, 2004) information on artistic communication. Based on a model of processing stages Empirical Studies of the Arts, 20, 62- involved in aesthetic experience a classification of 78. different conceptions of "aesthetics" and their mea Etcoff, N. (1999). Survival of the prettiest: The surements was provided. Tearing apart the com science ofbeauty . New York: Anchor plexity of influential variables provides one prom Books/Doubleday. ising account to better understand aesthetics and Forgas, J. P. (1995). Mood and Judgment: The cultural experiences. Affect Infusion Model (AIM). Psychological Bulletin, 117(1), 39-66. References Hekkert, P, Snelders, D., & van Wieringen, P. C. W. (2003). 'Most advanced, yet Belke, B., & Leder, H. (2004). Mastering the acceptable': Typicality and novelty as joint style: Influences of stylistic information on predictors of aesthetic preference in appreciation of abstract paintings. In J. P. industrial design. British Journal of Frois, P. Andrade, & F. Marques (Eds.), Psychology, 94(1), 111-124. Art and Science: Proceedings of the Hekkert, P., & van Wieringen, P. C. W. (1990). XVIII Congress of the International Complexity and prototypicality as Association of Empirical Aesthetics determinants of the appraisal of cubist (pp. 304-308). Lisbon: IAEA. paintings. British Journal of Psychology, Berlyne, D. E., & Ogilvie, J. C. (1974). 81 (4), 483-95. Dimensions of perception of paintings. Kelly, G. A. (1955). The psychology of personal In D. E. Berlyne (Ed.), Studies in the constructs. New York: Norton. new experimental aesthetics (pp. 181- 226). New York: Wiley. ?*$*..
Kreitler, H., & Kreitler, S. (1972). Psychology Martindale, C. (1990). The clockwork muse: of the arts. Durham: Duke University ' ' "* The predictability of artistic change. Press. New York: Basic Books. Kreitler, H., & Kreitler, S. (1984). Meaning Martindale, C, & Moore, K. (1988). Priming, assigment in perception. In W. D. Frohlich, prototypicality, and preference. Journal G J. W. Smith, J. G. Dragung, & U. of Experimental Psychology: Human Henschel (Eds.), Psychological processes Perception and Performance, 14 (4), in cognition and personality (pp. 173- 661-670. 190). New York: Hemisphere/McGraw- Millis, K (2001). Making meaning brings pleasure: Hill. The influence of titles on aesthetic Kraglanski, A. W., Freund, T., & Bar, T. D. experiences. Emotion, 1 (3), 320-329. (1996). Motivational effects in the Nodine, C. F., Locher P. J., & Krupinski, E.A. mereexposure paradigm. European (1993). The Role of Formal Art Training Journal of Social Psychology, 26 (3), on Perception and Aesthetic Judgment of 479-499. Art Compositions. Leonardo, 2(5(3), Kunst-Wilson, W. R., & Zajonc, R. B. (1980). 219-227. Affective discrimination of stimuli that Osgood, C. E. (1962). Studies on the generality cannot be recognized. Science, 207,557- of affective meaning systems. American 558. Psychologist, 17, 10-28. Langlois, J. H., & Roggman, L. A. (1990). Osgood, C. E., Suci, G. J., & Tannenbaum, P. H. Attractive faces are only average. (1957). The measurement of meaning. Psychological Science, 1 (2), 115-121. Oxford: University of Illinois Press. Leder, H. (2001). Determinants of preference. Parsons, M. J. (1987). How we understand art: When do we like what we know? A cognitive developmental account of Empirical Studies of the Arts, 19 (2), aesthetic experience. Cambridge: 201-211. Cambridge University Press. Leder, H. (2002). Exploraiionen in Ramachandran, V. S., & Hirstein, W (1999). The derBilddsthetik [Explorations in visual science of art: A neurological theory of aesthetics]. Lengerich: Pabst. aesthetic experience. Journal of Leder, H. (2003). Familiar andfluent! Style-related Consciousness Studies, 6(6-1), 15-51. processing hypothesis in aesthetic Reber, R., Wmkielman, P, & Schwarz,N. (1998). appreciation. Empirical Studies of the Effects of perceptualfluency o n affective Arts, 21 (2), 165-175. j udgments. Psychological Science, 9(1), Leder, H., Belke, B., Oeberst, A., & Augustin, D. 45-48. (2004). A model of aesthetic appreciation Russel, P. A. (2003). Effort after meaning and the and aesthetic judgements. British Journal hedonic value of paintings. British of Psychology, 95 (4), 489-508. Journal of Psychology, 94 (1), 99-110. Leder, H. & Carbon, C. C. (in press). Dimensions Scherer, K. (2003). Introduction: Cognitive in the appreciation of car interior design. components of emotion. In R. J. Davidson, Applied Cognitive Psychology. H. Goldsmith & K. R. Scherer (Eds.), Locher, P. J. (2003). An empirical investigation of Handbook of the affective sciences (pp. the visual rightness theory of picture 563-673). New York and Oxford: Oxford perception. Acta Psychologica, 114 (2), University Press. 147-164. Smith, J. K. & Smith, L., (2001). Spending time on art. Empirical Studies of the Arts, 19 Author note: (2), 229-36. The writing of this chapter was supported by a Stich, C, Knauper, B. & Leder, H. (2004). grant SFB 626 C5 of the Deutsche Measuring aesthetic sensitivity: Scale Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG). development and psychometric properties. In J. P. Frois, R Andrade, & R Marques Helmut Leder is Professor of Psychology at the (Eds.), Art and Science: Proceedings of University of Vienna and has a grant on aesthetic the XVIII Congress of the International processing at the Freie Universitat Berlin. Association of Empirical Aesthetics (pp. 312-313). Lisbon: IAEA. Dorothee Augustin and Benno Belke are both Thurstone, L. L. (1927). A Law of Comparative collaborators in his projects on aesthetic Judgment. Psychological Review, 34, research in Berlin. The present article is in part 273-286. based on the Berlyne Award Lecture given at Tyler, C. W. (1996). The Human Expression of the APA Conference 2004, Honolulu. Symmetry. In C. W. Tyler (Ed.), Human Symmetry Perception and Its ComputtionalAnalysis. Utrecht (NL): VSR Correspondence concerning this Vartanian,0.& Goel, V. (2004a). manuscript should be addressed to Neuroanatomical correlates of aesthetic Helmut Leder, Department of Psychology, preference for paintings. NeuroReport, 15 University ofVienna , Liebiggasse 5,1010 (5), 893-897. Wien, Austria. Vartanian, O. and Goel, V. (2004b). Emotion path ways in the brain mediate aesthetic E-mail: [email protected] preference. Bulletin of Psychology and the Arts, 5(1), 37-42. Watson, D, Clark, L. A., Sl Tellegen, A. (1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scales. Journal of Personal ity and Social Psychology, 54(6), 1063- 1070. Winston, A. S., & Cupchik, G. C. (1992). The evaluation of high art and popular art by naive and experienced viewers. Visual Arts Research, 18,1-14. Zajonc, R. B. (1968). Attitudinal effects of mere exposure. Journal of Personality and SocialPsychology. Monograph Supplements, 9 (2, Pt.2), 1-27. " «'*"'» ^f .1 j** Wi'-'^"Tf}^!yilL •*' A WV''A,V,;; "'E'";'\''^7
Categorization Affects Hedonic Contrast in the Visual Arts
Melissa J. Dolese, Debra A. Zellner, Marsha Vasserman Montclair State University
Scott Parker American University
Abstract
Stimuli are rated as more pleasant when presented after stimuli which are not pleasant than when presented alone. This increase in rating is positive hedonic contrast. Two groups of subjects viewed 5 paintings from Francisco Goya's dark period (hedonically negative) prior to 2 paintings from his tapestry period (weakly hedonically positive). A third (Control) group of subjects saw only the 2 tapestry paintings, so identified. Participants rated how much they enjoyed looking at each painting. Of the 2 groups viewing the dark period paintings prior to the tapestry, one (No Categorization) was told that they were looking at 5 paintings from Francisco Goya's dark period followed by 2 paintings from Goya's tapestry period. The second group (Categorization) was told that they were looking at 5 Expressionist paintings followed by 2 paintings from Goya's tapestry period. Using Control ratings of the tapestry paintings as a baseline, positive contrast was seen in the No Categorization group (who had been told that all paintings were by "Goya.") but not in the Categorization group. Categorization of the stimuli attenuated the positive hedonic contrast.
Fechner's Principle of Aesthetic Contrast "positive" hedonic contrast. Negative hedonic states that a stimulus will be evaluated more contrast has been shown for a variety of stimuli favorably if it is compared with something less (e.g, beverages and pictures of birds [Zellner, good and less favorably if it is compared with Kern, & Parker, 2002; Zellner, Rohm, Bassetti, something better (Fechner, 1898 as cited in Beebe- & Parker, 2003]). Center, 1932/1965). This phenomenon is referred Two studies claim to have demonstrated to as hedonic contrast. If a stimulus is preceded positive hedonic contrast using art stimuli (Lindauer by a series of very good stimuli, that stimulus will & Dintruff, 1975; Temme & Gieszen, 1995). In be judged less pleasant than it would be otherwise; one (Lindauer & Dintruff), participants viewed this is "negative" hedonic contrast. On the other abstract art prior to viewing traditional art and visa hand, if a stimulus is preceded by a series of very versa. There was a significant increase in liking bad stimuli that stimulus will be judged more ratings of the traditional art following viewing of pleasant than it would be otherwise, this is the abstract art. If subjects thought the abstract
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art was hedonically negative, then this would to each other..." (pp. 222-223). In other words, indeed be a demonstration of positive hedonic the contrast and test stimuli must be alike, or belong contrast. However, there was no difference to the same category to produce hedonic contrast. between the hedonic ratings of the abstract and Categorization effects have been found with the traditional art when not preceded by the other negative hedonic contrast. For example, Zellner type of artwork. In addition, both the abstract and et al. (2002) showed that individuals who divided the traditional art were rated above hedonic stimuli into categories demonstrated less hedonic neutrality. Since the abstract art was not contrast than did people who did not categorize. hedonically negative, and not hedonically different The stimuli were beverages, specifically coffee and from the traditional art, it can't be the case that the beer. In Experiment 1, patrons of gourmet coffee increase in preference for the traditional art shops rated their liking for coffee on a bipolar scale. following viewing of the abstract art was an They were also asked, "Do you see ordinary coffee example of positive hedonic contrast. as being a less good version of gourmet coffee or The other claimed demonstration of do you see them as different things?" The answer positive hedonic contrast is by Temme and Gieszen to this question permitted assignment of the (1995) who found an increase in the liking of participants to two groups: those who consider traditional artwork when it followed the viewing ordinary coffee and gourmet coffees to be the same of abstract paintings. However, once again, it does beverage and those who categorize ordinary and not appear that the abstract art was rated as more gourmet coffees separately. Subjects who lumped negative than the traditional art when they were coffee into one large category demonstrated far viewed alone. In a second study the rated more hedonic contrast than did subjects who saw pleasantness of traditional music was higher after gourmet and ordinary coffee as belonging to subjects listened to modern music, but this effect different categories. In Experiment 2 analogous also can't be an instance of hedonic contrast since results were obtained for beer. Subjects who put both the traditional and modern musical selections beer into separate categories (specialty beer or were rated above hedonic neutrality. ordinary beer) rated the ordinary beer pleasant So, while negative hedonic contrast has whereas subjects who lumped them into the same been demonstrated by presenting hedonically category rated ordinary beer as unpleasant. positive stimuli before hedonically neutral stimuli, The same effect of categorization on nega- positive hedonic contrast has not yet been ti ve hedonic contrast has been demonstrated in a demonstrated by presenting hedonically negative laboratory setting. Zellner et al. (2003) examined stimuli before hedonically neutral stimuli. Zellner, hedonic contrast for pictures of birds. In Experi Strickhouser, and Tornow (2004) have ment 1 three groups of participants rated two sets demonstrated positive hedonic contrast by using of 10 pictures of birds using a bipolar scale for expectations rather than context stimuli, but attractiveness but were given differing instructions. nobody has demonstrated a positive hedonic The first group of participants rated the 10 pic contrast effect using context stimuli. Demonstrating tures of North American birds preceded by an positive hedonic contrast using context stimuli is other set of North American birds, after being told one goal of the present investigation. that they would be rating "pictures of birds." The Negative hedonic contrast has been shown second group rated the 10 pictures of North to be attenuated when the context and test stimuli American birds preceded by a set of 10 tropical are perceived to be categorically different Fechner birds; they were also told they were viewing pic (1898, as quoted in Beebe-Center, 1932/1965) tures of birds. The third group of participants was indicated that in order for hedonic contrast to occur shown the set of 10 North American birds pre "the two factors had to bear a certain resemblance ceded by the set of 10 tropical birds but they were **V*y fr*wttptytp/p/$r^ «^pnr told that they would berating distinct types of birds, periods that we have labeled his "dark period" the first set being tropical birds and the second and his "tapestry period." The two "test paint being North American birds. Subjects in the first ings" were hedonically pleasant paintingsfrom his group rated the North American birds as more "tapestry period." They were The Parasol and attractive than did those in the second group who The Swing. The five "context paintings" were first saw the tropical birds. Thus we see negative hedonically unpleasant paintings from his "dark contrast—viewing the tropical birds first resulted period." They were The Incantation, Witches' in lowered ratings of the North American birds. Sabbath, Two Old Men Eating Soup, Saturn Contrast was reduced for the third group of par Devouring His Son, and Pilgrimage to San ticipants who were told the birds belonged in dif Isidro. The pictures of the Pilgrimage to San ferent categories. In a second study, the authors Isidro, Witches Sabbath, and Two Old Men Eat showed similar effects of categorization on nega ing Soup were not the complete paintings (e.g., tive contrast using fruit juices as stimuli. only the right side of the Witches Sabbath was Categorization effects have been found used). with negative hedonic contrast but no such cat egorization effects have been found with positive Procedure hedonic contrast or with art stimuli. In the present The 60 participants were randomly as study we seek to demonstrate positive hedonic signed to one of three groups (N = 20 in each contrast using art stimuli (e.g., pictures of paint group). Two groups (No Categorization and Cat ings) and in addition to show that categorization egorization) of subjects were asked to look at five affects positive hedonic contrast as it does nega paintings selected from Francisco Goya's dark tive hedonic contrast. We present hedonically period (hedonically negative "context paintings"), negative context paintings prior to weakly hedoni followed by two paintings from Goya's tapestry cally positive paintings in order to demonstrate period (weakly hedonically positive "test paint positive hedonic contrast. To study categorization ings"). The third group (Control) viewed only the effects we declare the hedonically negative and tapestry paintings. the weakly hedonically positive paintings to be The participants were asked to look at long to one category for one group of subjects each painting and rate how much they liked it, us and to two separate categories for another group ing a 201 -point bipolar hedonic scale. On die scale, of subjects. -100 was labeled "dislike extremely"; +100 was labeled "like extremely"; 0 was labeled "neither Method like nor dislike." Subjects were told to rate how Participants much they enjoyed looking at the painting, not its Sixty undergraduate student volunteers artistic merit, but how much they would like it hang (18 males and 42 females; mean age was 23.8 ing in their home. years)from Montclair State University were tested The subjects in both of the two experi individually. They were told that they would be mental groups, No Categorization and Categori taking part in an experiment that examined how zation, were shown the five context paintings (in much individuals enjoyed viewing paintings. "random order) followed by the two test paintings (counterbalanced order). The only difference be Stimuli tween these two groups is in what they were told The stimuli were colored pictures of paint about the context paintings. No Categorization ings cut out of art books pasted on individual 28 x participants were told that the context paintings 17.5 cm white cardboard. We used seven works were paintings from Francisco Goya's dark pe by Francisco Goya from two distinctly different riod. Categorization participants were told that the * 'W <£*.* yvi's* i context paintings were Expressionist paintings. Discussion Both of the experimental groups were then told that the last two test paintings were from Goya's These findings showthat when you present Tapestry Period. Thus, while participants in the hedonically negative context stimuli before weakly two experimental groups were shown the same hedonically positive test stimuli, positive contrast set of stimuli, those in one group (No Categoriza effects can be found. The weakly hedonically posi tion) were told that the paintings were all by Goya tive paintings were rated as more liked when (one category) whereas those in the other group viewed after the hedonically negative "dark paint (Categorization) were told that the paintings were ings" by Goya than when viewed alone. This is from two categories of paintings. The participants the first clear demonstration of positive hedonic in the Control group were told they were viewing contrast and the first demonstration of contrast paintings from "Goya's tapestry period" and were effects with art stimuli. shown only the two test paintings (counterbalanced - This is also the first demonstration of the order). influence of categorization on positive hedonic con All subjects in all groups were told to rate trast. As Fechner noted, stimuli must bear a cer the paintings using the same 201 -point bipolar tain resemblance or relevance to each other in or hedonic scale. der to produce hedonic contrast. In the present study, viewing Goya's hedonically negative "dark Results paintings" prior to his "tapestry paintings" increased liking ratings for the latter paintings only if subjects For each subject in the No Categoriza were told that both sets of paintings were by Goya tion and Categorization groups we calculated the (same category) but not if subjects were told that average rating given to the five context paintings the paintings were from different art genres (Ex (Goya's dark period paintings) and tested whether pressionist paintings vs. Goya's tapestry paintings). they differed across groups. A Mann-Whitney test As Lindauer and Dintruff (1975) and showed that the two sets of average ratings did Temme and Gieszen (1995) previously pointed out, not differ significantly (Mann-Whitney U -156.5, the sequence in which paintings are viewed can 243.5; p>. 20). influence a person's hedonic judgment of those For each subject in all three groups we paintings. The present study demonstrates that one calculated the mean of the two ratings given to the way these judgments can be influenced is through test paintings. Those mean ratings differed signifi hedonic contrast. This is particularly true if the cantly for the three groups [Kruskal-Wallis Chi- viewers are novices when it comes to art and if it Square (2) = 8.0; p < .02]. Post-hoc contrasts is made clear to them that the paintings they are (Marascuilo & McSweeney, 1977) revealed that viewing are by the same artist. Therefore, in an No Categorization subjects rated the test paint exhibit of the work ofa single artist, the initial paint ings (M=46.85, SD = 30.03) significantly higher ings might well influence the hedonic assessments than did the Control group (M = 10.25, SD = of subsequent ones in these viewers. However, 39.22) who saw only those two test paintings. This such an effect should diminish when a show con is hedonic contrast. No difference in ratings of tains paintings by different artists and that fact is the test paintings was seen between Categoriza pointed out. In that situation the hedonic judgment tion subjects (M = 30.52, SD = 49.70) and either of a painting will likely be less influenced by how of the other two groups. much preceding paintings are liked. •Tfi" «•l•«; *••» fc -,
References ''•---: Author Notes: Beebe-Center, J. G. (1965). The psychology of Melissa J. Dolese, Debra A. Zellner, and pleasantness and unpleasantness. New Marsha Vasserman, Department of Psychology, York: Russell & Russell, (original work Montclair State University. published 1932). Fechner, G. T. (1898). Vorschule derasthetik Scott Parker, Department of Psychology, II[Introduction to aesthetics]. Leipzig: American University. Breitkopf&Hartel. Lindauer, M. S., & Dintruff, D. D. (1975). We thank Paul Locher for advice and guid Contrast effects in the response to art. ance on the manuscript. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 40, 155- 164. Marascuilo, L. A., & McSweeney, M. (1977). Nonparametric and distribution-free Correspondence about methods for the social sciences. this article should be ad Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole. dressed to: Debra A. Zellner, Temme, J. E. V., & Gieszen, C. A. C. (1995). Department of Psychology, Contrast effects and social desirability in Montclair State University, art appreciation. Empirical Studies of the Montclair, NJ 07043 (e-mail: Arts, 13, 171-181. [email protected]). Zellner, D. A., Kern, B., & Parker, S. (2002). Protection for the good: Subcategorization reduces hedonic contrast, Appetite, 38, 175-180. Zellner, D. A., Rohm, E. A., Bassetti, T. L., & Parker, S. (2003). Compared to what? Effects of categorization on hedoniccontrast. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 10, 468-473. Zellner, D.A., Strickhouser, D., & Tornow, C.E. (2004). Disconfirmed hedonic expectat ions produce perceptual contrast, not as similation. American Journal of Psychology, 777,363-387. These quotes were taken from Howard Gruber's many works found on his website at http://mtsu32.mtsu.edu: 1 ] 072/Gruber/ ~ J^^5S*^*^ ,**g£j.^.^.vj?-*i
The Aesthetic Trinity: Awe, Being Moved, Thrills
Vladimir J. Konecni Department of Psychology University of California, San Diego
Abstract Three related states—aesthetic awe, being moved or touched, and thrills or chills — are proposed as replacements for the imprecise "aesthetic emotions" and "musical emotions." Aesthetic awe is regarded as the ultimate humanistic moment, the prototypical aesthetic response to a sublime stimulus, and one that has been sexually selected. The sublime is pancultural and encompasses great beauty, rarity, and physical grandeur (for music to become sublime, it requires a "colossal" performance setting). Aesthetic awe is a primordial mixture of joy and fear, which, like joy, requires existential safety. It is virtually indistinguishable from the fundamental emotions, yet one that can be more easily "switched off," because the sublime is nonsocial and noninteractive. Aesthetic awe is always accompanied by the responses of being touched and (physiological) chills, but the latter two can also occur in awe's absence. To be moved, a personal associative context is needed; memories, love, or a victory over mortality fears may play a part. Thrills are the most common aesthetic response, one that can occur without the others. It is argued that there has been a politically motivated campaign of "destructive deconstruction" ofthe ancient and classical sublime, resulting—in much contemporary art—in a costly clash with the authentic human responses of the aesthetic trinity. The possibilities of changing current trends and of converting the elitist guilt that often accompanies aesthetic awe into aesthetic altruism is discussed.
There is little doubt that human beings can their peak life experiences (cf. Gabrielsson, 2001; respond powerfully and profoundly to great works Maslow, 1964,1968;Panzarella, 1980). of art, to extraordinary man-made objects, and to It would seem that such an aesthetic rare wonders of nature. Such "stimuli" (to use a phenomenon, perhaps the ultimate humanistic technical, if rather pale, term), as well as the various moment (Konecni, 2003b, p. 339), deserves components of the occasions of one's exposure serious inquiry, if not a central place, in a mature to them (including, especially, one's resulting psychological aesthetics. The purpose of this paper subjective state), leave deep impressions and are is to identify some key conceptual relations in this highly memorable: People include them in lists of domain of extreme aesthetic experience and to
27 propose heuristically useful definitions and universally acknowledged, beauty, which is also a nomenclature. Specifically, the paper discusses (a) strongly held position of this paper. However, the aesthetic awe, (b) being moved or touched, and beautiful (as defined in numerous one- and two- (c) thrills or chills, as the primordial and prototypic factor models—cf. Berlyne, 1971) comparatively human responses to the sublime. rarely includes or contains the sublime. Without Among other benefits of this nomenclature, it wishing to enter a laborious and mostly—for the is hoped that the use of the imprecise and purpose of this paper — irrelevant discussion misleading references to "aesthetic emotions" and about the definition, universality, and relativity of "musical emotions" will hitherto be mktimized. A beauty, the merely beautiful is here assumed to be section of the paper is devoted to a justification of far more common than the sublime, but also to be this plea one of its obligatory components. The beautiful will be treated as the extreme The Sublime high end of the dimension ofaestheti c pleasingness, as an attribute that is located in nature, in human Stimulus-in-Context artefacts, and, especially, in the synergy of an The sublime has been discussed as a artefact and its natural milieu. It can be, at least in partner to the beautiful since at least a (now lost) some contexts, objectively defined and empirically first-century treatise by Caecilius of Calaeta measured, for example, in the case of the "golden (referred to by the third-century Longinus or else section" that has been studied from antiquity a later pseudo-Longinus; cf. Berlyne, 1971). (Green, 1995; Konecni, 1997,2001, 2003a, in However, it can be documented that almost all the press; Konecni & Cline, 2001). maj or commentators on the sublime in the tradition of philosophical aesthetics—from Burke (1757/ Physical Grandeur 1990) to Tarozzi Goldsmith (1999), by way of The rarity of the sublime is presumably a Kant (1790/1986) and Lyotard (1991/1994), have statistical concomitant of its often being immense in their various statements confused the concept in size—a relationship that is understandable from of the sublime by alternately (and sometimes the standpoint of logistical baserates and simultaneously) treating it as both an object (or its evolutionary adaptation—and Derrida (1978), attributes) external to the experiencing person and along with many others, has described the sublime as the subjective, internally felt consequence of as "colossal" (and also as "erect" and "petrified" one's exposure to a relevant stimulus array. In —a reference presumably to the Pyramids of El this paper, the sublime is considered to be external Gizeh, especially the Cheops, or Khufu). to the subject, as the ultimate aesthetic stimulus- An object may be sublime despite an in-context — a term which emphasizes that absence of physical grandeur, because of the (especially its spatial) context is often an essential unique or extraordinary context in which it is feature of a sublime stimulus. The Great Wall of encountered. It is here assumed that the Mona China needs rolling hills to be sublime, and so did, Lisa is more sublime in the Louvre than if exhibited ephemerally, the Running Fence (in Marin, Napa, in another grand museum (that is, if it ever went and Sonoma Counties, California) by Christo "on tour"). But the contextual contrast can be (Javacheff). expected to play a part, so that its sublime quality would be restored if the painting were placed in, Rarity and Beauty say, the Angkor Wat in Cambodia or in a tiny According to all major commentators Lutheran church in the remote fishing village of from Burke to Tarozzi Goldsmith, the sublime Kulusuk on Greenland. Note that it is here always includes, but is not limited to, exceptional, hypothesized that the multifaceted contrast with s*P- -< r
Mona Lisa's customary home, rather than the difficult to reach even if one lives in relative proximity physical size of the new one, would be operative. — have been regarded as the dwellings of the Music, to be a sublime stimulus and induce deities or as their creations from the dawn of time aesthetic awe, may also require physical grandeur in literally every part of the world and in every — of the space in which it is performed — in conceivable "pagan" and monotheistic religion. addition to having certain structural features and a Admittedly, this is far more likely in the case of significant personal associative context. This issue natural objects, especially mountain peaks and is addressed in a later section of the paper. formations (from Denali to Ayer's Rock, and from Kilimanjaro to Olympus to Tai Shan to Fuji-san), Existential Security than of man-made ones, but there are many hi contrast to Tarozzi Goldsmith's critical exceptions. Antiquity may be necessary. There is standpoint (1999, p. 96), the position of this essay no Sydney Opera House or Golden Gate Bridge is in agreement with Burke's and Kant's claims cult (although the San Francisco Bay Area-based that the sublime can be "apprehended" only when Grateful Dead "deadheads" may beg to differ), but the subject (experiencer) is "not in danger" — there is the Parthenon, the Stonehenge, the Wailing though one should add here "apprehended as Wall, St. Sophia, Machu Pichu, the Ka'ba, St. aesthetically relevant." In this view, whether or Peter's—in addition to the Cheops Pyramid. not there is an objective degree of danger in a One may venture to speculate that the stimulus and its context, the subject will respond naturally sublime objects first had an aesthetic to it as a sublime object (that is, aesthetically, impact and only subsequently acquired the legends which would include finding it beautiful), only if and the religious mythology, whereas many of the there is no subjectively judged physical threat [cf. man-made sublime structures — all of which were "accommodation" in Keltner and Haidt, 2003]. built, until the industrial revolution, at least Berlyne (1971, p. 93) offers a brief, but lucid, ostensibly as religious objects (except perhaps for analysis of this crucial characteristic of the sublime the Great Wall of China) — incorporated the and the aesthetically-relevant physiological aesthetic sublimefrom th e start, presumably, in part, response to it, to the effect that "in stimulus by intuitively imitating the key attributes of the situations classifiable as art, there are cues that sublime in nature. inhibit the aversion system [in the brain] at least The aesthetic and the religious are therefore partially." often blurred in the sublime, in both the conception The notion of the sublime that involves an and the "consumption"—an idea that would not absence of physical threat is here extended to surprise art historians. Berlyne (1971) may have include a reasonable degree of existential comfort had similar notions whenhe formulated "ecological" and security in the life of the potential experiencer: stimulus variables, the impact of which arises from Existential well-being is considered a sine qua non the classically-conditioned associations. for experiencing a potentially sublime stimulus as indeed sublime (rather than as simply a source of Commonalities in the Sublime across Cultures income or even as a nuisance). For example, the "The [aesthetic] wisdom in many cultures Cheops and the Great Sphinx may not be sublime has some common features..." (Chen, 2004, p. to the desperately poor living at the feet of these 1). The position of this paper with regard to wonders. pancultural aesthetic wisdom is that the commonalities across cultures are due to the fact God's Dwelling is Sublime that all living humans are products of the It is little wonder that sublime objects — fundamentally similar selective evolutionary immense, beautiful, rare, and often inaccessible or pressures and the same broad laws of supply and V; / j&suj&'i')
demand in the context of finite resources, which significantly, to "*.. .the attitude of arnind subdued has shaped the neuro-mental (brain-mind) to profound reverence in the presence of supreme apparatus of the homo sapiens (including his authority, moral greatness, or sublimity, or aesthetic responsiveness). These pressures mysterious sacredness.'" Keltner and Haidt continue in our time and it is therefore not surprising (2003) do not pursue the notion of sublimity or of that there are common elements across time and the sublime; they consider awe to be a "family" of cultures in both the intuitive definition of the sublime emotions (e.g., Keltner, 2004) and in the very title and the authentic responses to it—the primordial of their paper mention awe as an "aesthetic" responses of aesthetic awe, of being deeply emotion (as well as a "moral" and "spiritual" one). moved, and of experiencing thrills/chills. Keltner and Haidt (2003, p. 306) think of It is sometimes uncritically assumed that "primordial awe [as] centering] upon the "the modernization of ancient [aesthetic] wisdom emotional reaction of a subordinate to a powerful may offer a solution [to present-day problems]" leader," which would presumably make it closely (Chen, 2004, p. 1). The hope that the ancient or related to one of the fundamental emotions, fear. classical aesthetic ideas (these two terms are used The point of disagreement arises when Keltner and interchangeably in the present essay), especially if Haidt regard aesthetic awe as a culturally- "modernized," can alleviate some of the blight of elaborated extension of the primordial version (p. contemporary life — "a neo-Chan (neo-Zen) 310). The present view is that aesthetic awe is a solution to pollution," to coin a mildly plausible, response to the sublime that is as primordial as aesthetics-based, environmental clean-up fear—and joy; in fact, it is assumed in this paper campaign slogan for China and Japan — is that it is composed of some elements experienced probably unrealistic. The problem is that such in both of these fundamental emotions. Whether solutions are in all respects subject to the same the fact that it is a mixture makes aesthetic awe laws of supply and demand that were mentioned less fundamental than fear and joy is an open above and therefore are often superficial at best question. and of limited and ephemeral usefulness. Therefore, the position of this essay is that Aesthetic Awe rather than modernizing the features of the ancient Origin. Aesthetic awe has presumably approach that have led to awe-inspiring and moving occurredfrom primevaltimes as aresponse, initially, aesthetic solutions, one should explore their core to the unexpectedly encountered natural wonders, attributes—while obviously despising the brutal and, later, to human artefacts also. As has already economics involved in the creation of the ancient been implied, it involves a sense of suspense and sublime structures. These issues are further of a controllable, interesting (as opposed to pursued in the final, Implications, section of the pleasing, in standard psycho-aesthetic terms) paper. degree of risk. However, existential security cannot be in doubt — as it is not in joy. One is Awe and Aesthetic Awe overwhelmed, but safely so: Niagara is fantastic, powerful, astounding, and extraordinarily beautiful, Awe but 1 am safe (and not the one tumbling down the In their far-reaching, systematic paper, falls in a barrel)! Keltner and Haidt (2003, p. 308), analyze the Aesthetic awe and the fundamental etymology of awe and usefully point out that emotions. The centrality of the concept of the according to the Oxford English Dictionary the fundamental emotions in biopsychology is justified meaning changed from fear of a divine being to " by their enormous evolutionary significance. They 'dread mingled with veneration...'" and, are psychologically and metabolically costly and a^Jj-M *V usually reserved for emergencies. When they occur, ^ The bad reason is a challenge to aesthetic they are major existential events in human awe on adaptationist grounds. Music itself has been phenomenology. Among many other thus challenged (cf. Huron, 2001; Pinker, 1997). characteristics, they flood consciousness and are However, in the case of music, Miller (2000; cf. pan-cultural in terms of experience and expression; Gurney, 1880) provides a logically defensible they usually have an unambiguous cause as well explanation in terms of sexual selection (although as object toward, or regarding which, to act music's role in primeval dance, with its providing (Konecni,2003,p.332). opportunities for display of health and endurance, Aesthetic awe is here proposed as the is not sufficiently emphasized). prototypical subjective reaction to a sublime Aesthetic awe (with the accompaniment stimulus. It is the most pronounced, the ultimate, of being moved and thrills) is assumed in this paper aesthetic response, in all ways similar to the also to have been sexually selected. The fundamental emotions. One possible difference experiencer's attributes and behaviors of (a) needs to be mentioned. The experiencing person reverence (i.e., the presumed private access to the can cognitively "switch off' aesthetic awe at will supernatural), (b) the apparent emotional and by altering the focus of attention to other external intellectual sensitivity (useful in child-rearing), and and internal domains. This is because the sublime (c) elite-membership, demonstrated by the stimulus, anon-sentient, non-interacting, object— possession of the economic and physical means unlike the customary human causes of fear, anger, that enable the encounter with the sublime stimulus, joy, and grief— does not press, from existential make the experiencer of aesthetic awe a highly and evolutionary points of view, to be attended to desirable sexual mate. urgently. In the language of legal psychology, Recall and the physiological response. aesthetic awe does not have a "knife focus." Like the sublime in stimulus sampling, aesthetic awe Aesthetic awe shares with both joy and is, by definition, exceedingly rare in response griefthe state of being moved, and, with the former, sampling. It is of limited duration in terms of its thrills also. Its requirement of existential safety acute physiological concomitants, but its immense differentiates it from — but places on the same original phenomenological impact (the flooding of continuum as — fear. With joy it shares the consciousness at the time of the initial occurrence) experience of thrills, which in fear is felt as chills. insures that it can be easily recalled and With all the fundamental emotions it shares a truly remembered forever. dramaticfluctuation i n physiological arousal. The ease and vividness of recall of the There are two moot reasons and a bad aesthetic-awe-inspiring occasions may well mean one for the fact that aesthetic awe had not been that the intensively recalled aesthetic awe can hitherto included among the fundamental emotions. produce aphysiological reaction (specifically, thrills The first debatable reason is the above-mentioned or chills) —just as the recollections of fear-, ease with which aesthetic awe can presumably be anger-Joy-, and grief-inducing situations produce switched off— because the sublime does not react various autonomic (differential) physiological to the experiencer. The second moot reason is a responses (e.g., Ekman, Levenson, & Friesen, statistical one, involving baserates [Berlyne's 1983). An important assumption of the present (1971) "collative variables"]: The sublime is paper, however, is that whereas the intensive recall extremely rare — and therefore a response to it of the sublime and aesthetic-awe can reproduce a has not been deemed important enough in folk tales state of being moved, the Wow! of the original and scientific nomenclature to deserve the status aesthetic awe is irreproducible. of the fundamental. Aesthetic awe, elitism, and (pseudo- ?)altruism. One is overwhelmed by the sublime stimulus, but is safe — and special, one should travel is sometimes formalized as pilgrimage add—a member of the chosen survivors, of the (including, for example, the compulsory Muslim electi, of an elite—to have managed to be safely, hajj to the 10.5 x 12 x 15-meter Ka'ba in Mecca), and often exclusively, viewing the sublime stimulus. but the religious ones are far from being the only Importantly, to know how to "apprehend" it and occasions for exhausting, expensive, and generalize from it, while being joyous: "[F]eeling dangerous travel to the sublime [cf. Loewenstein's privileged to regard Mozart as a brother,...[sense] (1999) discussion of extreme mountaineering and the larger truth hidden in the pinnacles of human polar attempts, typically by pairs of people or small achievement, and yet [realize], with some teams; solo attempts on the mountains, the Poles, resignation, [one's] miniscule [place] in the and the oceans are in an even more exclusive universe" (Konecni, 2003b, p. 339). league]. Suggesting that a sense of elitism may be The approach to the sublime object may an aspect of "lofty sentiments" (Konecni, 2003b, involve a gradual buildup of expectations that is p. 339) may seem cynical, but is realistic from an akin to development in 19th-century musical adaptationist perspective. Instead, Haidt's (2000) compositions, except that it may be spread over idea of "elevation," of "rising up, including hours, days, or much longer periods. There is openness to altruism" (Haidt, 2004), implies a belief typically also an increase in thoughts and activities in the existence of "true altruism" that has been that contribute to the eventual state of aesthetic challenged by contemporary biologists on both awe. In the final stage of the approach, even though theoretical and empirical grounds (Hamilton, 1964; one may factually know that the sublime is "just Konecni, 1976; Trivers, 1971; Wilson, 1975). around the comer," there is the shock, the "Wow!," Thinking of oneself as being among the deep and when it is suddenly revealed, or revealed in full. sensitive electi may move one to some semblance of philanthropic behavior perhaps in part because Being Moved or Touched one may feel guilty, rightly or wrongly, that one has not arrived at that status by chance or through Being Moved: A Genuine Subjective State a "democratic process" (Konecni, 2004c). In the present approach, aesthetic awe is Aesthetic awe and hallucinations. By considered to be always accompanied by the state being defined as a response to a sublime stimulus, of being moved or touched (these terms are used the future potential research on aesthetic awe interchangeably). However, it is hypothesized that should conceptually exclude drug-induced there are many instances of being moved by hallucinations and trance states that have been aesthetic stimuli that do not encompass, or reach, counted by various authors, especially Maslow the ethereal, but powerful, aesthetic awe (1964,1968), as being among "peak experiences." experience. In addition, one can be moved by non- This is not meant to doubt the importance of such aesthetic, usually social, stimuli that are of marginal experiences or the great value of studying them. relevance for this paper. In fact, if one is truly open-minded, one must admit Aesthetic stimuli. Scherer and Zentner that one person's Cheops is another's LSD tablet. (2001, p. 384-385) have provided some Seeking aesthetic awe. The sublime is interesting, albeit very brief and somewhat self- often an object that has been famous since antiquity contradictory, comments on the state of being and people who do not live near it may spend a touched. As they point out, the German noun lifetime hoping and planning to experience it. To Ruhrung has no substantive counterparts in do so, they often travel far and experience great English and French (although there are nouns for inconvenience, expense, and even danger. When both the stimulus and the response sides, for the sublime object has a religious significance, this example, in Serbian: dirljivost and dirnutost). They think of being moved both as a good from the present viewpoint, doubtful that one needs descriptor of an intense response to music and as to invoke a new emotion —"elevation"—as Haidt a feeling that is "rather vaguely described." They (2000) does, to deal with the resulting state. point to the absence of a "concrete action In summary, in the present account, the tendency" and bring up the accompanying (though category of events that can induce a state of being not conceptually essential for the Scherer-Zentner moved includes both aesthetic and non-aesthetic position) "...moist eyes, chills, thrills, or members. Among the aesthetic events, very few, gooseflesh..." They view the state of being the sublime, can produce aesthetic awe in addition touched as one that should be regarded as a to the state of being moved. Analogously, among genuine emotion—while also saying that it is really the non-aesthetic ones, witnessing certain acts, for not one (by their own Table 16.1, p. 363). example, of extreme (apparent) selflessness may Even without a substantive, and contrary produce awe in the Keltner-Haidt (2003) moral to the Scherer-Zentner characterization of it as a or spiritual sense, in addition to being moving. vague descriptor, "being moved" is actually a very (Witnessing such acts may involve sympathy and distinctive subjective state that, like aesthetic awe, empathy that are usually missing in one's being can be readily, reliably, and accurately reported. moved by aesthetic stimuli.) The term "elevation" However, it is assumed in this paper that being (Haidt, 2000) may become useful if it can be touched is a response to a far greater range of shown that being moved either by aesthetic stimuli stimuli than is the case with aesthetic awe. (e.g., music), or by acts of selflessness, has similar Moreover, the personal associative context plays behavioral consequences, such as an increase in a greater role in being moved than it does in the probability of prosocial acts. Research that aesthetic awe (Konecni, 1995-2004). For these addresses these questions is currently being reasons, being touched is considered to be more pursued (Brown & Koneem, 2004; Haidt 2004). removed from the fundamental emotions both conceptually and phenomenologically than is the Epiphany and Love case with aesthetic awe. In the present view, merely witnessing a In the present view, the examples of being beautiful natural spectacle — a sunset, a starry moved, with the accompaniment of chills, can night, a chain of snow-capped mountains—is not come from poetry, theatre (cf. Konecni, 1991; sufficient to induce a state of being moved without Shweder & Haidt, 2000; Stanislavky, 1936), film, the involvement of additional factors. Such, non- opera (Stanislavski & Rumyantsev, 1975), and aesthetic, factors, a few of which are mentioned music. When the music-listening situation is below, may predispose the experiencer to be physically ordinary, but a significant personal moved by sights that are indeed objectively associative context exists, music with certain beautiful, but are encountered too frequently and structural elements (Brown & Konecni, 2004; regularly to have (or maintain) the power, on their Sloboda, 1991) can induce a state of being moved own, to move. and thrills. A later section addresses this issue in Victory over mortality fears. One may more detail. be moved by the starry sky that one has frequently Non-aesthetic stimuli. The fact that one encountered on that special occasion when one can undoubtedly be moved by events other than teaches a young child, one's genetic heir, for the those clearly delineated as aesthetic or artistic does first time, about the infinity of cosmos and the not diminish the usefulness of the concept. relativity and continuity of life. Or one may, on Witnessing, in the real world, certain acts of another occasion, finally manage to relate one's forgiveness, sacrifice, and generosity is a frequent moral core to infinite space-time, which one cause of being touched, although it would seem, perhaps finds in Kant's sentence (1788/1996) that is etched on his tombstone: "A starry sky above within plays) are instructive in the light of this me and a moral law within." Such a personal essay?s position. Afew illustrative examples follow. victory over mortality fears should perhaps be Saul/St. Paul; Arjuna. A rather detailed considered an epiphany. account of awe, epiphany, and conversion that was Solution of a complicated problem. A experienced by Saul on the road to Damascus (The fairly common natural sight may move one when it Acts 9.3-7), and the mythical Arjuna in the coincides or follows closely in time one's finding Bhagavadgita section of the Hindu epic the the solution to an important and elusive intellectual Mahabarata, is provided by Kelther and Haidt problem or one's reaching the decision concerning (2003, pp. 298-299). Both Saul/Paul and Arjuna a major issue in one's life. The beauty of the sight are described in the original texts as experiencing "harmonizes" with the post-solution or post- a great deal of fear, and therefore,from the present decision inner peace. viewpoint—although some of Arjuna's visions Boundless love and falling in love. It is could be considered aesthetic—portraying these not important whether an average starry night is personages' aesthetic awe was certainly not the genuinely perceived as magnificent by a person primary intent of the two sources' anonymous falling in love or whether one craftily embellishes it authors. (and then perhaps begins to believe it), in order to It is an empirical question, but it would prod one's partner into responding romantically: seem that most present-day readers of the two A starry-night-cum-love idyll is likely to have accounts would experience neither awe nor played a part in the personal history of every reader . aesthetic awe. They might, however, be moved of this paper. and experience chills. Natasha Rostova. In Lyov Tolstoy's Being Moved by Reading about Being Moved (1869/1931, pp. 387-388) War andpeace , there Until this point, the experiencer's states is a famous moonlight-cum-love scene involving of aesthetic awe and of being moved were the teenage Countess Natasha Rostova and Prince discussed as responses to real events — to the Andrey Bolkonsky, which is instructive from the real-world sublime and aesthetic stimuli. However, standpoints of both the author's various intentions especially in an article on aesthetic issues, it would and the reader's likely reactions. not do to neglect people's highly relevant responses Natasha is falling in love with Andrey. Late to the described and acted-out events in the worlds at night, she gazes at the moon and says to Sonya, within legends, novels, plays, operas. her teenage companion,"... almost with tears in Whereas books and reading them are her voice... 'Do you know such an exquisite night obviously real, the events in them are either real, has never, never been before.'" Sonya is but described or depicted, or entirelyfictional. The unimpressed by the moonlit garden scene and wants experiencer as the direct witness is replaced by to sleep. Andrey, nearby, can "hear the rustle of the reader who is presented with the results of the her garments and even her breathing" but "dare[s] author's interpretive lens. Even more interestingly, not stir for fear of betraying his unintentional the story may describe a character experiencing presence." Natasha continues to Sonya:'".. .do aesthetic awe and being moved: What does the look, what a moon!... One has only to squat on reader feel (other than admiration for the great one heels like this — see — and to hold to one's writing)? The implications of the reader's one- or knees — as tight, as tight as one can — give a even two-step removalfrom the aesthetic stimulus great spring and one would fly away.'" (such as, for example, when characters are So, Tolstoy apparently thinks, via Sonya's described as responding to film scenes within fictional behavior, that the beauty of the moonlight novels or actors emotionally respond to plays and starry night in the real world is not sufficient by itself to induce aesthetic awe or being moved The narrator/protagonist is listing sublime or thrills — the states whicrTNatasha is objeBts and experiencing anticipatory aesthetic unequivocally described as experiencing, but only awe. The reader does not himself feel aesthetic with the big helpfrom her headlong falling in love. awe, especially because the objects are not even Nor does empathy with her friend in the throes of described. He is, however, being inexorably drawn aesthetic awe move sleepy Sonya. Nor does into the story by the familiarity of the sublime Tolstoy say anything about Andrey's being moved objects and by rooting for the narrator in his quest; — for Andrey, an impeccable gentleman, is too this development (as in music) increases the embarrassed and too scared of being discovered likelihood of subsequently being moved (see to have the mental luxury of being moved. Footnote 1). There is also an element of suspense, On the other hand, the reader (perhaps of a certain unease that something untoward might like Tolstoy himself while writing this short scene) soon happen in the story: The reader is safe, but is moved and gets thrills and a lump in the throat the protagonist — and the author! — are not. from "listening" to Natasha as she creates aesthetic Indeed the protagonist has a bicycle awe out of average moonlight and true love. accident, for which there is no one and nothing to However, the reader, in the terminology of this blame (except for an aubergine lying in the street), paper, does not experience aesthetic awe. and in a split of a second, his life is changed forever, The sublime, aesthetic awe, and fate. for he is left paralyzed below the waist. In his short story Fate (1991/2001) the To this the adequately primed reader contemporary Chinese writer Jin Shui intuitively, responds with being deeply moved and with chills. and without mentioning any aesthetic issues, It is clear that the reader's reaction is caused largely explores the nature of the sublime, of aesthetic awe, by the magnitude of the protagonist's loss, the and of being moved. There are three key sequential reader's identification with the narrator, and the elements in the story: (a) a mention of magnificent consequent empathy But even though the primary man-made and natural wonders that are located stimulus for the reader is not aesthetic, her empathy worldwide; (b) the narrator's intense anticipation with the protagonist is enabled, in large part, by of seeing them; and (c) a fateful event that forever the latter's response of anticipated awe to the precludes the narrator from fulfilling his dream. sublime objects the reader knows about, has The story is explicitly autobiographical and herself experienced, or would very much want to written in the first person. Because cruel fate affects experience. a real person, and moreover one who speaks to The sublime, aesthetic awe, and guilt. the reader directly from the world of the story, the Sigmund Freud saw the Acropolis forthefirst tim e reader's empathy is more likely. when he was a mature man, at 48 years of age, in A young mainland-Chinese man is riding 1904, but never forgot the aesthetic awe he on his bicycle in his home town, happy because experienced on the occasion. In a letter to Romain he would soon realize his dream of going abroad Rolland in 1936, when Freud was 80 and Rolland to study (he is one of "the chosen"). 70, Freud described a complex state that one can "An ordinary summer night. I whistled a describe as being deeply moved by finally reaching tune. The world is very large. I think I'll go to visit something that had been so grandiose as to appear the Grand Canyon in Arizona on one of my out of reach. vacations and Niagara Falls on another. If I live Writing about this letter, Zbigniew Herbert very frugally, maybe I can also visit the Great (2003), a Polish critic, comments that in reading it Pyramid of Cheops, St. Mark's Cathedral, Mount he experienced the state of being moved in part Fuji" (p. 24). because, in his own case, when he was confronted by the sublime works of man or nature, he always felt guilt concerning the people dear to him who situations that produce the fundamental emotions, could not be present to share his aesthetic awe. and those that produce chills, both cause blood- The guilt, sense of loss, separation from friends, flow changes in the same general areas of the brain, and an evocation of past grieving to which Herbert does not necessarily mean that the respective alludes, may be important for the chills/thrills phenomenological experiences and evolutionary response. implications are the same in the two cases. Thrills The writer of the present paper recalls his sometimes accompany the fundamental emotions, first glimpse of the Acropolis and the Parthenon at but far morefrequently occur in their absence. eleven years of age: Aesthetic awe at this In the present approach, thrills are magnificent object, within reach, but so high, considered to be the most frequent response to splendid, and mighty—and the sense of wonder aesthetic stimuli. In response to the sublime, thrills and being moved, accompanied by the thrills — always occur together with aesthetic awe and being all to be remembered forever; and, unlike Freud moved. Additionally, it is assumed that most and Herbert, no sense of regret or guilt — the occurrences of being moved are also accompanied blessing of childhood and immaturity. by chills; the exceptions consist of the relatively rare people who have a lower threshold for Thrills or Chills experiencing (or admitting to) being moved than for experiencing (or admitting to) thrills (Konecni, These terms (see Footnote 2) refer to the 1995-2004). Music with certain structural archaic physiological response of short duration elements (Brown & Konecni, 2004; Sloboda, to aesthetic (and other) stimuli: Piloerection on the 1991), but devoid of personal associations and back of the neck; shivers down the spine that can heard in an ordinary space, is afrequent caus e of spread to arms and other parts of the body; chills — without the deeper aesthetic responses sometimes a lump in the throat or even tears. The being present. Finally, there are the horror and tear- state can be reported by the experiencing person jerker movies, in which a person also does not with a high degree of reliability; also, chills can be experience either aesthetic awe or being moved, objectively measured in terms of skin conductivity but only chills or tears. The superficiality of these (Blood &Zatorre, 2001 ;Panksepp, 1998). Since responses from an aesthetic point of view, despite Goldstein's 1980) pioneering study, there has been their appeal to some, is demonstrated by the ease a considerable amount of controlled laboratory with which the experiencer can terminate the work on this phenomenon, especially in response response. to music (e.g., Brown & Konecni, 2004; Konecni, It should be noted that all the aesthetic 1995-2004; Panksepp, 1995; Sloboda, 1991; responses, especially being moved and thrills, Waterman, 1996). require that the experiencer attends closely to the Goldstein (1980) has shown that the relevant stimuli. The paper does not deal with incidence of thrills in response to music can be "background music" (in the broad sense). reduced by drugs that are opiate receptor antagonists, such as naloxone. In addition, Music as a Special Case sophisticated scanning techniques, such as positron emission tomography have been used to monitor Certain psychophysical attributes of spatial the cerebral blood flow, during the experience of stimulus arrays (cf. Berlyne, 1971), including vast thrills, in the ventral striatum, the midbrain, and the size and appealing proportions, contribute to their amygdala that are also involved in the fundamental sublime quality and capacity to induce aesthetic emotions (Blood & Zatorre, 2001). However, it awe. The question, from the standpoint of the is important to stress that just because the stimulus present approach, is whether music can be sublime ".^ and which of its features make it able to move and associative web can also be activated by non- touch the listeners. musical aesthetic and non-aesthetic stimuli, chills Research participants have reported (e.g., are here regarded as far more frequent and Konecni, 1995-2004; Panksepp, 1995; Sloboda, predictable — archaic, but shallow — than the 1991) that various structural features of music, state ofbeing moved. including crescendos, unusual harmonies, dissonant Finally, can music be sublime? Can it chords, high-pitched solo vocals, guitar "riffs," induce aesthetic awe — a state that is more sudden changes in dynamics, and fast tempo on profound, exhilarating, and elevating than are those percussion instruments, among others, can cause of being moved and experiencing thrills, but them to experience thrills. Surprise and incongruity includes them? In the present view, to be sublime, (Berlyne, 1971), a violation of expectations music must be "colossal," and this status it can (Meyer, 1956), and traditional melodies that are achieve only by being performed in vast typically described as "beautiful" (cf. Gurney, architectural spaces that have not only excellent 1880) may also cause chills. acoustic qualities, but are also of extraordinary However, these structural-temporal beauty. Perhaps the prototypical examples of this, (harmonic, melodic, modal, dynamic, and timbre- and, not surprisingly also the ones with the longest based), and lower-level cognitive, effects are not,- tradition of performance of music of the highest in the present view, sufficient to make music caliber, are European mediaeval cathedrals and touching. One often experiences thrills while churches. In them one can encounter a truly listening to music without being moved. In addition, sublime combination of vast space and soaring one can analytically, without being moved, in the music, in addition to various stimuli that can tradition of Eduard Hanslick's dictum "the beautiful produce a wealth of personal associations is and remains beautiful though it arouse [s] no (including those classically conditioned since emotion whatever" (1854/1957; cf. Stravinsky, childhood), so that the result can be the "aesthetic 1936), admire the score or the gift and skill of the trinity" of awe, being moved, and experiencing composer and performers—as if the sonic stimulus thrills (see Footnote 3). were a chess or mathematical problem. Furthermore, the possibility that music and Implications emotional experience have similar temporal patterns (Gurney, 1880; Langer, 1942), and that Aesthetic and Musical "Emotions" a listener of (even non- "program") music can The nomenclature that has_been proposed therefore decipher that it is attempting to evoke or in this paper can perhaps replace the unsystematic, depict an emotional state, does not necessarily imprecise, and sometimes casual references to the move the listener. Being moved is a serious matter aesthetic and musical "emotions," with which the and it cannot be cheaply induced. literature is replete, and lead to a conceptual re Buttressed by research (Konecni, 1995- orientation and methodological improvements. 2004) that has demonstrated enormous individual In the belief system and parlance of many differences, the present contention is that what a Sue Doe and music and art teacher, music and makes a piece of music moving for a particular art induce fundamental emotions in the listener and listener is her personal associative context. The viewer. Such folk views are often echoed by the phenomenological experience ofbeing moved may musicological position that music directly causes be similar, but the associative web that is interposed emotions (e.g., most chapters in the Juslin and between the sound and the state ofbeing touched Sloboda, 2001, edited volume; Budd, 1985, p. is unique to each person (cf. Budd, 1985, p. 53; 31) and the call for "aesthetic emotions" and Gurney, 1880). And even though this personal "musical emotions" that is returned by the titles of 'K jiilJi&JJL articles published in major journals (e.g., Keltner Doornen, 1997; Witviiet & Vrana, 1996) have & Haidt, 2003; Krurnhansl, 1997). actually produced rather ambiguous results, yet are The conceptual, methodological, and readily overinterpreted in secondary sources. In terminological problems in the literature, as seen general, music has been too uncritically regarded from the present position, fall in several related as a link between cognition and emotion (e.g., categories (these issues are further pursued in Gaver & Mandler, 1987; Krurnhansl, 2002). papers by Brown & Konecni, 2004, and Konecni 5. With the notable exception of the 2004a, 2004b): research by Vaitl, Vehrs, and Stemagel (1993) on 1. A confusion is introduced by many 27 listeners' responses to Wagner's operas at investigators, both conceptually and Bayreuth, the special situations in which music can methodologically, and for both research subjects become sublime are not considered by the papers and readers of articles, between the "emotions" in that claim a causal effect of music on emotion. In the music (which is non-sentient and can only fact, most research studies are set up in such a depict or evoke emotions) and the induced way—in terms of the choice of musical materials, subjective state of the listener (e.g., Krurnhansl, research locations, duration of listening, and other 1998; Sloboda& Lehman, 2001). methodological details—that even being moved 2. The casual use of the plural in "aesthetic is most unlikely to be experienced by the or musical emotions" suggests that authors participants. What one gets in most studies, at best, frequently ignore the biological significance of the are thrills—and verbal ratings of the music. emotions (cf. Budd, 1985). After all, every It would seem that most researchers are language possesses, for multiple extraneous keen listeners to music and that they have reasons, literally hundreds of labels for things repeatedly experienced aesthetic awe, the state "emotional" — and these labels some authors of being moved, and chills in their private lives. misapply to internal states. However, these profound personal responses to 3. The terms for the emotions that are music, and presumably to other arts, have generally produced by interacting with human beings in major not inspired research that could adequately explore life situations are too readily used for the effects of them. It is hoped that this essay is a useful step music. Debatable theoretical assumptions about toward rectifying the current research and emotions translate into debatable methods. theoretical trends. Research participants may, for example (Krurnhansl, 1997), be asked to rate continuously The Aesthetic Trinity and the Arlworld the "amount of sadness [or happiness or fear] they The classical and the modern: A experience" (p. 340) in response to six three- discontinuity. From a musical segment to Iguacu minute musical excerpts that are "chosen to Falls, andfrom the droplets on a cobweb below a represent" sadness, happiness, and fear (two leaf in the lower reaches of Mt. Fuji to a Rothko each). In 18 minutes, the subjects are thus implicitly manifold or the Great Wall of China—crumbling — and highly unrealistically — expected to and reduced to a third of its original size (Xinhua/ experience two episodes each of the fundamental Reuters, 2004)—aesthetic stimuli, man-made and emotions of sadness, happiness, and fear (in a natural, have been analyzed and thought about by mixed order) and respond during these episodes generations of artists, critics, and both philosophical continuously on a "sadness" (or "happiness" or and empirical aestheticians. "fear") scale. When the evidence is examined, a sharp 4. The few experiments that claim to have discontinuity with the ancient and the classical is demonstrated a causal effect of music on emotion observed in the art of the 20th-century, especially (Krurnhansl, 1997; Nyklicek, Thayer, & Van in Europe and America (areas of massive and fit*T *'—»*2-H&--"-t% :***£? 1 T^***4ii
influential art production), such that many pretense in 20th-century art has had quite real approaches in many art forms—serial and aleatory human and economic costs. music, DAD A, postmodern dance, conceptual, To give a pre-postmodern example, "bluff," and "decay" art, "anti-illusionist" theatre, Bertolt Brecht proved to be too masterful a visual and "nonsense" poetry, to mention just a dramatist to be able to prevent the audiences at few without regard to chronology — have his "epic" (presumably anti-Stanislavskian and systematically severed the link with the ancient and anti-bourgeois) Berlin stagings of Mother Courage classical approaches. In so doing, they have from Aristotelian cathartic sobbing (Konecni, eliminated the sublime: Aesthetic awe and being 1991), but another way of viewing his approach moved have become unacceptable responses to is that the entire "distancing" (Verfrerndung) idea which public art must not cater (see Footnote 4). and the associated removal of empathy The rejection of the sublime and the moving (Einfuhlung) were simply politically expedient. can be labeled "destructive deconstruction." This Note that this disingenuousness of Brecht's art-political agenda has had considerable economic (perhaps itself insincere — which adds another and social costs and detrimental implications for twist, one that was used also by Picasso, and rather how public art is done and financed worldwide. common in 20th-century art) had an immeasurable Aesthetics and politics. In large part, social cost incurred by the explicit support of the especially in the last third of the 20th century, world-famous Berliner Ensemble for the highly destructive deconstruction has been vigorously repressive German Democratic Republic (DDR). promoted by the new art hyper-elite, the highly As an apparent counter-example, it could politicized museum curators and international be claimed that Christo's running fences, wrapped festival directors, with the connivance of islands and coastlines, curtained-off canyons, governmental art bureaucrats. All have striven to thousands of blue and yellow umbrellas dispersed eliminate classical art, treating it as a weapon of simultaneously on hillsides in two countries, and oppression that had been wielded by the dead (and wrapped classical bridges, genuinely inspire half-dead), white (and off-white), (mostly) aesthetic awe and move — yet seem to be the heterosexual, exploitative males. crystallization of postmodernism. However, the The present position is that these curators point is that they induce aesthetic awe despite their and the postmodern artists shaped by them have tongue-in-cheek ephemerality and, especially, not attacked the exploitative, wasteful, and despite the equally tongue-in-cheek process of militaristic oppressors, but rather the primordial (pseudo-)democratic and ecologically-conscious core of the human aesthetic-emotional response negotiation with the local authorities (among whom —that is, the perceptual, cognitive, and, especially, have been the Paris clochards and the Marin emotional apparatus that our species uses to deal County, California, farmers) that is supposedly a with the sublime and the deeply moving. crucial part of Christo's works. One's response For this reason, the prediction ofthi s essay to them is aesthetic awe in part because the is that postmodernism (broadly defined) will fail emphatically ephemeral attribute of the works is and that it would have failed even if its political so stunningly juxtaposed with their sublime quality. objectives were just and equitable. It remains an open question whether the Although it is true that magnificent art politically-correct blather that surrounds Christo's inspires aesthetic awe and moves deeply regardless works analogously contributes to their impact by of its stated deconstructive intentions, the layers its triviality being juxtaposed with the works' of nonsense that are introduced for selfish or monumentality: Is it necessary to be oblivious to political reasons do not come cheap. The political hype in order to experience aesthetic awe? It is instructive to contrast Christo's widely accessible is eminently more just and sublime ephemera with those that can be thought altruistic than is the metaphorical and literal of as the hallmark of recent postmodernism, cultivation of termites for the purpose of namely, the rapidly reproducing examples of demonstrating how allegedly rotten the ancient "decay art." In them one observes an sublime house is. economically, aesthetically, and olphactorily foul This is not the occasion to discuss the paradox of the obscenely expensive, cutting-edge bread part ofpanem et circenses, nor is it possible scientific procedures being used by museums to here to suggest how decency and equity should preserve and restore what, in its original state, be brought into the cynical Roman formula; but shrilly (though disingenuously) insisted on being the sublime is the deadly enemy of the circus as a sticky, messy, and rotting—ephemeral (cf. Barnes, crass and violent entertainment. Education that 2003). encourages the quest for aesthetic awe would be This is a joke in the Duchamp tradition, a welcome part ofa political agenda that is devoted but one that would offend the grand bluff-master's to a constructive role of aesthetics in contemporary sense of clarity and order (observed in his excellent life. chess-playing), as well as his purity (the urinal and bicycle wheel were reputedly spotless). One has here a pseudo-progression of the "new" — but it Footnotes is a costly exercise that is radically dissociated from 1. It is important to re-emphasize that this the tradition that leads back to the ancient sublime. natural/man-made distinction is not a sharp one. Art consumption and altruism. One For example, Mount Fuji is a dead volcano, but might wonder about the broader layers of sensitive also, as "Mount Fuji," it is a symbolic achievement art consumers and their private and genuine, as of the human spirit and this essay's author was opposed to the public and scared, reaction to the acutely aware, while climbing it to the summit from new curatorial dogma. Such people are likely to Fuji Sengen-jinja (a famous Shinto shrine in Fuji- be over-represented among those who, when Yoshida at the volcano's base), of the countless experiencing aesthetic awe, guiltily regard generations of awe- and aesthetic-awe-struck themselves as privileged and "chosen." monks and priests who preceded him and built To convert into aesthetic altruism the temples and shrines along the paths. The author's guilty component of the elitism that has been here aesthetic awe and thrills at the summit were not a hypothesized as an ingredient of aesthetic awe— "mountain high," but in part caused by the sense perhaps experienced precisely by those who most of being privileged to follow in the footsteps of genuinely seek the sublime in art and nature— prior generations of monks in a distant land. seems as a socially responsible alternative to 2. Panksepp (1995,1998, pp. 278-279) destructive deconstruction. One should strive for has argued for the music-induced thrills to be a serious philanthropy with global ambitions that regarded as reflecting the activation of our "ancient would be devoted to financing the contemporary separation-distress response systems," on the creation of the "new old" sublime art—in parallel grounds that his data show that "sad music" is a with the conservation of the existing natural and more powerful inducer of chills than "happy music," man-made wonders — as a post-postmodern, and that women—presumably the primary care enlightened, version of noblesse oblige. givers and thus more attuned than men to distress It might be argued that the project of calls—are differentially more responsive to "sad destructive deconstruction seeks social justice by music" than men. In addition, because his data dismantling the sublime. The contention here, show that women, unlike men, prefer the term however, is that the goal of making the sublime "chills" to "thrills," Panksepp himself prefers the T&*-!* ?- —
former term. However, there are indications that -%i; References these generalizations may be limited to Panksepp's subject samples in Ohio. Because of the mixed Barnes, B. (2003). When art of decay decays, results obtained in the present author's laboratory what's a curator to do? Aging dung, regarding these matters (Konecni, 1995-2004), blood and food give conservators fits. and the fact that Goldstein's (1980) early paper The Wall Street Journal, October 28, used "thrills" in the title, the terms "thrills" and p. 1. "chills" are used interchangeably in the present Berlyne, D. E. (1971). Aesthetics and paper. psychobiology. New York: Appleton- Century-Crofts. 3. As just two personal examples (in which Blood, A. J., & Zatorre, R. J. (2001). Intensely unique associative and semiotic elements, in pleasurable responses to music correlate addition to the beauty of the space and the music, with activity in brain regions implicated in were involved), this paper's author can cite his reward and emotion. Proceedings of experiences at Dom zu Salzburg and the National Academy of Sciences, 98, Thomaskirche in Leipzig. At the Salzburg Festival 11818-11823. in 1991, Mozart's Requiem in D Minor (KV 626, Brown, A., & Konecni, V. J. (2004). completed by Franz Xaver Siissmayr) was Comparative effects of valenced music performed by the Vienna Philharmonic at the and recalled life-events on self-ratings Salzburg Cathedral, conducted by Carlo Maria and physiological thrills/chills. Giulini. The performance poignantly marked the Unpublished manuscript. University of passage of two centuries since the composer's California, San Diego. Budd, M. (1985). Music and the emotions. death in the place in which he had been baptized. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul pic. At St. Thomas's Church, where Johann Sebastian Burke, E. (17'5771990). A philosophical Bach had been Kantor, the author sat literally at enquiry into the origin of our ideas of Bach's tomb while Bach's distant heir to the the sublime and beautiful. Oxford: Kantor position in 1991 (241 years after Bach's Oxford University Press. death) played Toccata and Fuga D Minor (B WV Chen, W.-h. (2004). Call for papers. The 565) at the author's request — at 7:30 in the Wuhan University Aesthetics Conference morning. on "Beauty and the Way of Modern 4. Tarozzi Goldsmith (1999) contends that Life," Wuhan, China, May 2004 the new in art maintains the (presumably essential) Derrida, J. (1978). La verite en peinture. Paris: Flammarion. sublime in it despite the nihilistic onslaught from Ekman, P., Levenson, R. W., & Friesen, W. V. Nietzsche on. From this essay's standpoint, the (1983). Autonomic nervous system view of the centrality of the new in the sublime is activity distinguishes among emotions. an only superficially attractive idea. To save the Science, 221, 1208-1210. sublime in art from destructive deconstruction, the Gabrielsson, A. (2001). Emotions in strong new must have an assured degree of continuity experiences with music. In P. N. Juslin (or, more accurately, "continuality") and the series & J. A. Sloboda (Eds.), Music and must be conceptually extended not only forward, emotion: Theory and research (pp. but also backward, to the ancient artworks. Thus 431 -452). Oxford: Oxford University the continual new that manages repeatedly to Press. recreate the sublime must maintain its ancient core. Gaver, W. W., & Mandler, G. (1987). Play it again, Sam: On liking music. Cognition There is nothing new under the sun in aesthetics, and Emotion, 1, 259-282. or, rather, in the attributes of the stimuli that are capable of producing aesthetic awe. * A') f >r»%™ £» j+tf^mf •
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Vaitl, D„ Vehrs, W., & Sternagel, S. (1993). Prompts—-Leitmotif—emotion: Play it Author Note again, Richard Wagner. In M. Birbaumer A longer version of this paper was & A. Ohman (Eds.), The structure of presented as a plenary lecture at the Wuhan emotion: Psychophysiological, University Aesthetics Conference on cognitive, and clinical aspects (pp. "Beauty and the way of modern life," 169-189). Seattle, WA: Hogrefe & Huber. Wuhan, China, May 2004. Waterman, M. (1996). Emotional responses to music: Implicit and explicit effects in 1 isteners and performers. Psychology of Music, 24, 53-67. Wilson, E. O. (1975). Sociobiology: The new Correspondence synthesis. Cambridge, MA: Harvard concerning this paper should be University Press. addressed to the author at: Witvliet, C. V., & Vrana, S. R. (1996). The emotional impact of instrumental music Vladimir J. Konecni on affect ratings, facial EMG, autonomic Department of Psychology, measures, and the startle reflex: Effects University of California, San Diego, of valence and arousal. La Jolla, California 92093-0109. Psychophysiology Supplement, 91. Xinhua/Reuters (2004). The Great Wall getting E-mail: vkonecni(S)ucsd.edu less great. January 26. ^ ..jr* f,«kci
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Individual Differences in the Validity of Peer Ratings of Creative Drawings: Forjudging Creativity Does It "Take One to Know One?"
Stephen J. Dollinger Southern Illinois University at Carbondale Abstract
Amabile's Consensual Assessment Technique (CAT) is commonly used with expert judges in the assessment of creative products, although Amabile has suggested that further work is justified on judge characteristics and inter-judge reliability. With a sample of 144 university students, this study evaluated whether judgments of drawing products by peer raters who are themselves creative are any more valid than those by their less creative peers. As a measure of judgment validity, participants' ratings of 80 drawings were correlated with the average rating for the same products made by five expert judges. These correlations, transformed to z scores, yielded a Spearman-Brown corrected split-half reliability of .69. Moreover,five-person "teams" of judges who were highly, moderately, or poorly correlated with experts showed differences in their own agreement with each other, with the poor judges showing the least internal consistency. Judgment-validity scores were uncorrelated with measures of participants' own creative accomplishments or products, or their openness to experience. Supplementary results suggested that those who were more conservative in their ratings were more valid and women's judgments were better than those of men. Thus, at least for drawing products, in choosing CATjudges, it may not "take one to know one."
Much research has focused on the creative collages, or photo essays (e.g., Amabile, 1979; product, process, or person but little on the person Amabile, Hennessey, & Grossman, 1986; Baer, judging the creative product. One area in which 1998; Conti, Coon, & Amabile, 1996; Dollinger, the judge has received some attention is Amabile's Urban & James, 2004; Runco, 1987; Raidl & (1982,1996) Consensual Assessment Technique Lubart, 2000-01; Ruscio, Whitney, & Amabile, (CAT) for the assessment of creative products. 1998). This method does not require consensus on an a Early research often used judges with priori definition of creativity but instead rests on expertise in the domain to be judged and expert the assumption that expertjudges will know creative judges remain a kind of "gold standard" in creativity products when they see them. In effect, a judge assessment. However, the CAT has proven useful evidences internal validity when his or her ratings even when researchers have relaxed the of creative products show internal consistency by requirement of expertise for their judges, using correlating with other judges. The CAT has been elementary school teachers, graduate and used with a variety of creative products but quite undergraduate psychology students. Assessments often with visual art products like drawings, by such judges usually achieve quite acceptable
45 '"WOSSi- reliabilities and are valid for their purposes (e.g., participants' past creative accomplishments. In Amdt, Greenberg, Solomon, Pyszczynski, & other words, do creative individuals make better Schimel, 1999; Cheek & Stahl, 1986; Fodor & judges of creativity? If expertise is important, a Carver, 2000; Hennessey, 1989; Hennessey & positive relation would be expected between Amabile, 1988; Koestner, Walker, & Fichman, judgment validity and past accomplishments, 1999). Nevertheless, only a few studies have current creative products, and perhaps a correlated the ratings of expert and non-expert personality suggestive of creative potential (i.e., judges. Amabile (1996) reported moderate to greater openness to experience). strong correlations (e.g., .4 to .6) between more More specifically, I requested creativity and less expert judges in assessment of various judgments of 80 drawings devised by a sample of products. More recently, we have found undergraduates, then correlated each participant's correlations between expert and non-expert judge ratings with the average expert judgment of the groups' ratings of drawings in the .7 to .9 range same drawings. The resulting correlation reflects (Dollinger et al., 2004; unpublished data). In the validity of that individual's judgments. Using contrast, Runco, McCarthy, and Svenson (1994) these data, I addressed a preliminary question of found that expert judges' ratings were less'sensitive whether judgment validity is reliable. Then I than peer and self-ratings of artistic products consider a three-part research question: (a) Does devised in response to poems. judgment validity correlate with past creative Amabile concluded (1996, p. 66) that accomplishments, particularly in the visual arts? (b) more work is needed on the identification of Does judgment validity correlate with the creativity "appropriate" judges for particular products and of new products appropriatelyjudged? (c) Finally, that the limits of inter-judge reliability should be do valid judges evidence a different personality further explored. Such research could clarify the profile than their less valid peers? In particular, extent to which domain-relevant skills or other since the "big five" personality factor of openness individual differences make a difference in the to experience could be a proxy for the creative consensual assessment process. In the present personality (McCrae, 1994; McCrae & Costa, study, I attempt to test those limits by studying 1997; see also Dollinger et al., 2004), are valid individual differences in the validity of judgments judges more open to experience? For exploratory by peer raters. If their judgments prove valid, peer purposes, I also studied the other "big five" judges could make product assessments personality factors, demographic variables of age considerably easier to conduct. Peer judges are and gender, and academic variables including grade generally more available and could often be - point average, academic aspirations, and hours of compensated with course credit rather than weekly study. Finally, I included two aspects of monetary payment for their time. However, peer participants' judgments, namely the average rating judges will vary greatly in their artistic skill and of the drawings and the standard deviation of their motivation. Will these individual differences (as ratings. well as general academic competence or effort) predict the validity of judgment? Method The present study examined the CAT peer assessments of college students' drawings which Participants and Expert Judges were correlated with the criterion of experts' Participant Group A consisted of 144 judgments of the same drawings. These undergraduates in a Personality course. They correlations were used to index participants' own received extra course credit for taking part in judgment validity. My central question was whether research activities which also served as advance the validity of artistic judgments correlated with organizers to subsequent lectures. They ranged in ^\t;jt. •»'v.
**fyrr vrfrp^ ^ i age from 18 to 47 years, M=21.9 years (SD = an artist began the drawing but was interrupted 4.0); 63% were female. Group A'participants and'pirticipants are asked to complete this drawing completed the second of two in-class sessions in any way they wish. This task presents the during which drawing stimuli were presented for possibility for a wide range of interpretations, judgment. Most of Group A also completed an making it appropriate for young children and yet earlier questionnaire session (N = 126) during sufficiently interesting for adolescents and adults which the predictor variables were obtained. A (see Figures 1 and 2 for examples from Group B, subset of Group A also completed an additional judged by Group A). The test has been validated creative product, the photo essay (N - 78). in a number of studies worldwide, correlating both Participant group B consisted of 80 with measures of divergent thinking and teacher- undergraduates drawn from the same class (with ratings or nominations of creativity. Dollinger et comparable sample characteristics) one year al. (2004) used the CAT as well as the formal TCT- earlier. Group A comprised the actual participants DP scoring system, having CAT judges rate the in this study whereas Group B provided the quality of details and overall creative gestalt of the stimulus drawings to be judged. Expert judges drawings on 1-7 scales. Importantly, CAT ratings consisted of five artists with 7- to 10-years of were highly correlated with most categories of the creative activity and training who had held between Urban and Jellen (1996) formal scoring system 14 and 27 exhibitions of their work; three had won (which is itself quite complex) and detail and gestalt awards. All were enrolled in an MFA program at ratings helped distinguish the meanings of the the time and three were serving as instructors or different categories. No identifying information teaching assistants to undergraduate visual arts was included with drawings; they were merely courses. These experts rated the drawings of both denoted by subject number. participant groups; they were paid for their time Experts made initial judgments of the asjudges. drawings and then reviewed all drawings with the option of modifying these ratings. They rated each Drawing Products drawing on the quality of details and overall gestalt; The Test of Creative Thinking—Drawing since the two ratings were so highly correlated (r Production is a drawing completion task devised = .91 for Group A's drawings, r = .93 for Group to be a brief culturally-fair instrument to measure B's), I averaged these into a single score per judge. creative potential (TCT-DP; Jellen & Urban, 1986, As is typically done in CAT research, the internal 1988; Urban, 1991; Urban & Jellen, 1996). It consistency of judgments was measured by has been used most often in Europe but has had Cronbach's coefficient alpha; it equalled .95 for applications throughout the world (Jellen Sc Urban, the experts' judgments of Group A drawings and 1986;Swietochowski&Poraj, 1992). This task .92 for judgments of Group B. uses a single drawing with six components (termed figuralfragments) that can be completed in a wide Other Predictor Variables Obtained for Group variety of ways ranging from the simple, A conventional, and disjointed to the thematically Thefirst in-class research session included complex, unconventional, integrated and several questionnaire measures and Group A aesthetically interesting. It consists of a large participants also devised their own TCT-DP squareframe containing five given elements (i.e., drawings. The questionnaire packet included a a semi-circle, a point, a large right angle, a curved creative behavior inventory and personality line, and a dashed line) and a small square open measure. I also included demographic and on its fourth side located outside the frame (see academic questions, specifically age, sex, self- Urban, 1991 for the figure). Instructions note that reported grade point average, hours of study per L n ,y)t$U£$r week (ranging from 1 = 0-1 hr, 2 = 2-5,...6 = series of studies, I have found that richer more 30+ hrs), and highest educational goal (ranging from individualistic photo essays relate to openness to 1 = "get through this semester" to 4 = "earn a experience, divergent thinking, and creative doctorate"). products and accomplishments (e.g., Dollinger, Creative Behavior Inventory (CBI). 2003; Dollinger et al., 2004). The photo essay Self-reported past creative accomplishments was completed by 78 members of Participant remains one of the most accepted approaches for Group A who also completed the second in-class general populations (e.g., Hocevar, 1981; Plucker, session (judging drawings). Photo essays were 1999). Hocevar's (1979) Creative Behavior completed as an outside-of-class extra credit Inventory asks participants to indicate their opportunity with instructions provided at the involvement in various creative activities on a 4- beginning of the term. I invited students to take or point scale ranging from "never did this" to "did select 20 photos that answered the question "who this more than five times." The full-length CBI are you?" (Ziller, 1990). Instructions also has a total score as well as six subscales: visual requested verbal descriptions of photos and a final arts, literary accomplishments, performance arts, written analysis. Three judges (the author and two crafts, music and math/science. In a previous trained graduate students) rated the photo essays study, I devised a 28-item short form of this on a 1 to 5 scale where 1 was labeled as inventory which was used for a measure of total "concrete, unimaginative commonplace and creative behavior (Dollinger, 2003). In the present repetitive•;" 2 was "typical" and 5 was "abstract, study, the 28-item form was augmented by self-reflective, and aesthetically sensitive" The including two other long-form items needed for coefficient alpha of these ratings was .89. computing the visual arts subscale of the full CBI. Example items included "painted an original Validity-of-Judgment Procedure picture," "had art work or craft work publically Group A judged the Group B TCT-DP exhibited," and "kept a sketch book." In the drawings man in-class group administration. The present sample, the 28-item CBI short form 80 drawings were first scanned for a PowerPoint yielded acoefficient alpha of .85; the 8-item visual presentation format. Each slide was numbered arts subscale had an alpha reliability of .76. and the transition to a new slide was highlighted The Big Five Inventory (BFI). The BFI by a camera-click sound to provide an auditory was used to provide a measure of openness to cue of each new drawing to be rated on an optical experience (Benet-Martinez & John, 1998). This scanning form. The inter-stimulus interval was 25 inventory permits an efficient assessment of five sec and no one experienced difficulty responding major personality factors with items derived from at this pace. Ratings were made on a scale of 0 the prototype definitions of the factors (John, (lowest creativity) to 9 (highest). Since the expert 1990). Items begin with the stem "I see myself as judges used a 2-14 scale (i.e. separate 1-7 ratings someone who..." followed by 44 sentence for quality of the drawings' details and overall completions, including 10 for openness (e.g.,"is gestalt), the range of scales was approximately original, comes up with new ideas" or "values comparable. Unlike the expert judges, participants artistic, aesthetic experiences") rated on a 1 did not get to review drawings twice or to work at {disagree strongly) to 5 {agree strongly) scale. their own pace. However, they were given a 5- Scores are the mean of relevant items. In the min break after half of the drawings were present sample, coefficient alpha for openness was presented. .77. Alphas for the other factors ranged from .75 to .85. Data Reduction and Analysis Individuality of Photo Essays. In a Each participants' 80 judgments were '**3"?- £-*•'--
correlated with the average rating by the five expert A preliminary research question concerned judges. These Pearson rs were then converted to the reliability of judgment validity: were judges standardized scores using Fisher's r-to-z consistently good or bad in the quality of their transformation. The resulting z scores were taken judgments? To estimate the reliability of the as a measure of the validity of each participant's validity-of-judgment scores, I computed separate set of judgments. These z scores were then correlations (z-transformed) for the first 40 and correlated with participants' CBI scores, the quality the second 40 judgments. The correlation between of their own drawing products (also rated by the these two halves was .53. By the Spearman- expert judges), and their BFI personality scores. Brown formula, this indicates that the overall scores had a reliability of .69, considered reasonable for Results suggesting that there might indeed be individual differences in judgment validity. Across the total sample, the average A related question is whether judges were judgment score of .89 is comparable to aproduct- consistently stringent/lenient in their ratings or moment correlation of .71, indicating a fairly high whether the variation of their judgments were correlation between participants and expert judges. consistent. Paralleling the analysis just reported, I For comparison purposes, this correlation partitioned the mean judgment and standard compares favorably with the mean expert judge x deviation of judgments for the first and second expert subtotal correlation of .81. However, the halves. The split-half correlation was .85 (.92 range of scores was from .23 (equal to an r of corrected by the Spearman-Brown formula) for .22) to 1.34 (equal to an r of .87). Clearly, some the mean rating and .73 (.84 corrected) for the peer judges were better than were others. standard deviation of judgments. Thus, there was
Table 1 Descriptive Statistics and Correlations with Validity-of-Judgment Scores
Variable Jt M SD r Validity of Judgments (z score) 144 0.89 0.22 NA Creative Behavior Inventory 126 49.02 12.33 .10 CBI-Visual Arts Subscale 126 13.61 4.82 .10 Drawing Product Rating 123 3.31 1.28 .09 Individuality (Photo Product) 78 2.26 1.06 .06 BFI - Neuroticism 126 2.89 0.82 .07 BFI - Extraversion 126 3.39 0.81 .00 BFI - Openness 126 3.68 0.63 -.01 BFI - Agreeableness 126 3.79 0.61 .06 BFI - Conscientiousness 126 3.55 0.67 .12 Age 121 21.90 4.04 -.07 Sex(0=M,l=F) 126 0.63 0.48 .18* GPA 125 2.97 0.66 .14 Academic Aspirational Goal 126 2.98 0.76 .11 Rated Hours/Wk of Study 326 2.48 0.90 -.09 Average Rating of Drawings 144 3.49 0.91 -.22** Standard Deviation of Ratings 144 2.09 0.41 -.02
*p<.05. **p<.0\. "ttpHjemmipfHvptMwqf rttpw+qp w^«^« *(' .f
a high degree of consistencyfrom thefirst to second findings in Table 2 for which I selected two extreme half of judgments on how participants used the groups—those achieving a validity correlation of rating scale and a moderate consistency in the less than or equal to .60 (z = .70) or better than or validity of their judgments. equal to .80 (z = 1.10). When a chi-square test is To address the main research question, the applied to the cell Ns, one finds that women are judgment-validity scores were correlated with the over-represented among good judges and men CBI, two creative products, big five scores, among poor judges, %2 (1, N= 44) = 4.38, p < demographic variables, and the two measures .05. When the mean rating of the four groups are takenfrom the judging process itself. As shown in compared in a 2 X 2 ANOVA, good judges were Table 1 Judgment validity was not significantly more conservative in their ratings than were poor correlated with past accomplishments, r -. 10, ns, judges, F(\, 40) = 5.33,/? < .05. for both the CBI total and visual arts scale. Nor As noted, some judges were better than was judgment validity correlated with current were others (i.e., more highly correlated with the creative products; r = .09, ns, with expert ratings expert judges). It is reasonable to wonder, as a of participants' own TCT-DP drawings and r ~ supplementary question, whether good judges .06, ns, with the richness of their photo essays. would have better internal consistency with each Finally, judgment validity was essentially unrelated other as well. To address this question, I identified to openness to experience, r = -.01, ns. In sum, the 15 best judges and systematically assigned the answer to the main research question is them to three rater groups of five so that their negative: it does not appear that it "takes one to average judgment validity was nearly the same (i.e., know one" in judging these creative products. the highest scorer was in group 1, next highest in Among the exploratory variables only two group 2, next in 3, next in 1, etc). I similarly yielded statistically significant correlations: for the selected the 15 judges with the lowest z scores average judgment rating, r = -.22, p < .01, and and created three rater groups of poor judges. for gender, r= A$,p< .05. Judges who were Finally I selected 15 from the middle of the more lenient in their ratings tended to have less judgment validity distribution (45th- 55th valid judgments than those who were more percentile) and created three rater groups. Then conservative or stringent; and male judges gave the ratings within each group were correlated and less valid judgments than female judges. alpha coefficients derived. Interestingly, the For ease in understanding, these resulting distributions ofalpha s showed no overlap: correlational results are recast as categorical the 3 groups of poor judges achieved alphas of
Table 2 Mean-Average Rating of Drawings by Good and Poor Judges
Poor Judges Good Judges Male Female Male Female
N 13 7 8 16 M 3.72 4.00 3.03 3.24 SD 0.90 1.44 0.74 0.75
Note. Good judges were defined as those whose correlation with the experts equalled or exceeded .80; poor judges were defined as those whose correlation was .60 or lower. •jV?"^-;
.57, .70 and .78; middle-range groups had more openness to experience (as a proxy for creative acceptable alphas of .86, .88 and .90 and the best personality). None of these predictions received judge groups had excellent internal consistency support and, indeed, the average peer correlation reliabilities with alphas of .94, .94, and .95. with experts (r = .71) approximated the experts' (ANOVA applied to these numbers indicates that correlations with each other (mean expert-to- the groups in fact differ in their within-group subtotal r =. 81). This finding is rather remarkable agreement, F(2,6) = 14.2, p < .01.) Thus, the in light of the constraints placed on peer judges best judges not only agreed with the experts, but which were not placed on expert judges. showed better agreement with each other. Specifically, expert judges could work at their own Finally, I examined the correlations among pace and take breaks as needed; participants were the creative behavior inventory, two creative expected to respond in accord with the pacing of products, and openness personality factor as an a programmed PowerPoint presentation. Experts indication of the internal validity of these routinely viewed all drawings twice and were instructed to correlated variables (see Dollinger, 2003; Dollinger think of their first judgment as preliminary; peer et al, 2004). As expected, Group As CBI scores raters saw the drawings just once. Finally, experts correlated with their TCT-DP drawings (as rated considered each drawing from two perspectives- by the expert judges), r = .39,/? < .001; the CBI the details and gestalt-peers just from a single also correlated with the individuality of photo overall perspective. Thus, peer judges were nearly essays, r = 23,p < .05 and BFI openness scores, as good as expert judges in using the CAT to r = .52,p < .001. Group A's drawings and photo evaluate the creativity of drawings. essays (rated by different judges) also correlated Beyond the main results, exploratory significantly, r = .33,p<.01,N=75. Finally, analyses indicated that the academically-relevant openness correlated with both drawings and photo variables of grade point average, academic essays, respective rs = .29, p = .001 and r = .28, aspirations, weekly study hours, and BFI p<05. conscientiousness were also unrelated to judgment Discussion validity. These are probably all variables that behavioral scientists would consider in choosing In the updated version of her book research assistants and yet none predicted Creativity in Context, Amabile (1996) reviewed judgment validity. The two variables that did the state of the art on studies of the Consensual correlate with judgment validity-gender and mean Assessment Technique, recommending that "the rating-involved small magnitudes of effect. To the limits of interjudge reliability should be further extent that they are meaningful, they suggest that explored to clarify the extent to which domain- female judges may be more valid than males and relevant skills or other individual differences make that judges with conservative rating criteria may a difference in the consensual assessment process" be more valid than those using lenient criteria. The and that "more work is needed on the identification latter finding could be useful for researchers if it is of'appropriate' judges (p. 66)." The present study replicated, preferably with an experimental addressed these recommendations by studying manipulation of judge leniency. Because 4 of the individual differences in the validity of judgments 5 expert judges were female, the gender difference by peer raters. Based on the idea that expert is only suggestive and should be replicated with a judges (e.g., accomplished visual artists) represent more balanced group of expert judges providing a "gold standard" for product assessments, I the criterion. expected that variations in peer judges' correlations The present study is not without its with these experts would relate to the peers' past limitations and further research is obviously needed creative accomplishments, current products, and before researchers routinely use peer judges. The study should be replicated with other creative tasks Benet-Martinez, V., & John, O. P. (1998). Los and j udges. Because the TCT-DP was ori ginal ly cinco grandes across cultures and designed for children, it is conceivable that very ethnic groups: Multitrait multimethod novice judges can do quite well. Of course, the analyses of the Big Five in Spanish and English. Journal of Personality and formal scoring system (Urban & Jellen, 1996) is Social Psychology, 75, 729-750. not simple and may require training beyond reading Cheek, J. M, & Stahl, S. S. (1986). Shyness the manual. Nevertheless, using the CAT, the and verbal creativity. Journal of drawings themselves can be judged in a matter of Research in Personality, 20, 51-61. 10-20 seconds; more complex or verbal creative Conti, R.s Coon, H., & Amabile, T. M. (1996). products (e.g., judging creative short stories or Evidence to support the componential poems), or products that are more socially useful model of creativity: Secondary analyses (e.g., inventions, architectural designs) might of three studies. Creativity Research require more time and expertise. Finally, as Journal, 9, 385-389. Murray (1959) noted and Runco et al. (1994) Dollinger, S. J. (2003). Need for uniqueness, affirmed, "who is to judge the judges? And who need for cognition, and creativity. is to judge the judges of the judges?" Thus, while Journal of Creative Behavior, 37, 99- 116. defensible on grounds of face validity, the expert Dollinger, S. J., Urban, K. K., & James, T. A. judge criterion might also be open to question. (2004). Creativity and Openness: Further Validation of Two Creative References Product Measures. Creativity Research Journal, 16, 35-47. Amabile, T. M. (1979). Effects of external Fodor, E. M., & Carver, R. A. (2000). evaluation on artistic creativity. Journal Achievement and power motives, of Personality and Social Psychology, performance feedback, and creativity. 37,221-233. Journal of Research in Personality, Amabile, T. M. (1982). Social psychology of 34,380-396. creativity: A consensual assessment Hennessey, B. A. (1989). The effect of technique. Journal of Personality and extrinsic constraints on children's Social Psychology, 43, 997-1013. creativity while using a computer. Amabile, T. M. (1996). Creativity in context. Creativity Research Journal, 2, 151- Boulder, CO.: Westview. 168. Amabile, T. M., Hennessey, B. A., & Grossman, Hennessey, B. A., & Amabile, T. M. (1988). B. S. (1986). Social influences on Story-telling: A method for assessing creativity: The effects of contracted-for children's creativity. Journal of reward. Journal of Personality and Creative Behavior, 22, 235-246. Social Psychology, 50, 14-23. Hocevar, D. (1979, April). The development of Arndt, J., Greenberg, J., Solomon, S., Pyszcynski, the Creative Behavior Inventory. T.,&Schimel,J. (1999). Creativity and Paper presented at the annual meeting of terror management: Evidence that the Rocky Mountain Psychological creative activity increases guilt and social Association. (ERIC Document ED 170 projection following mortality salience. 350). Journal of Personality and Social Hocevar, D. (1981). Measurement of creativity: Psychology, 77, 19-32. Review and critique. Journal of Baer, J. (1998). The case for domain specificity Personality Assessment, 45, 450-464. of creativity. Creativity Research Journal, 11, 173-177. Jellen, H. G, & Urban, K. K. (1986). The Runco, M. A., McCarthy, K. A., & Svenson, E. TCT-DP (Test for Creative Thinking— ^ (1994). Judgments of the creativity of Drawing Production): An instrument that artwork from students and professional can be applied to most age and ability artists. Journal of Psychology, 128, groups. Creative Child and Adult 23-31. Quarterly, 11, 138-155. Ruscio, J., Whitney, D. M., & Amabile, T. M. Jellen, H. G, & Urban, K. K. (1988). Assessing (1998). Looking inside the fishbowl of creative potential world-wide: The first creativity: Verbal and behavioral cross-cultural application of the Test for predictors of creative performance. Creative Thinking—Drawing Production Creativity Research Journal, 11, 243- (TCT-DP). Creative Child and Adult Quarterly, 13, 151-167. 263. John, O. P. (1990). The "big five" factor Swietochowski, W., & Poraj, G. (1992). taxonomy: Dimensions of personality in Parental attitudes and Type A behavior the natural language and in patterns in high and low creative questionnaires. In L. A. Pervin (Ed.), adolescents. European Journal for Handbook of personality: Theory and High Ability, 3, 141-147. research (pp. 66-100). New York: Urban, K.K. (1991). On the development of Guilford. creativity in children. Creativity Koestner, R., Walker, M., & Fichman, L. (1999). Research Journal, 4, 177-191. Childhood parenting experiences and Urban, K.K,& Jellen, H.G. (1996). Test for adult creativity. Journal of Research in Creative Thinking - Drawing Personality, 33, 92-107. McCrae, R. R. (1994). Openness to experience: Production (TCT-DP) manual. Expanding the boundaries of Factor V. Frankfurt: Swets Test Services. European Journal of Personality, 8, Ziller,R. C. (1990). Photographing the self 251-272. Newbury Park, CA.: Sage. McCrae, R. R, & Costa, P. T. Jr. (1997). Conceptions and correlations of openness to experience. In R. Hogan, J. Author Notes: Johnson, & S. Briggs (Eds.) Handbook Stephen J. Dollinger, Department of of Personality Psychology (pp. 825- Psychology, Southern Illinois University. 847). San Diego: Academic Press. I wish to thank the following judges of Murray, H. A. (1959). Vicissitudes of creativity. In H. H. Anderson (Ed.), drawings and photo essays for their assistance: Creativity and its cultivation. (Pp. 203- Andrew Hairstans, Clare Hairstans, Fiona 221). New York: Harper. Jappy, Baggs McKelvey, Jared Outcalt, Ruth Plucker, J. A. (1999). Reanalyses of student Pringle, and Marina Shafran. responses to creativity checklists: Evidence of content generality. Journal of Creative Behavior, 33, 126-137. Correspondence concerning this paper Raidl, M. H., & Lubart, T. I. (2000-01). An should be addressed to the author at: empirical study of intuition and creativity. Department of Psychology, Imagination, Cognition, and Southern Illinois University Personality, 20, 217-230. Carbondale,IL 62901-6502 Runco, M.A. (1987). The generality of creative e-mail: [email protected], performance in gifted and nongifted phone: 618-453-3565 children. Gifted Child Quarterly 31, fax:618-453-3563. 121-125.
Figure 2. Selected examples of highly rated Group B drawings to the TCT-DP stimulus.
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Message from the President
Paul Locher Montclair State University
Society activities at the 2004 Convention in Hawaii were a big success. Each of our sessions was very well attended and, in fact, there was no standing room left at one of our symposia dealing with creativity. We filled our allotted program time with intriguing, scientifically based and intellectually exciting sessions. Attendance at both the Executive Committee meeting and the business meeting was very strong. Jeffand Lisa Smith distributed copies of their first published issue of the Bulletin to all present at both meetings. They discussed their vision for the journal and the finances required to publish each issue. Everyone present at both meetings expressed delight and praise for the new format of our journal.
The most important piece of business conducted at both meetings was the approval of the motion to change the Division Bylaws to make it possible for individuals who are not members of APAto join Division 10, subject to conditions forthe appropriate membership status established by APA. As a result of discussions with APA, a new class of membership, Members-At-Large, has been added to the existing four membership classes. The Bylaws now state "Members-At- Large shall be persons who, by reason of their competence in fields bearing upon the central interests of the Society, wish to aid the Society in the attainment of its objectives, but who do not hold membership in the American Psychological Association." Members-At-Large pay the same annual dues of $27.00 as do Fellows and Members. This membership class now appears on the Society membership application found in copies of the Bulletin and also in the Society web site. I strongly encourage each Society member to bring our new membership class to the attention of colleagues who might now consider joining our Society, given that they would not have to pay full APA membership dues. Point out to potential Members-At-Large that they would be entitled to full participation in the Society in terms of voting privileges and convention participation, and they will receive the two issues of the Bulletin each year.
The membership committee has been actively discussing a variety of ways to make the Society visible in an attempt to attract new members. Many of the suggestions made so far involve expanding the contents of the Society web site. Hopefully we can put some of the recommendations in place by the end of this year and then use the site to attract individuals in other associations to our Society. I would be happy to hear from any member who has a suggestion of ways to improve the web site or ideas of ways to advertise the Society.
Paul Locher
Department of Psychology Montclair State University Upper Montclair, N J 07043 [email protected] Message from the President-Elect
Gregory J. Feist University of California at Davis
As my first opportunity to thank Division members since being elected President-Elect, I'd like to now do so. I am excited about the Division. In early January I attended the "Divisional Leadership Conference" for divisional President-Elects of APA in Washington DC, and I came away quite excited about our division and its possibilities. Quite a few other division president elects thought our focus on aesthetics, creativity and psychology of the arts was refreshing and very much needed. I agree (and even got two new president-elects to join our division).
I very much look forward to working with current President Paul Locher and Past- President Dianna Deutsch in forging a vision for how to make the Division a more vibrant force among APA divisions. One of my chief initiatives will be to encourage more early-career psychologists (i.e., students and recent PhDs) to join and to become active in division. One way to do this would be to have a graduate student representative on the executive committee. Another way, as I said in my campaign statement, would be to form a new award or honor for best student paper or dissertation. Both of these initiatives I intend to make priorities as President.
Finally, I will be developing a survey I will send out to all division members asking what you are happy with and unhappy with about the division, and what specifically we can do to make your concerns part of the division (i.e., have your voice heard). Each of you brings a unique and important perspective to the division and we need to know what it is. I want members to become more active rather than passive. Aesthetics, creativity and psychology of the arts are vibrant and even passionate interests of ours and it is incumbent upon us to make others aware of this through active participation in the division.
Thank you again and I look forward to three years of helping to make your voices heard.
Gregory J. Feist
Department of Psychology University of California at Davis Davis, CA 95616 - PAST PRESIDENTS The presidents of the division represent the rich and diverse history of Division 10. They include:
Paul Farnsworth 1945-49 Sigmund Koch 1968-69 Lawrence Marks 1988-89 Norman Meier 1949-50 Marianne Simmel 1969-70 Nathan Kogan 1989-90 Paul Farnsworth 1950-51 Rudolf Arnheim 1970-71 Margery Franklin 1990-91 Kate Mueller 1951-52 Frank Barron 1971-72 Howard Gruber 1991-92 Herbert Langfeld 1952-53 Michael Wallach 1972-73 John Kennedy 1992-93 R.M.Ogden 1953-54 Frederick Wyatt 1973-74 Robert Albert 1993-94 Carroll Pratt 1954-55 Daniel Berlyne 1974-75 Martin Lindauer 1994-95 Melvin Rigg • 1955-56 Julian Hochberg 1975-76 Ellen Winner 1995-96 J.P.Guilford 1956-57 Edward Walker 1976-77 Gerald Cupchik 1996-97 Rudolf Arnheim 1957-58 Joachim Wohlwill 1977-78 Mark Runco 1997-98 James Gibson 1958-59 Pavel Machotka 1978-79 Louis Sass 1998-99 Leonard Carmichael 1959-60 Ravenna Helson 1979-80 Robert Sternberg 1999-00 Abraham Maslow 1960-61 Nathan Kogan 1980-81 Sandra Russ 2000-01 Joseph Shoben, Jr. 1961-62 Salvatore Maddi 1981-82 Frank Farley 2001-02 Robert Macleod 1962-63 Stephanie Dudek 1982-83 Jerome Singer 2002-03 Carroll Pratt 1963-64 Brian Sutton-Smith 1983-84 Diana Deutsch 2003-04 Harry Helson 1964-65 Henry Gleitman 1984-85 Rudolf Arnheim 1965-66 Dean Simonton 1985-86 __ Irving Child 1966-67 Colin Martindale 1986-87 Robert Knapp 1967-68 Kenneth Gergen 1987-88 r Join Division 10 Psychology and the Arts Membership Application
Name: MailingAddress: E-mail: Phone: (Work) (Home) Applying to Division 10 as a (please circle one): Fellow Member Member-At-Large Associate Student Affiliate APA Membership Number (if already a member: ) Annual Dues: $27.00 for Members, Members-At-Large, and Assocaites; $20.00 for dues exempt members who wish to receive the Bulletin of Psychology and the Arts, and $15.00 for Student Affiliates.
Fill out and mail to: American Psychological Association Division 10, Psychology and the Arts 750 First Street, NE, Washington DC 20002-4242 <.,>,„} . -&} I \ J^i^o^r^i^it^^^^inri^A^^^:,^::)) 2^B t »- - A
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