Psychology of Aesthetics: Overview of Theories

Psychology of Aesthetics: Overview of Theories How is aesthetic experience linked to familiarity and information? Critically discuss at least two theoretical perspectives and provide evidence based on the literature. The phenomenon of aesthetic experience refers to a preference judgement to sensory experience. This hedonic response has its roots from the philosopher Baumgarten 1750 (as cited in Reber et al, 2004) who likened the concept of sensation and perception pertaining to beauty, appreciation and art. The philosophical approaches influenced the endeavor to discover contributors to aesthetic experience. Conversely, Fechner adopted an empirical approach rather than the complex philosophical approaches to understanding aesthetic experiences. For instance, experimentation on stimulus properties and preference responses provided a more organized bottom – up approach. (Shimura and Palmer, 2014) Gestalt psychologists took on a holistic approach to the principles of perceptual organization. For instance, the principle of familiarity suggests that objects appear to be grouped if the groups are assured to be familiar or meaningful. (Goldstein, 2002) Another principle proposed is that stimulus patterns are pictured in a style that is the most simplistic. For example the Olympic symbol is not usually perceived as nine shapes within five circles but simply as five circles. Thus, Gesalt account does provide a reason into the perception of stimulus. However, Gesalt principles do not explain the role of familiarity and simplicity of information in aesthetic experience. (Goldstein, 2002) One explanation introduced by the processing fluency is the ease of processing information which consists of perceptual fluency and conceptual fluency. (Reber et al. 2004) Perceptual fluency refers to the ease of processing the perceptual features of a stimulus (Jacoby and Kelley,1987). Whilst, Conceptual fluency is the ease of processing the meaning of a stimulus, or the fluency of conceptually driven processing (Whittlesea, 1993). Prior exposure to stimuli can increase processing fleuncy this is the mere exposure effect report by Zajonc (1968) He theorized the more often an individual is exposed to an object the more likely they are to develop a preference for stimulus that is familiar than unfamiliar. He demonstrated the causal relation between mere exposure and attitude enhancement. Through a series of experiments nonsense words, Chinese ideographs and photographs of faces were presented in counter balanced order to participants and rated on a scale of how good or bad stimulus words meant and how favorable photographs were. Liking for a stimulus was found to be positively related to the amount of stimulus exposure. The proximity of experienced fluency and preference judgment can lead participants to misinterpret fluency as their preference reaction to the stimulus. Hence, repeated exposure of a stimulus increases perceptual fluency, which in turn increases the likelihood of misattribution to preference for stimulus. (Bornstein and D’Agostino, 1994).The mere exposure effect can provide an account for, different cultural preferences seen in society. For instance, Hannon et al. (2012) used simple rhythms common in American and Turkish music, complex rhythms common in Turkish music and highly complex rhythms not found in Turkish and American music. Turkish participants performed accurately in simple and complex conditions. However, they performed less accurately in highly complex condition. Conversely, Americans performed accurately when detecting disruptions to the simple rhythm. However, they performed less accurately on the complex and highly complex conditions. Nonetheless , the robustness of the mere exposure effect is controversial. Kali (1974) exposed children aged seven, nine and eleven years old to Chinese characters. Children then ranked the stimuli according to liking. The seven and nine year olds preferred the familiar characters and the eleven year olds preferred the novel stimuli. Another set of ranks taken three weeks after indicated that eleven year olds preferred the more familiar characters. It was proposed boredom effects intervened on preference ratings. Indeed, Borstein et al. (1990) suggests That, simple stimuli become boring in comparison to complex stimuli. Berlyne 1960,1974 (as cited in Messinger,1998) proposed that intermediate levels of information produce the highest ratings.Thus, Uncertainty of information is related to aesthetic preference in the inverted U shape function rather than the linear function proposed by the mere – exposure effect. Whilst, preference was based on stimulus related arousal, preference increases to maximal liking, as arousal potential reaches the optimal level. Furthermore, arousal leads to a decrease in liking thus displeasure increases. ( Martindale et al. 1990) This idea of information on preference derived from information theory which is based on mathematical principles. (Berlyne,1957) utilizing a logarithmic equation to measure information yielded by all possible combinations of a given number of stimuli. When there are equally likely possibilities in a stimulus set, the higher the figure the more informational stimulus tends to be, since more combinations are involved. Martindale et al. (1990) tested Berlyne’s predictions. In the first experiment they asked participants to rate their liking for a series of random polygons varying in size and number of turns. A rating scale has the advantage that it provides a degree of opinion rather than a binary response. Results indicated that polygons with ten turns were preferred and that size had no effect on preference. However, when the same experiment was repeated with a larger range of size and complexity levels. Preference was linearly related to complexity. This questioned the ecological validity and generalizability of Berlyne’s model. Martindale et al. (1990) This contradiction challenges the processing fluency account as a simple stimulus should be preferred as there is less information compared to complex stimulus. Perhaps the mediation of other factors plays an important role, such as expertise and expectation. Reber et al (2004) when expectections of complex stimuli are violated by e asy processing then this creates pleasure. Reber et al. (2004) Asethetic pleasure has been found to vary among experts and novices. People who are novices tend to prefer simple, protypical stimuli such as symmetry whereas experts prefer complex, asymmetrical stimuli. (McWhinnie, 1968) Preference for symmetrical sequences in body movement was investigated by Orgs et al. (2013). Participants were exposed to either symmetrical or asymmetrical sequences. Both groups, then rated the sequences. Results indicated that both groups rated symmetrical sequences higher. Participants in the asymmetrical group displayed an increase preference for asymmetrical sequences. This can be explained by the mere exposure effect. The influence of aesthetic preference on compositional structure and postural information may differ among novice and experts. Moreover, other behaviours such as the ability to identify the structure in aesthetic experience and if participants are asked to perform actions instead of using rating scales is to be explored. Jacobsen and Hoefel (2003) showed symmetrical and non symmetrical patterns and recorded whether participants judged them as beautiful or not beautiful. They correlated this to Event related potentials. The results indicated that symmetrical patterns were positively correlated to beautiful judgements. Aesthetic judgements related to anterior frontomedian and right hemisphere activation. This does provide an account of processing aesthetic appreciation occurring in specialized brain areas. Nevertheless, this correlation does not mean that specialized brain activation causes aesthetic preference for symmetrical patterns. Event related potentials (ERP) are difficult to detect in the electroencephalograms (EEGS) the ERP is combined with other electrical signals. However the procedure offers a non-invasive technique compared to other procedures which expose participants to radiation or injection. (Kolb and Wishaw, 2009) In addition, the variety of aesthetic preferences are not captured by the forced choice methods. Preference for symmetrical patterns may be due to fluent processing as there is less information to process. (Reber et al. 2004) The preference towards a given feature over another is not well explained. Bar and Neta (2006) Adopted an evolutionary perspective, they proposed sharp objects signal danger and curved objects signal safety. They found a preference for curved objects. Furthermore, there was no difference in reaction time, which challenges the perceptual fluency account. Findings support the mere exposure effect as real objects was preferred over novel patterns. Evolutionary perspective poses issues of falsification however, Carbon (2010) used realistic images of cars from 1950 to 1999 and found a preference for curved models, although fashion trends can also have an impact. The stimuli used is more realistic than rating polygons. In addition, this illustrates aesthetic experiences can change over time. The majority of the studies discussed explore aesthetic liking, however, many dimensions of aesthetic experiences exist. Such as, the pleasure of negative emotions is not captured well. In overview, the studies discussed suggest that the familiarity, novelty, complexity, simplicity of information plays an important role in aesthetic experiences. ( Zajonc,1968; Messinger ,1998) That is, preference for something is in between familiarity and novelty. As boredom intervenes with preference and familiarity. (Borstein et al.1990)Novelty can violate expectations and signal danger. (Reber et al.2004;Bar and Neta, 2006) This is similar for complex and simple information. Preference for something is between easy and challenging stimulus. ((McWhinnie,1968) Preference for things that is known can explain cultural differences in aesthetic experiences. (Hannon et al, 2012) Through neuroaesthetic approaches, specialized brain areas can be linked to aesthetic experience. (Jacobsen and Hoefel, 2003) Despite, different tastes neuroaesthetics can offer a way of investigating the underlying mechanisms involved in the aesthetic experience to generate a set of principles that influence aesthetic experiences. In a nutshell, the theoretical perspectives indicates detecting regularities and understanding information is something humans find aesthetically pleasing. References Bar.M,Neta.M (2006) Humans prefer curved visual objects. Psychological science,17,645-648. Berlyne.D.E. (1957) Uncertainity and conflict: A point of contact between information-theory and behaviour – theory concepts. The psychological review. 64,6. 329-339. Borstein.E.R,Kale.R.A,Cornell.R.K. (1990) Boredom as a Limiting Condition on the Mere Exposure Effect.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.58, 5, 791-800 Borstein.R.F, D’Agostino.P.R. (1992) Stimulus recognition and the mere exposure effect. Journal of personality and social psychology, 63, 545-552. Carbon.C.C. (2010) The cycle of preference: long –term dynamics of aesthetic appreciation. Acta psychologica, 134, 233-244. Goldstein.B.E (2002) Sensation and perception (6th edn) USA: Wadsworth. Hannon, E. E., Soley, G., Ullal, S. (2012, February 20). Familiarity Overrides Complexity in Rhythm Perception: A Cross-Cultural Comparison of American and Turkish Listeners. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance. Jacobsen.T, Hoefel.L. (2003) Descriptive and evaluative judgement processes: Behavioural and electrophysical indices of processing symmetry and aesthetics. Cognitive and Behavioural Neuroscience.4, 289- 299. Jacoby, Larry L. and Colleen M. Kelley (1987),Unconscious Influences of Memory for a Prior Event, Personality Social Psychology Bulletin, 13 (March), 314-336. Kali.V.R (1974) Familarity and attraction to stimuli: Developmental change or methological artifact ? Journal of experimental child psychology. 18, 504 – 511. Kolb.B,Whishaw.Q.I (2009) Fundamentals of Human Neuropsychology. (6th edn) New York: Worth publishers. McWhinnie.J.H. (1968) A review of research on aesthetic measure. Acta psychologica. 28, 363-375. Martindale.C,Moore.K,Borkum.J. (1990) Aesthetic preference: Anomalous findings for berlyne’s psychobiological theory. The American journal of psychology. 103,1, 53-80. Messinger.M.S (1998) pleasure and complexity: Berlyne revisted. The journal of psychology. 132, 5, 558-560. Orgs.G,Hagura.N,Haggard.p (2013) learning to like it: Aesthetic perception of bodies, movements and choreographic structure. Consciousness and cogition. 22, 603-612. Reber.R,Schwarz.N,Winkielman.P. (2004) processing fleuncy and aesthetic pleasure: is beauty in the perceiver’s processing experience ? Personality and social psychology review, vol: 8, 4, 364-382. Shimaura. P.A,Palmer. E.S.(2014) Aesthetic science connecting Minds, Brains and Experience. New York: Oxford university press. Whittlesea. A.W.B (1993) Illusions of familiarity. Journal of experimental psychology: Learning, memory and cognition. 19,6,1235-1253. Zajonc. R.B (1968) Attitudinal effects of mere exposure. Journal of personality and social psychology. 9, 1- 27.

History of Computers :: Computing Services Technology Essays

History of Computers For many people living in the 21st century, the computer has become a very important tool for everyone. The computer has the ability to give information, it can help to correct mistakes that people make, and it is able to keep track of many things. It is also able to do many different calculations, this was one of the reasons that sparked the idea of the computer so many years ago. The first computer dates back to about 2000 years ago. With the abacus, a wooden rack holing two horizontal wires with beads strung on them (Meyers 1). This idea came about because man wanted to be able to automate the counting system. Even though this was not an automatic machine, it allowed the user to remember calculations and it also help to perform complex problems (Hoyle). After the creation of the abacus there was not really much advancement on the computer. Until Blaise Pascal working on the first digital computer in 1642 (Meyers 1). Pascal’s dad was a tax collector and he designed the computer so that it would be easier for his father for perform mathematical computations. The machine was called the Pascaline computer. The computer was able to add and after making few adjustments it was able to multiply (Hoyle). In the 1600’s this was remarkable technology at the time but there were disadvantages. If there was a problem with the computer only Pascal would be able to fix it and it would cost a lot. In 1812 a mathematics professor by the name of Charles Babbage became aware 1 that many mathematical calculation were predictable and so therefore it was possible that it could be done automatically.

Macbeth Korean Translation Essay

In this play the characters Macbeth, Macduff, and Banquo were somewhat alike and somewhat different from each other, but they all played important roles. Some of the characters played a villain role and some played a more heroic role. Macbeth’s prophecy was that he was to become king of Scotland. Macbeth is friends with Banquo and he has a high status, rank, and respect for others. Macbeth and Banquo met the three witches together and they told them both about their futures. Before Macbeth killed the king he thought â€Å"If chance will have me King, why chance may crown me, without my stir. †(p. 36) He takes a noble action on his prophecy and doesn’t let fate take its roll. Once Macbeth became king he let his power control himself, and treats everyone unfair but his wife. When Macbeth found out that Banquo thought that the witches had told some things, Macbeth started to have visions of the daggers floating in the air before him with the tip of the dagger aiming toward Duncan. He thought he heard a voice cry â€Å"Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep† (p. 352) Macbeth tried to grasp the imaginary dagger and failed. After Banquo’s ghost came to haunt him it started to make him suspicious and show that he is the one that killed him. Macduff is loyal to the king and the brave soldier. He is a father who cherishes his children and he is happy with his life. He was always a trustworthy person he never had disloyal or greed within himself. He became a noble man but he does not take any action on his prophecy. Macduff started to take suspicion into the death of Duncan. He became the main opposition to Macbeth and as the result of that his household became slaughtered, and he lost his wife and his son. Banquo is loyal to the king and also is a brave soldier and highly regarded as the king’s men. He is another father that cherished his children, but he was much as a greedy person. When he met with the three witches they told him that he is â€Å"lesser than Macbeth, and greater,† and â€Å"not so happy, yet much happier†, and then she told him that his children will become kings. Banquo felt â€Å"That, trusted home, might yet enkindle you unto the crown, besides the Thane of Cawdor. But ‘tis strange! And oftentimes, to win us to our harm, The instruments of darkness tell us truths, Win us with honest trifles, to betray’s In deepest consequence. †(P. 35) and it had him thinking that what the witches said might not of been so true. He and Macbeth were close friends. Macbeth became an untrue friend to Banquo. By that he had his servants kill Banquo because he was a threat to him and he thought that he would tell people that he killed the king and after he got him killed one of Banquo’s children escaped. All of these characters in the play have similarities because before the king was killed and they all had responsibilities that they each had to handle. Macbeth, Macduff, and Banquo were all friends until Macbeth had power an authority over the kingdom. The difference between each character revolves around their own personal loyalty. Macbeth has the devotion to become king and take power. Macduff had the loyalty of his family and the king and so did Banquo. The innocent characters into this play are Macduff and Banquo. More of Macduff because he wasn’t a really type of greedy person, nor did he want more of things his way. He obeyed his king and nobles. Banquo is loyal to his king and nobles but he was greedy at the same time so his greediness could have had him playing a villain role but he didn’t let it get into the way of some things. Macbeth is the most villain character in this play. He was at once an individual that was doing his job, now he is the character that is taking over people’s lives and started to kill innocent people. Right before Macbeth started to begin to kill the harmless people and gain power he was just as innocent as the citizens in his country. Once he found out that he was gone to have power and he told his wife she thought of him as to ambitious and kind to be king.

Mental Health Issues In The Great Gatsby - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 3 Words: 893 Downloads: 9 Date added: 2019/03/26 Category Literature Essay Level High school Tags: The Great Gatsby Essay Did you like this example? The book The Great Gatsby by f. Scott Fitzgerald is a book that is famous for many reasons. Firstly, we know that its famous because it is still being used in the educational system of today. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Mental Health Issues In The Great Gatsby" essay for you Create order I believe this book is still being read today because of the lasting impact that resonates with the reader. Personally, I can relate to this book through the character jay Gatsby. Throughout The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, I believe that Jay Gatsby is described to try really hard to make others happy, his failing to do so is what eventually leads to his depression. His depression and lack of guidance through his life is what indirectly leads to his death. In this book Gatsby tries hard to please and make Daisy happy. Throughout the book he does whatever he can do in his power to get her to like him. When Gatsby first meets Daisy she is really fond of him because he was being himself. Once Gatsby goes away for war, he loses sight of who Daisy is and who he actually is. The longer Gatsby is away, the more his perception of Daisy and their relationship gets further distorted. When Gatsby finally gets a chance to be with Daisy again, he realizes how different his idea of her has changed and over projected their relationship to be. Since Daisy, in the beginning, actually liked Gatsby for who he was and now Gatsby has turned lonely. The only thing Gatsby can think of to make Daisy happy is wealth. He believes if he can have a lot of money, this will win her back and restore their relationship as it was five years prior. as a result of this, Gatsby is desperate to obtain a lot of money. This is why he ends up having to turn to smuggling to t ry to acquire money. Smuggling does give Gatsby the money that he hopes for, but it is not enough for Daisy to like him again. This is quite similar to how I view our society today. The people in which I have a close connection/relationship to are always trying to make others happy. In the book, Gatsby works very hard to get Daisys approval/trying to make her happy. He is not successful in doing this. Many people, in my opinion, are often trying to get the attention/approval/praise that they seem hungry for. I honestly see this attitude as a thirst/hunger. Eating is a necessity and from what Ive seen, the depth in which people will go to get the approval of others is substansial. If/when these people dont get the approval of others, much like Jay Gatsby, they get depressed. Once Gatsby got depressed about losing Daisy, he turned to money to try to make himself happy. Like many other people who are smuggling money seems to be the pathway to happiness, but as we found out with Mr. Gatsby money certainly does not buy happiness. after Gatsby realizes he lost Daisy for a second time, I believe thats the turning point of his depression, after Daisy is gone, he doesnt have another purpose in his life. All the time he had to spend in his life, he spent on trying to get Daisy to love him. Since he is unsuccessful, he believes he has no self worth and no real reason to live, so I believe his death was a direct result of this. Mental health is a big topic of general interest in todays society, especially within the teen population. approximately 20% of teenagers experience or have experienced depression and its symptoms by the time they reach 20. This has a great effect on more than just that twenty percent of people. There are many people that have to help these people struggling with depression get through their struggles every day. I am personally not affected by depression, but I have several friends that turn to me when they need help. The idea of helping others through their struggles is one of the more prominent things that I think about on a daily basis. I believe there are people my age that dont know the true causation of depression and truly dont comprehend what kind of effect depression has on people. Because of this people are underestimating the power depression has on people. I have personally felt the effects of depression through the loss of my brothers best friend. He took his own life because he felt like his voice was being unheard. This is not an uncommon thought through this age of injustice and political griping. This is an age where political candidates are more worried about exploiting every single blemish of someones life, rather than the topics that actually concern the people that are voting for them such as mental health. Although Im not saying everyone isnt caring or understanding. But I have seen enough comments and sayings that I know that there is enough of a problem looming around this topic that there is something that needs to be done about mental health among the human population in general, but specifically the teenage population. If politicians and the general public focused more on stabilizing the overarching problem/epidemic of mental health issues, I believe the USA and the earth overall would be much better place.