A psycho-historical research program for the integrative science of art

Bullot, Nicolas J.; Reber, Rolf

doi:10.1017/s0140525x12002464

Cited by 20 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 327 publications

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“…Second, since Fechner, there has been a push by major thinkers in the field to discover a finite set of universal laws that govern people's aesthetic interactions with objects . Recently, however, both of these historical trends have been extended by researchers who increasingly focus on quantifying the effects of contextual and historical influences on aesthetic experiences . In addition, both of these trends are reflected in the pioneering work of Semir Zeki, credited for introducing the term “neuroaesthetics” into scientific discourse…”

Section: Historical Origins Of Neuroaestheticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…20,21 Recently, however, both of these historical trends have been extended by researchers who increasingly focus on quantifying the effects of contextual and historical influences on aesthetic experiences. 22 In addition, both of these trends are reflected in the pioneering work of Semir Zeki, credited for introducing the term "neuroaesthetics" into scientific discourse. 23,24 Because a significant portion of the evidential base for neuroaesthetics has emerged from brain imaging studies-in particular functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)-it is important to highlight some of the basic limitations of this approach.…”

Section: Historical Origins Of Neuroaestheticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Neuroscience of aesthetics

Chatterjee

Vartanian

2016

Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci.

205

183

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Aesthetic evaluations are appraisals that influence choices in important domains of human activity, including mate selection, consumer behavior, art appreciation, and possibly even moral judgment. The nascent field of neuroaesthetics is advancing our understanding of the role of aesthetic evaluations by examining their biological bases. Here, we conduct a selective review of the literature on neuroaesthetics to demonstrate that aesthetic experiences likely emerge from the interaction between emotion-valuation, sensory-motor, and meaning-knowledge neural systems. This tripartite model can in turn be evoked to explain phenomena central to aesthetics, such as context effects on preferences. Indeed, context-dependent appraisals that focus on objects rather than on outcomes could be an important factor distinguishing aesthetic experiences from other kinds of evaluations.

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Section: Historical Origins Of Neuroaestheticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Historical Origins Of Neuroaestheticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neuroscience of aesthetics

Chatterjee

Vartanian

2016

Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci.

205

183

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“…Our Distancing-Embracing model shares with existing comprehensive models of art reception the general assumption that all aesthetic appreciation involves interactions of person variables; situational, cultural, and historical context; as well as stimulus characteristics (Bullot & Reber 2013b;Chatterjee 2013;Jacobsen 2006;Leder et al 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Distancing-Embracing model of the enjoyment of negative emotions in art reception

Menninghaus¹,

Wagner²,

Hanich³

et al. 2017

Behav Brain Sci

197

205

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Why are negative emotions so central in art reception far beyond tragedy? Revisiting classical aesthetics in the light of recent psychological research, we present a novel model to explain this much discussed (apparent) paradox. We argue that negative emotions are an important resource for the arts in general, rather than a special license for exceptional art forms only. The underlying rationale is that negative emotions have been shown to be particularly powerful in securing attention, intense emotional involvement, and high memorability, and hence is precisely what artworks strive for. Two groups of processing mechanisms are identified that conjointly adopt the particular powers of negative emotions for art's purposes. The first group consists of psychological distancing mechanisms that are activated along with the cognitive schemata of art, representation, and fiction. These schemata imply personal safety and control over continuing or discontinuing exposure to artworks, thereby preventing negative emotions from becoming outright incompatible with expectations of enjoyment. This distancing sets the stage for a second group of processing components that allow art recipients to positively embrace the experiencing of negative emotions, thereby rendering art reception more intense, more interesting, more emotionally moving, more profound, and occasionally even more beautiful. These components include compositional interplays of positive and negative emotions, the effects of aesthetic virtues of using the media of (re)presentation (musical sound, words/language, color, shapes) on emotion perception, and meaning-making efforts. Moreover, our DistancingEmbracing model proposes that concomitant mixed emotions often help integrate negative emotions into altogether pleasurable trajectories.

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“…First, few comprehensive studies of Upper Paleolithic figurines that postdate these reflexive critiques have been published in English (but for notable exceptions, see Farbstein , , ; Farbstein et al , discussed below). Furthermore, much of the recent scholarship discussing the figurines (other than the announcements of new discoveries, e.g., Conard )—including those publications that have garnered the most media attention (e.g., Guthrie ; Ogas and Gaddam , )—actually comes from outside the field of anthropology, focusing on aspects of figurines ranging from their roles in psychohistorical frameworks for art appreciation (Bullot and Reber ) to their depictions of patterns of human obesity during the Upper Paleolithic (King ). These studies usually unquestioningly accept and echo pre‐1990s interpretations that the figurines functioned in context primarily as sexual objects, symbolizing aspects of female gender such as sexuality, fertility, and fecundity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Science, the Media, and Interpretations of Upper Paleolithic Figurines

Nowell

Chang

2014

American Anthropologist

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Using the recent discovery of the Hohle Fels figurine as a catalyst, in this article we briefly review the history of scholarship regarding Upper Paleolithic figurines that are often referred to as "Venus" figurines.We integrate this review with a critical examination of the assumptions underlying the "Venus hypothesis"-the perspective that these artifacts are best understood as sexual objects-based on the available data from both inside and outside of the field of Paleolithic archaeology. We suggest that interpreting the figurines in a purely sexual context obstructs their objective, scientific study and has unintended social consequences. Following from this, we consider why the Venus hypothesis persists in the popular media and scholarly research despite decades of reflexive critiques. Finally, building on these critiques, we argue for the importance of contextualization in the study of Upper Paleolithic figurines and discuss new approaches to their study. [Upper Paleolithic, figurines, pop culture, media, science] RÉSUMÉ Utilisant la dècouverte rècente de la figurine de Hohle Fels comme catalyste, le prèsent article passe en revue brièvement l'histoire de la recherche concernant les figurines du Paléolithique supérieur auxquelles on référe le plus fréquemment par le terme de figurine "Vénus". La revue comporte un examen critique des présuppositions sous-jacentesà "l'hypothèse de Vénus", notamment qu'il s'agit de faç on plausible d'objets sexuels, s'appuyant sur les données disponibles, dans le cadre médiatique populaire en deçà ainsi qu'à l'intérieur du domaine de la recherche sur le Paléolithique. Nous suggérons que toutes interprétations dans un contexte exclusivement sexuel masque une démarche scientifique objective comportant des répercussions sociales imprévues. Poursuivant ce raisonnement, nous abordons les causes d'une telle persistence de l'hypothèse Vénus dans le monde médiatique ainsi que dans la recherché erudite, malgré des décennies de réflection critique. Finalement, nous fondant sur ces critiques, nous soutenons l'importance de replacer l'étude des figurines du Paléolithique supérieur dans leur cadre contextuel et discutons de nouvelles démarches pour leurétude. [Paléolithque supérieur, statuettes féminines, culture populaire, médias, science] RESUMEN Usando el reciente descubrimiento de la estatuilla Hohle Fels como un catalizador, en este artículo brevemente revisamos la historia del cuerpo de conocimientos sobre las estatuillas del Paleolítico Superior que a menudo se refieren como las figuras de "Venus". Integramos esta revisión con una examinación crítica de las asunciones subyacentes de la "hipótesis de Venus"-la perspectiva que estos artefactos se entienden mejor como objetos sexuales-basados en la información disponible tanto de dentro como fuera del campo de la arqueología paleolítica. Sugerimos que interpretando las estatuillas en un contexto puramente sexual obstruye su estudio objetivo, científico y tiene consecuencias sociales imprevistas. Siguiendo esto, consideramos por qué ...

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A psycho-historical research program for the integrative science of art

Cited by 20 publications

References 327 publications

Neuroscience of aesthetics

Neuroscience of aesthetics

The Distancing-Embracing model of the enjoyment of negative emotions in art reception

Science, the Media, and Interpretations of Upper Paleolithic Figurines

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