Categories of Novelty and States of Uncertainty

Abstract

The concept of novelty has acquired a large number of diverse referents over the past quarter-century as a result of new methods that permit measurement of a variety of biological and behavioral reactions to novel incentives in both humans and animals. As a result, the term has acquired varied meanings. This analysis of novelty makes four claims. First, the specific state of uncertainty that a novel event creates depends on its origin. Second, unexpected events that alter the immediate stimulus surround (called stimulus novelty) should be distinguished from those that are inconsistent with an agent's long term knowledge (called conceptual novelty). Third, the critical features that render an event novel can vary with the agent's intention to classify or to act on an object and the balance between these two frames changes with development. Finally, the state of uncertainty created when an agent must choose one response from two or more alternatives differs from the states provoked by stimulus and conceptual novelty.

Routines and Meaning in Life

“…Routines may be interrupted by novel experiences, but novelty is not antithetical to MIL. Novel events are not inherently threatening (Kagan, 2009). Indeed, typical responses to novelty include looking longer at the stimuli and disrupting ongoing activity (Scherer, Zentner, & Stern, 2004), characteristics crucial for associative learning (Horner & Tung, 2011;Kamin, 1968Kamin, , 1969.…”

Being surprised and surprising ourselves: A geography of personal and social change

“…Conversely, to expect someone or something to be informative means to expect them or it to be capable of surprising us, that is, to expect them to be, at least to some extent, unpredictable. The surprisingness or unexpectedness of an item of information should not be confused with its unfamiliarity (Kagan, 2009). If one visits a foreign country and stumbles upon one's neighbor from home there, one is surprised by something familiar.…”

Effects of perceptual uncertainty on arousal and preference across different visual domains.

“…Indeed, although studies have focused on the possible role of subliminal cues in motivating subjects to approach goods and products (Veltkamp, Martijn & Aarts, 2011), and their limitations (Verwijmeren et al, 2011), little is known about the potential adverse effects that subliminal cues can have on preference and choice. Support for this scenario can be found in recent neuroscience research that demonstrates that the perceptual systems of humans and animals are sensitive to alterations in the physical features of the surrounding sensory world, and that their affective systems are modulated by the sensory probability of an perceptual event (Kagan, 2009). Faced with some event that alters the immediate sensory surround, human brains will produce emotional reactions reflecting this unexpectedness.…”