This study was designed to investigate empirically the “aesthetic experience” as individually defined by each subject. Subjects (N = 30) were faculty members and advanced graduate students at a large university school of music. Each subject listened to a 20-minute excerpt from Act I of Puccini's La Bohème and simultaneously manipulated the dial of a Continuous Response Digital Interface (CRDI) to indicate perceived aesthetic level. The CRDI dial represented a negative/positive continuum along a 256-degree arc. Data collected were charted graphically to indicate levels of aesthetic response across time. Subjects completed a questionnaire designed to estimate frequency, duration, location, and magnitude of perceived aesthetic experiences and also indicated whether dial manipulation roughly corresponded to these experiences.
Results indicated that there were different responses throughout the excerpt by all subjects. Heightened aesthetic responses were evident during certain parts of the excerpt. “Peak experiences” were relatively short (15 seconds or less in duration), preceded by a period of concentrated focus of attention, and generally followed by an “afterglow” ranging from 15 seconds to several minutes. All subjects reported having at least one aesthetic experience and also reported that movement of the CRDI dial roughly approximated this experience. “Aesthetic responses” for subjects seemed to cluster at many of the same places in the music, with one collective “peak” experience that was represented by the highest and lowest dial movements.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Berlyne, D. E. (Ed.). (1974). Studies in the new experimental aesthetics: Steps toward an objective psychology of aesthetic appreciation.New York: Halstead Press.
2.
Birkoff, G. D. (1933). Aesthetic measure.Cambridge, MA: Harvard University. ‘Boheme's' been sung 35 times on Texaco shows. (1989, November). Tallahassee Democrat
3.
Brittin, R. V. (1991). The effect of overtly categorizing music on preference for popular music styles. Journal of Research in Music Education, 39, 143–151.
4.
Capperella, D. A. (1989). Reliability of the Continuous Response Digital Interface for data collection in the study of auditory perception. Southeastern Journal of Music Education, 1, 19–32.
5.
Clynes, M. (1977). Sentics: The touch of emotions.New York: Doubleday/Anchor.
6.
Clynes, M., & Nettheim, N. (1982). The living quality of music. In M. Clynes (Ed.), Music, mind, and brain: The neuropsychology of music.New York: Plenum Press.
7.
Crozier, J. B. (1981). Information theory and melodic perception: In search of the aesthetic engram. In H. I. Day (Ed.), Advances in intrinsic motivation and aesthetics (p. 433–461). New York: Plenum.
8.
Fechner, G. T. (1876). Vorschule der Ästhetik (1st ed.). Leipzig: Breitkopk und Häertal.
9.
Furman, C. E., & Duke, R. A. (1988). Effect of majority consensus on preferences for recorded orchestral and popular music. Journal of Research in Music Education, 36, 220–231.
10.
Geringer, J. M., & Madsen, C. K. (1981). Verbal and operant discrimination/preference for tone quality and intonation. Psychology of Music, 9, 26–30.
11.
Geringer, J. M., & Madsen, C. K. (1987). Pitch and tempo preference in recorded popular music. In C. K. Madsen & C. A. Prickett (Eds.), Applications of research in music behavior (pp. 204–212). Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press.
12.
Getz, R. P. (1966). The influence of familiarity through repetition in determining music preference. Journal of Research in Music Education, 14, 178–192.
13.
Goldstein, A. (1980). Thrills in response to music and other stimuli. Physiological Psychology, 8, 126–129.
14.
Greenfield, D. G. (1985). The evaluation of a computer system for behavioral observation training and research. Journal of Music Therapy, 22, 95–98.
15.
Greer, R. D., Dorow, L. G., Wachaus, G., & White, E. R. (1973). Adult approval and students' music selection behavior. Journal of Research in Music Education, 21, 345–354.
16.
Gregory, D. (1989). Using computers to measure continuous music responses. Psychomusicology, 8, 127–134.
17.
Hargreaves, D. J., & Castell, K. G (1987). Development of liking for familiar and unfamiliar melodies. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, no. 91, 65–69.
18.
Hatoh, T., Kato, M, Kuwano, S., & Namba, S. (1989). Assessment of musical performance using the method of continuous judgement of selected description. Proceedings of the First International Conference on Music Perception and Cognition (pp. 33-36), Kyoto, Japan.
19.
Hevner, K. (1936). Experimental studies of the elements of expression in music. American Journal of Psychology, 48, 246–268.
20.
Heyduk, R. G. (1975). Rated preference for musical compositions as it relates to complexity and exposure frequency. Perception and Psychophysics, 17, 84–91.
21.
Inglefield, H. G. (1982). Conformity behavior reflected in the musical preference of adolescents. In S. H. Barnes (Ed.), A cross-section of research in music education (pp. 105–118). New York: University Press of America.
22.
Kuwano, S., & Namba, S. (1985). Continuous judgement of level-fluctuating sounds and the relationship between overall loudness and instantaneous loudness. Psychological Research, 47, 27–37.
23.
Langer, S. K. (1976). Philosophy in a new key (3rd ed.). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University.
24.
LeBlanc, A. (1981). Effects of style, tempo, and performing medium on children's music preference. Journal of Research in Music Education, 29, 143–156.
25.
LeBlanc, A. (1983). Effects of tempo on children's music preference. Journal of Research in Music Education, 31, 283–294.
26.
LeBlanc, A. (1986). Effects of vocal vibrato and performer's sex on children's music preference. Journal of Research in Music Education, 34, 222–237.
27.
LeBlanc, A. (1988). Tempo preferences of different age music listeners. Journal of Research in Music Education, 36, 156–168.
28.
Madsen, C. K. (1990). Measuring musical response. Music Educators Journal, 77(3), 26–28.
29.
Madsen, C. K., & Geringer, J. M. (1976). Preference for trumpet tone quality versus intonation. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, no. 46, 13–22.
30.
Madsen, C. K., & Geringer, J. M. (1990). Differential patterns of music listening: Focus of attention of musicians versus nonmusicians. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, no. 105, 45–57.
31.
Madsen, C. K., & Madsen, G H. (1970). Experimental research in music.Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
32.
Meyer, L. B. (1956). Emotion and meaning in music.Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
33.
Namba, S., Kuwano, S., Hatoh, T., & Kato, M. (1989). Assessment of musical performance using the method of selected description. Proceedings of the First International Conference on Music Perception and Cognition (pp. 29-32), Kyoto, Japan.
34.
Nielsen, F. V. (1983). Oplevelse of musikalsk spaending [The experience of musical tension]. Copenhagen: Akademisk Forlag.
35.
Nielsen, F. V. (1987). Musical tension and related concepts. In T. A. Sebeok & J. Umiker-Seboek (Eds.), The semiotic web '86. An international yearbook (pp. 491–513). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
36.
Nielzen, S., & Cesarec, Z. (1982). Emotional experience of music as a function of musical structure. Psychology of Music, 10(2), 7–17.
37.
Payne, E. (1983). Towards an understanding of music appreciation: Postscript of the report published in Vol. 8, no. 2, 31-41. Psychology of Music, 11, 97–100.
38.
Peery, J. G, & Peery, I. W. (1986). Effects of exposure to classical music on the musical preference of preschool children. Journal of Research in Music Education, 34(1), 24–33.
39.
Reimer, B. (1970). A philosophy of music education.Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
40.
Rentz, E. (1992). Differential aural perception of orchestral instrument families between musicians and nonmusicians using a continuous response digital interface. Journal of Research in Music Education, 40, 185–192.
41.
Robinson, C. R. (1988). Differentiated modes of choral performance evaluation using traditional procedures and a Continuous Response Digital Interface device. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL.
42.
Russell, P. A. (1986). Experimental aesthetics of popular music recordings: Pleasingness, familiarity and chart performance. Psychobgy of Music, 14(1), 33–43.
43.
Stratton, V. N., & Zalanowski, A. H. (1984). The relationship between music, degree of liking, and self-reported relaxation. Journal of Music Therapy, 21 (4), 184–192.
44.
Walker, E. L. (1981). The quest for the inverted-U. In H. I. Day (Ed.), Advances in intrinsic motivation and aesthetics (pp. 39–70). New York: Plenum.
