3 - Aesthetics

Question 1

Desiring

Answer 1

• aesthetic perception
• emotional appraisals (domain general)
• cognition/emotion relationship (emotions impacting how we process things cognitively)

Question 2

Personal consequentiality

Answer 2

you appraise things which are good for your -> positive emotions (emotions based on how you appraise things -> survival related)

Question 3

3 dimensions of emotion

Answer 3

1. valence (positive/negative; binary)
2. intensity (weak/intense; graded on continuum)
3. focus (what is emotion about; the trigger)

Question 4

1D model of emotion (Darwin, 1872)

Answer 4

fundamental cross cultural emotions; biologically engrained

Question 5

The circumflex model (2D) - emotions

Answer 5

-> valence (positive to negative) and intensity (high to low)
- allows to accommodate all emotions
- forming 4 clusters

Question 6

Ortony/Clore/Collins (OCC) model (3D) - emotions

Answer 6

-> valence, intensity and focus
3 foci of emotion:
1. outcomes: motivational emotions; pleased to displeased (emotions triggered by the outcome of goal directed actions, can be retro- or prospective)
2. objects: aesthetic emotions; liking to disliking (how appraising something is for you)
3. agents: moral/social emotions; from approving to disapproving (observing other peoples behavior)

Question 7

Beauty as good relationship

Answer 7

aesthetically beautiful things are thought to be good

Question 8

the “halo” affect

Answer 8

• attractive people are rated as nicer, more successful and more sociable -> association between aesthetic and appraisal (how good)
• when emotional foci have opposing valences -> cognitive dissonance (ex. good (agent) but ugly (object))

Question 9

aesthetics

Answer 9

= the perception of beauty and ugliness in everything and production
- appraisal and appeal of everything (not just artwork) -> can also be negative (appraisal not art specific to aesthetics)
- making things more attractive trough production

Question 10

what do we appraise aesthetically?

Answer 10

aesthetic perception mainly focussed on others (just in modern society the self becomes important as well (earlier they did not have mirrors)) -> we appraise others (people), human made objects, spaces, performances and natural objects and spaces

Question 11

cognition/emotion relationship

Answer 11

• emotion for action (survival mechanism)
• emotion triggers motivation -> decision making (different routes to achieve a goal)

Question 12

The problem solving cycle

Answer 12

1. problem formulation; emotional appraisal of a situation
2. motivation to act
3. find solutions -> decision making up on those
4. planning to act
5. implement solution

Question 13

real vs virtual (of character) emotions

Answer 13

-> we feel own emotions (production) and feel what others feel (perception -> evoking empathy)
-> we see film character expressing emotions, virtual emotions, we perceive those and feel empathy (production) -> this allows theater to be the art form it is (theater is cognitive representation of emotions; external features of emotions)

Question 14

group emotional expression

Answer 14

production: real emotions; individual emotional expressions -> synchronize via collective rituals (= attunement (contagion)) , demonstrate commitment to the group (cohesion) -> shared emotional experience, feeling emotionally connected (can also be done via catharsis; releasing negative emotion at the same time)

Question 15

making desirable

Answer 15

= artification is the production counterpart to aesthetic perception

Question 16

artifaction

Answer 16

making something ordinary extraordinary; taking things behind their actual functionality; making something useful pretty (artification process) -> increasing the aesthetic appeal

Question 17

3 mechanisms of artification

Answer 17

1. stylization/ornamentation
2. exaggeration
3. repetition; in time (rhythm), in space (patterns)
   -> it is a creative process
   -> part of display creativity (not necessarily novel)

Question 18

display thinking

Answer 18

= strategies used to convey information about our desirability, social status, profession, gender, ethnicity, religion, …
-> to prodcast how appealing we are/show our rank -> attract attention
-> unites creativity and aesthetics via display creativity
-> can be in individual and group level

Question 19

animal displays

Answer 19

• individually; mating (males attracting females)
• group; territorial (mark territory collectively)

Question 20

Which things do we artify?

Answer 20

aesthetic production
-> self; make ourselves more appealing -> main focus
-> we cannot make others or nature more appealing
-> human made objects, spaces and performances

Question 21

perception vs production

Answer 21

what we appraise aesthetically (perception) vs what we artify (production)
-> common link is human made objects, spaces and performances
-> production focuses on self
-> perception on others