Unit 9.2

Question 1

Self Reports of Physiological Responses (to music)

Answer 1

Goosebumps (chills/shivers)
- sudden or unprepared change in harmony
Tears (most common)
- melodic appoggiaturas (temporary dissonance into harmonious tone)
Racing heartbeat (less common)
- sudden changes in texture or dynamics or musical event earlier then expected

Question 2

Physiological Responses

Answer 2

• many studies show self reports of feeling emotion
  Music Induced Chill = sudden, arousing reaction that is accompanied by goose bumps, shivers or tingles in the spine
• correspond with increased heart rate and skin conductance

Question 3

Music Induced Chills (When they occur & associated with…)

Answer 3

Tend to occur during
- slow movements
- when solo emerges
- swell in music
- sudden expansion of pitch range
Associated with
- changes in skin conductance
- changes in blood flow to the brain

Question 4

Effect of Music Training

Answer 4

Musically trained adults report
- feeling stronger emotions in response to music
- listening to music for cognitive or intellectual stimulation (opposed to purely emotional reasons)
- seem to engage with music in different ways

Question 5

Emotion Regulation

Answer 5

Process where we manage what emotions we feel AND influence the intensity, duration, and physiological and behavioural expressions of those emotions

Question 6

Goals of emotion self-regulation through music: (8)

Answer 6

1. relax and revive oneself
2. maintain a positive mood
3. distract/divert attention from negative thoughts
4. provide framework for the mental work involved in processing internal conflicts
5. energize or psych oneself up
6. stir up and access a range of intense feelings
7. discharge anger or other negative emotions
8. provide solace when dealing with loss/loneliness

Question 7

Why do we listen to sad music?
Garrido and Schubert (2011)

Answer 7

Over half of students agreed strongly with the statement (“I like to listen to music which makes me feel sadness or grief”)
Report that sad music doesn’t just make them feel sadness, but also positive and complex feelings
- nostalgia
- wonder
- tenderness
- peacefulness
Taruffi & Koelsch (2014): listeners feel consolation and comfort from listening to sad music

Question 8

Why do we listen to sad music?
Schubert (1996)
When sadness aroused in aesthetic context, it activates a dissociation node

Answer 8

• inhibits the displeasure center of the brain
• pleasurable response thus ensues
• Huron (2011) suggests pleasurable sadness releases prolactin, which counteracts the effects of intense negative emotion
• you get the consoling, soothing effects without the pain

Question 9

Why do we listen to sad music?
Justin (2013)
Focuses on mixed emotions

Answer 9

• we experience sadness simultaneously with perceived beauty of the music
• mixed emotions reflect the mixed character of life
• Levinson (2004): “because life is inherently both sorrowful and pleasurable music that reflects this mixed bittersweet character may be most moving to us”

Question 10

Why do we listen to sad music?
Sachs, Damasio, and Habibi (2015)
Homeostasis

Answer 10

• music can arouse pleasurable response if there is an imbalance in one’s internal conditions
• ie. listening to music after an emotionally triggering event can focus ones attention

Question 11

Processing observed in ____________ for:
consonant
dissonant

Answer 11

c - reward/reinforcement
d - warning center

Question 12

Importance of Music in Film

Answer 12

• immersive quality
• sound adds a third dimension, surrounds audience and places us in the center of the experience
• heightens emotion
• Thayer & Levinson (1983): greater physiological responses to film about an industrial accident with “horror music” rather than “documentary music”