Psycho-Historical Contextualization for Music and Visual Works: A Literature Review and Comparison Between Artistic Mediums

Abstract

A significant contribution to the literature on aesthetics in the last decade has been Bullot and Reber's ecologically-driven psycho-historical framework for the science of art appreciation (PHF). The framework proposes that the presence of contextualizing information accompanying an artwork will impart a substantial impact on appreciation for it, which is accessible through understanding of the causal information surrounding the work. Artistic understanding is outlined in terms of three hierarchical “modes” of appreciation. This paper tested a simplified hypothesis drawn from the PHF, using results reported in the existing literature. As Bullot and Reber note that such a framework is relevant for any artistic medium containing causal information, results were drawn from literature concerned with either music or visual works. Our review identified 34 studies that reported results of appreciation (or equivalent) as a dependent variable, while manipulating contextual/historical information for the stimuli as an independent variable. Overall the results were consistent across the two artistic mediums: 9 experiments (26%) produced strong support for the PHF, 6 experiments (18%) produced inconclusive results, and 19 experiments (56%) produced no support for the PHF. We concluded that the majority of the reviewed literature does not support the simplified PHF hypothesis for either medium. However, we also discuss a number of limitations surrounding these studies which may have produced a substantial impact on the categorization results: small sample sizes in some studies, difficulty in translating philosophically-based theory into empirical practice, and interactions with variables such as exposure and “unusualness.”

Imaginative Enrichment Produces Higher Preference for Unusual Music Than Historical Framing: A Literature Review and Two Empirical Studies

“…This paper reported the results of a literature review on the impact of valenced framing on music preference (study 1) and two subsequent empirical studies on music preference for participants receiving one of three types of framing/enrichment (study 2 and study 3). In contrast to the findings of an existing literature review on the impact of historical framing (Chmiel and Schubert, 2019a), study 1 concluded that positively valenced framing had a significant, positive impact on preference 50% of the time. Additionally, study 1 further confirmed previous observations that existing studies on framing have almost exclusively contained typical music stimuli such as popular music and accessible forms of classical and jazz music.…”

“…However, no studies as yet have directly compared these types of framing within the same experimental design. An additional finding reported by Chmiel and Schubert (2019a) was a discrepancy in the type of stimuli used between the two examined mediums (music works and visual works). The music stimuli used in the existing literature were almost exclusively of a "typical" nature, such as popular music and accessible forms of classical music and jazz (that is, not including styles such as atonal music or experimental/free jazz).…”

“…The impact of framing on music preference has been empirically investigated since at least the 1930s ( Damon, 1933 ), although no clear consensus has been reached. This indeterminacy has been highlighted by a recent review of the literature ( Chmiel and Schubert, 2019a ) concerning the impact of historical framing on preference for both music and visual works. Inspired by Bullot and Reber’s (2013b) psycho-historical framework for the science of art appreciation (henceforth PHF), Chmiel and Schubert’s review examined the hypothesis that the presence of historical framing should produce significantly different ratings of preference when compared to conditions receiving either no historical framing or less historical framing.…”

“…Zalanowski (1986) is reviewed inChmiel and Schubert (2019a), although it did not meet the inclusion criteria for the literature review in study 1 as quality was not manipulated.…”

Assessing the Role of Emotional Mediation in Explaining Crossmodal Correspondences Involving Musical Stimuli

“…Meanwhile, a separate line of empirical research that is potentially relevant here involves the assessment of people's sensitivity to so-called cross-media artistic styles (see Hasenfus et al, 1983; see also Chmiel and Schubert, 2019;Lessing, 1766Lessing, /1962; though see Wellek and Warren, 1948). So, for example, Hasenfus et al presented aesthetically naïve observers with a range of reproductions of unfamiliar paintings, examples of architecture, poetry, and music (15 in each category) from several different historical epochs/styles.…”