The artful mind meets art history: Toward a psycho-historical framework for the science of art appreciation

2013 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas J. Bullot ◽  
Rolf Reber
Keyword(s):  
Common Core ◽  
Art History ◽  
Scientific Inquiry ◽  
Art Appreciation ◽  
Psychological Responses ◽  
Cognitive Sciences ◽  
Brain Sciences ◽  
The Social ◽  
Aesthetic Pleasure ◽  
Design Stance

AbstractResearch seeking a scientific foundation for the theory of art appreciation has raised controversies at the intersection of the social and cognitive sciences. Though equally relevant to a scientific inquiry into art appreciation, psychological and historical approaches to art developed independently and lack a common core of theoretical principles. Historicists argue that psychological and brain sciences ignore the fact that artworks are artifacts produced and appreciated in the context of unique historical situations and artistic intentions. After revealing flaws in the psychological approach, we introduce a psycho-historical framework for the science of art appreciation. This framework demonstrates that a science of art appreciation must investigate how appreciators process causal and historical information to classify and explain their psychological responses to art. Expanding on research about the cognition of artifacts, we identify three modes of appreciation: basic exposure to an artwork, the artistic design stance, and artistic understanding. The artistic design stance, a requisite for artistic understanding, is an attitude whereby appreciators develop their sensitivity to art-historical contexts by means of inquiries into the making, authorship, and functions of artworks. We defend and illustrate the psycho-historical framework with an analysis of existing studies on art appreciation in empirical aesthetics. Finally, we argue that the fluency theory of aesthetic pleasure can be amended to meet the requirements of the framework. We conclude that scientists can tackle fundamental questions about the nature and appreciation of art within the psycho-historical framework.

1. What is art history?

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-30
Author(s):  
Dana Arnold
Keyword(s):  
Art History ◽  
Art Criticism ◽  
Art Appreciation ◽  
Cultural Issues ◽  
Work Of Art ◽  
Works Of Art ◽  
The Social ◽  
Over Time

‘What is art history?’ discusses the term art history and draws distinctions between it and art appreciation and art criticism. It also considers the range of artefacts included in the discipline and how these have changed over time. The work of art is our primary evidence, and it is our interaction between this evidence and methods of enquiry that forms art history. Art appreciation and criticism are also linked to connoisseurship. Although art is a visual subject, we learn about it through reading and we convey our ideas about it mostly in writing. The social and cultural issues articulated by art history are examined through an analysis of four very different works of art.

Goldilocks Aesthetics

Projections ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 66-74
Author(s):  
James E. Cutting
Keyword(s):  
Psychological Responses ◽  
American Cinema ◽  
Aesthetic Pleasure

Much of aesthetics is based in psychological responses. Yet seldom have such responses—couched in empirically based psychological terms—played a central role in the discussion of movie aesthetics. Happily, Todd Berliner’s Hollywood Aesthetic: Pleasure in American Cinema does just that. This commentary discusses some history and some twists and turns behind Berliner’s analysis.

The Social Psychology of Homophily: The Collective Sentiments of Education Advocacy Groups

2020 ◽  
Vol 122 (6) ◽  
pp. 1-32
Author(s):  
Jonathan A. Supovitz ◽  
Christian Kolouch ◽  
Alan J. Daly
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Common Core ◽  
Detection Algorithm ◽  
Psychological Characteristics ◽  
Thinking Style ◽  
Advocacy Groups ◽  
Narrative Thinking ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Common ◽  
Community Detection Algorithm

Background/Context As a major area of civic decision making, public education is a central arena for advocacy groups seeking to influence policy debates. An emerging body of research examines advocates’ use of social media. While debates about policy can be thought of as a clash of large ideas contained within frames, cognitive linguists note that framing strategies are activated by the particular words that advocates choose to convey their positions. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study This study examined the vociferous debate surrounding the Common Core State Standards on Twitter during the height of state adoption in 2014 and 2015. Combining social network analysis and natural language processing techniques, we first identified the organically forming factions within the Common Core debate on Twitter and then captured the collective psychological sentiments of these factions. Research Design The study employed quantitative statistical comparisons of the frequency of words used by members of different factions around the Common Core on Twitter that are associated in prior research with four psychological characteristics: mood, motivation, conviction, and thinking style. Data Collection and Analysis Data were downloaded from Twitter from November 2014 to October 2015 using at least one of three hashtags: #commoncore, #ccss, or #stopcommoncore. The resulting data set consisted of more than 500,000 tweets and retweets from more than 100,000 distinct actors. We then ran a community detection algorithm to identify the structural subcommunities, or factions. To measure the four psychological characteristics, we adapted Pennebaker and colleagues’ Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count libraries. We then connected the individual tweet authors to their faction based on the results of the social network analysis community detection algorithm. Using these groups, and the standardized results for each psychological characteristic/dimension, we performed a series of analyses of variance with Bonferroni corrections to test for differences in the psychological characteristics among the factions. Findings/Results For each of the four psychological characteristics, we found different patterns among the different factions. Educators opposed to the Common Core had the highest level of drive motivation, use of sad words, and use of words associated with a narrative thinking style. Opponents of the Common Core from outside education exhibited an affiliative drive motivation, a narrative thinking style, high levels of anger words, and low levels of conviction in their choice of language. Supporters of the Common Core used words that represented a more analytic thinking style, stronger levels of conviction, and words associated with a higher level of achievement orientation. Conclusions/Recommendations Individuals on Twitter, mostly strangers to each other, band together to form fluid communities as they share positions on particular issues. On Twitter, these bonds are formed by behavioral choices to follow, retweet, and mention others. This study reveals how like-minded individuals create a collective sentiment through their specific choice of words to express their views. By analyzing the underlying psychological characteristics associated with language, we show the distinct pooled psychologies of activists as they engaged together in political activity in an effort to influence the political environment.

scholarly journals “Das Bild hat einigen historischen Werth und deshalb wird es vielleicht ausgestellt …“ Zum Ausstellungsdebüt Julie Hagens in München: Das Porträt des Freundes und Mentors Moritz Rugendas

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 29
Author(s):  
Christin Conrad
Keyword(s):  
Art History ◽  
Source Material ◽  
The Social ◽  
Educational Situation ◽  
History Of ◽  
Close Cooperation ◽  
Art Community ◽  
Unique Source ◽  
Artistic Career ◽  
Insight Into

The article deals with an encounter between Julie Hagen Schwarz, a Baltic German artist (1824–1902), and the Ausburg artist Moritz Rugendas (1802–1858), which was of great importance for the former, while she was studying in Munich around 1850. It also deals with the first presentation of her work in the Munich artist community, which resulted from cooperation with and promotion by Rugendas. Special attention is paid to the history of Hagen’s “Portrait of Moritz Rugendas in Brasilian Costume”, which originated from the artist’s close cooperation with the master Rugendas. Its presentation in the Munich and Augsburg Art Associations (Kunstverein) in October 1849 and May 1850 and the effect this had on the artistic career of Julie Hagen is examined. From this moment on, her works were discussed by colleagues and important personalities. She received many portrait commissions and her works were shown at several exhibitions in Munich and Augsburg. A discussion on the whereabouts of the still lost original painting and the provenance and authorship of a smaller copy in the collection of the Kadriorg Museum in Tallinn, which until now was identified as a “Self-Portrait” by Moritz Rugendas, follows. The attribution and the provenance of the preserved work from the Liphart collection are considered, along with the source texts, which suggest that Julie Hagen was the author and a correction of the attribution is in order.The collected findings published here were developed from the preserved letters of Julie Hagen, which, as rich and unique source material, show the artistic career of the painter. As a representative of her generation of female artists, it also provides an insight into the social context and educational situation of ambitious female painters around 1850. In connection with the correct attribution, the art-history investigation and positioning of the artist in the art community, it is hoped that the uncertainty that currently exists when evaluating the artistic performance of female painters and the low status assigned to them in exhibitions and the acquisition policy of museums will give way to growing interest, understanding and greater recognition.

The Credulity of Conspiracy Theorists

2018 ◽  
pp. 422-431
Author(s):  
Brian L. Keeley
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Inquiry ◽  
Scientific Method ◽  
Scientific Explanation ◽  
Social World ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Conspiracy Theories ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World ◽  
Rational Inquiry

Where does entertaining (or promoting) conspiracy theories stand with respect to rational inquiry? According to one view, conspiracy theorists are open-minded skeptics, being careful not to accept uncritically common wisdom, exploring alternative explanations of events no matter how unlikely they might seem at first glance. Seen this way, they are akin to scientists attempting to explain the social world. On the other hand, they are also sometimes seen as overly credulous, believing everything they read on the Internet, say. In addition to conspiracy theorists and scientists, another significant form of explanation of the events of the world can be found in religious contexts, such as when a disaster is explained as being an “act of God.” By comparing conspiratorial thinking with scientific and religious forms of explanation, features of all three are brought into clearer focus. For example, anomalies and a commitment to naturalist explanation are seen as important elements of scientific explanation, although the details are less clear. This paper uses conspiracy theories as a lens through which to investigate rational or scientific inquiry. In addition, a better understanding of the scientific method as it might be applied in the study of events of interest to conspiracy theorists can help understand their epistemic virtues and vices.

Social scientific inquiry and meta-theoretical fantasy: the case of International Relations

2011 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 1447-1469 ◽  
Author(s):  
JOHN G. GUNNELL
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Scientific Inquiry ◽  
Scientific Theory ◽  
Basic Problem ◽  
Social Phenomena ◽  
Philosophical Position ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
Social Scientific ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractThe turn to the philosophy of scientific realism as a meta-theory for the study of International Relations manifests a reluctance to confront the basic problem of the relationship between philosophy and social scientific inquiry. Despite the realists' rejection of traditional empiricism, and particularly the instrumentalist account of scientific theory, the enthusiasm for realism neglects many of the same problems that, more than a generation earlier, were involved in the social scientific embrace of positivism. One of these problems was a lack of understanding regarding the character and history of the philosophy of natural science and its relationship and applicability to the study of social phenomena. Proponents of realism have also neither adequately articulated and defended realism as a philosophical position, and distinguished it from other perspectives, nor confronted the fundamental challenge to realism and other foundationalist philosophies which has been mounted by the contemporary critique of traditional representational philosophy.

The artistic design stance and the interpretation of Paleolithic art

2013 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-140
Author(s):  
Johan De Smedt ◽  
Helen De Cruz
Keyword(s):  
Historical Context ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Art Appreciation ◽  
Direct Experience ◽  
Paleolithic Art ◽  
Design Stance

AbstractThe artistic design stance is an important part of art appreciation, but it remains unclear how it can be applied to artworks for which art historical context is no longer available, such as Ice Age art. We propose that some of the designer's intentions can be gathered noninferentially through direct experience with prehistoric artworks.

From Interpretation to Instructional Practice: A Network Study of Early-Career Teachers’ Sensemaking in the Era of Accountability Pressures and Common Core State Standards

2020 ◽  
Vol 57 (6) ◽  
pp. 2293-2338
Author(s):  
Kenneth A. Frank ◽  
Jihyun Kim ◽  
Serena J. Salloum ◽  
Kristen N. Bieda ◽  
Peter Youngs
Keyword(s):  
Common Core ◽  
Common Core State Standards ◽  
Mathematics Instruction ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
State Standards ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Early Career Teachers ◽  
Core State ◽  
The Social ◽  
Career Teachers

Accountability pressures and the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics have created complex demands for educators, especially early-career teachers (ECTs). Analyzing longitudinal data, including the social networks of 119 ECTs, we find that ECTs increase their ambitious mathematics instruction when their network members positively interpret accountability pressures and curricular standards as manifest in standardized tests and evaluation. This estimated effect is net of an ECT’s rich covariates, including the levels of ambitious mathematics instruction at the beginning of the academic year. It is implied that not all ECTs experience accountability pressures and curricular standards in the same way—their experiences are affected by the immediate networks in which they are embedded. Corresponding guidance for teacher educators and administrators is given.

scholarly journals The E.A.T. Datascape: An Experiment in Digital Social History of Art

2019 ◽  
pp. 110-137
Author(s):  
Christophe Leclercq ◽  
Paul Girard ◽  
Daniele Guido
Keyword(s):  
Social History ◽  
Art History ◽  
Digital Design ◽  
Art World ◽  
Robert Rauschenberg ◽  
Art And Technology ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of Art ◽  
History Of ◽  
Interdisciplinary Projects

Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T.) is an organization co-founded in 1966 by artists Robert Rauschenberg and Robert Whitman, and engineers Billy Klüver and Fred Waldhauer, in order to support collaboration between artists and engineers. The E.A.T. datascape is a digital instrument for analyzing the digitized traces left by its members via many available resources. Its aim is to study as closely as possible the complexity of collaborative interdisciplinary works. The E.A.T. datascape methodology makes it possible, by means of an anthropological action-centred approach, to go beyond the distinction between art history and art sociology and to renew the social history of art by challenging the notion of authorship and by describing the work as constituted by the intersection between heterogeneous trajectories, rather than an object within a context that would influence it, or constitute its environment. In other words, it allows us to reflect on what digital design does, in turn, to the social history of art, and to put forward hypotheses about what a digital social history of art might be or could offer to the study of complex, interdisciplinary projects that are multiplying in the contemporary art world.

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