A Functional Analysis of “Aesthetic”: A Commentary on Mechner.
In his target article, Mechner provides a bio-behavioral analysis of effects called “aesthetic.” He then examines hundreds of such effects across a wide range of literary, artistic, and scientific disciplines and concludes that they consist of a composite of elements that produce what he calls “surp...
| Published in: | Psychological Record Vol. 68; no. 3; pp. 353 - 359 |
|---|---|
| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Published: |
Springer Nature
Sep2018
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=132135494&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 132135494 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00332933 PSD jtl: Psychological Record issn: 00332933 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Sep2018 vid: 68 iid: 3 pid: 237 pub: Springer Nature artinfo: ui: 132135494 10.1007/s40732-018-0308-x ppf: 353 ppct: 6 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 334KB tig: atl: A Functional Analysis of “Aesthetic”: A Commentary on Mechner. aug: au: Schlinger, Henry D. affil: California State University, 5151 State University Dr., 90032, Los Angeles, CA, USA su: Aesthetics Operant conditioning Behavior modification Reinforcement (Psychology) Functional analysis sug: subj: Aesthetics Operant conditioning Behavior modification Reinforcement (Psychology) Functional analysis keyword: Music Respondent conditioning Music Respondent conditioning ab: In his target article, Mechner provides a bio-behavioral analysis of effects called “aesthetic.” He then examines hundreds of such effects across a wide range of literary, artistic, and scientific disciplines and concludes that they consist of a composite of elements that produce what he calls “surprise-tinged” emotional responses in individuals with an appropriate learning history. In my commentary, I first suggest an operational, or functional, analysis of some of the terms Mechner uses in his analysis, including “surprise, “familiar,” and “priming.” I then provide a brief functional analysis of stimuli we call “aesthetic,” “artistic,” or “beautiful.” In so doing, I use my own history with music and as a musician to address two general questions about behavior we call “aesthetic”: what kinds of responses occur and under what circumstances, and what kinds of learning histories might be responsible for them? Although I identify some problems with Mechner’s interpretation, for example, that he introduces several vague concepts and often opts for explanations that are circular and that do not identify basic behavioral principles, in general I commend him for tackling such a complex topic in such a thorough and thoughtful manner. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
|---|