Neuroaesthetics

A Methods-Based Introduction

Tudor Balinisteanu, Kerry Priest

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2024
• Print ISBN: 9783031423253, 9783031423222
• eBook ISBN: 9783031423239
• Edition: 0
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: History of Art
• Index: Psychology

?This open access neuroaesthetics textbook, the first in the world, is designed for teaching a semester module (14 meetings) to undergraduate/masters students from both the sciences and the humanities. Written in a style that appeals to humanities students without prior science training, and to science students without prior humanities training, the textbook contains 6 Units, material for an introductory class, and summative comments to be discussed in a closing meeting. Each Unit comprises an overview designed as student home reading, a lecture, and a lab. The labs contain detailed step-by-step instructions for running a basic experiment and analysing the collected data, that can be easily implemented in humanities and science departments alike. The textbook introduces students to philosophical considerations of neuroaesthetics topics in context of the history of empirical aesthetics, showcases experimental approaches to the empirical study of dance, the visual arts, and music, andsupports hands-on training in experimental research methods.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Front Matter
• Foreword: Aesthetics and Neuroaesthetics
• Introduction: Representative Foci in Neuroaesthetics—Subjectivist, Objectivist, and Interactionist Perspectives
• Unit 1 Overview: A Critical Assessment of Neuroaesthetics as Experimental Science—Chances, Challenges, Required Commitments
• Unit 1 Lesson: Behavioural Experiments—Research Designs, Statistical Power, Sample Size Case Study: Empathy and Closeness in Partnered Dance
• Unit 1 Lab: Data Collection and Analysis—Repeated-Measures (Mixed) ANOVA and Factorial ANOVA Using SPSS Case Study: Empathy and Closeness in Partnered Dance
• Unit 2 Overview: Neuroaesthetics Approaches to the Visual Arts—Perception Focus Topic: CGI-Generated Creative Content and Artificial Intelligence
• Unit 2 Lesson: Portraits as Faces
• Unit 2 Lab: Portraits as Faces
• Unit 3 Overview: Neuroaesthetics Approaches to the Visual Arts—Creation
• Unit 3 Lesson: Using Reaction Time and Mixed Models
• Unit 3 Lab: Gender and Prototypes
• Unit 4 Overview: Symmetry Research in Neuroaesthetics
• Unit 4 Lesson: Why Is en face Associated with Holiness?
• Unit 4 Lab: Create Your Own Association Graphs and Correspondence Analysis Using R
• Unit 5 Overview: The Neuroaesthetics of Music
• Unit 5 Lesson: A Very Brief Introduction to Neuroimaging
• Unit 5 Additional Lecture: Blurred Lives—Cognition and Feelings in Human–AI Interactions
• Unit 6 Overview: The Practice of Neuroaesthetics
• Unit 6 Lesson: Coordination Techniques of Instructive-Educational Activities in the Field of Neuroaesthetics Using Problem-Based Learning (PBL)
• Unit 6 LAB: PBL in Neuroaesthetics Case Study: Strategizing the Use of Relevant Research Methods
• Summative Comments: What Is Neuroaesthetics?
• Correction to: Neuroaesthetics
• Back Matter