Clockwork MuseWhat determines the evolution of styles in poetry, painting, music, and architecture? Are there universal laws of art history to which even Shakespeare, Beethoven, and Picasso were subject? In this highly original and provocative book, cognitive psychologist Colin Martindale challenges conventional theories that seek to explain changes in the arts as the result of political, religious, or social forces. "Social forces do not cause change in art; they distort it," he writes. Martindale argues that it is the pressure for novelty that shapes individual artistic careers and trends, whether in literature, music, or the visual arts....Through the use of computer models and experimental simulations, Martindale explores the psychological factors involved in producing novel responses and he traces the stylistic changes that derive from this need for novelty.--Book jacket. |
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Page 58
... idea , one must regress to a primordial state of conscious- ness . To produce an even more novel idea , one must regress to an even more primordial level . One might think of conceptual thought as crystal- line . All of the mental ...
... idea , one must regress to a primordial state of conscious- ness . To produce an even more novel idea , one must regress to an even more primordial level . One might think of conceptual thought as crystal- line . All of the mental ...
Page 352
... ideas must be general or abstract : that is , there is a selection pressure for generality . This means that my idea about John and Mary would not survive in scientific circles . If I myself did not reject it , other scientists ...
... ideas must be general or abstract : that is , there is a selection pressure for generality . This means that my idea about John and Mary would not survive in scientific circles . If I myself did not reject it , other scientists ...
Page 360
... idea of liberty . According to Wundt , such compounds are made up of psychical elements : that is , basic sensory ... idea . They merely observed that he should call his new science something other than psychology , which is by ...
... idea of liberty . According to Wundt , such compounds are made up of psychical elements : that is , basic sensory ... idea . They merely observed that he should call his new science something other than psychology , which is by ...
Contents
A Scientific Approach to Art and Literature | 1 |
A Psychological Theory of Aesthetic Evolution | 34 |
Modern French Poetry | 77 |
Copyright | |
8 other sections not shown
Common terms and phrases
aesthetic evolution Akhenaten American poetry amount of primordial analysis argued arousal potential art history artists audience autocorrelations autoregressive average baroque Baudelaire British poetry century complex composers Composite Variability Index computed conceptual concrete consecutive twenty-year periods correlations cross-media styles decline decrease dimensions Divine Comedy emotion equation evolutionary theory example explain figure French poetry gothic gothic architecture idea incongruous increase arousal potential indices John laws linear literary literature Martindale meaning measure melodic originality metaphysical poets multidimensional scaling narrative neoclassic oscillations painters painting paradigm percent poem poetic poets born predicted pressure for novelty primordial cognition primordial content primordial thought prior period produce psychology random reason reflectionist regression Reproduction romantic sample scales scientific scores selection shown significant similar social statistically stimuli stylistic change subjects T. S. Eliot tend texts themes theoretical things tion trend in primordial ukiyo-e variance variation versus words