2mp3 music cognition: third half

emotions

include feelings, a subjective experience, involved appraisals of a situation to be focused on a specific object, is associated with physical expressions of the emotion and to be more intense but of shorter duration than moods

Extramusical associations

meanings, ideas, images, or emotions that music suggests outside of the music itself.

emotion perception

all instances where a listener perceives or recognises emotions in music without necessarily feeling an emotion themselves

emotion induction

all instances where music evokes an emotion in a listener and thus produces a felt emotion

perceived emotion

The emotion that a listener recognizes or identifies as being expressed by a piece of music

felt emotion

The emotion that a listener personally experiences or feels while listening to a piece of music

major mode

happy, merry, graceful, and playful

minor mode

sad, dreamy, and sentimental

firm rhythms

vigorous and dignified

flowing rhythms

happy, graceful, dreamy, tender

complex dissonant harmonies

exciting, agitated, vigorous, and inclined toward sadness

Simple consonant harmonies

happy, graceful, serene and lyrical

complex emotions such as nostalgia/ longing

minor triad, minor seventh chord, or major seventh chord

tempo

fast or slow pace

mode

the music is based on a major or minor scale

faster tempo and major key

happpy

slower tempo and minor key

sad

mixed emotions

music that may simultaneously express two or more emotions

music with conflicting cues

led to higher ratings for mixed happy/sad emotions than music with consistent cues

Jazz experiment for conveying emotion

results showed that 29% of the positive improvisations were mostly in a minor key and about 35% of negative improvisations were mostly in a major key, listeners were able to identify intended emotion. Suggesting other features of the music seemed to differentiate the performances

positive improvisations

compromised more notes played per second, faster key presses, a lighter touch or staccato, and more playing in the high range of the piano

circumplex model of affect

A theory of emotional behaviour based on the degree to which emotions are pleasant or unpleasant (valence)and the degree to which they make one feel activated (arousal) (feeling alert and engaged)

valence

the degree to which an emotion is associated with favourable outcomes ie. positive and negative

arousal

the amount of energy associated with an emotion

young children perceive emotion in music through

psychoacoustic cues such as tempo, loudness, and range of pitches similar to adults judging emotions in music from another culture

three year old children

sensitive to the general positive and negative connotations of music in major and minor keys

five year old children

can recognise some basic emotions such as happiness or sadness expressed in music, though they confuse fear and anger, still using tempo as a basis for judgement

eleven years old children

pitch structures are understood and improve in their ability to interpret intended emotions, and perform similarly to adults in identifying emotions expressed by music and are as accurate as adults

ability to recognise negative emotions in music

gradually declines from mid life through old age

older adults

feeling more intense happiness when listening to happy music, and are less responsive to music inducing sadness and fear compare to college students

positive effect

The enhanced processing of positive information and reduced processing of negative information (as a result of adaptive emotional coping mechanisms of older adults)

speech rate

how quickly you speak, similar to tempo in music

voice intensity

loudness of voice; similar to loudness or sound intensity in music

speech rate and sound intensity

increases when expressing happiness and anger and decrease when conveying sadness and tenderness in speech or music

expressive features of speech

serve as basic psychophysical cues that convey the speaker's intended emotions with some level of success, even for listeners who don't know the language and for infants and young children.

prosody

musical qualities of speech such as variations in pitch, pace, rhythm, and stress patterns, and loudness that convey meaning to the listener.

prosody helps

recognise emotions in music

happy/joy

conveyed through a fast pace of speaking, a generally higher range of pitches, and an energetic bright tone quality in the voice

sadness

a slower pace of speaking, a lower range of pitches, and softer or less energetic quality in the voice

musically trained individuals

better at decoding speakers' emotions in everyday speech

study in relation to speech and music

actors used speech pitch intervals to convey emotions and how listeners perceive these emotions, showing parallels between musical intervals and emotional speech.

What speech interval did actors commonly use to convey sadness?

A falling minor third

intervals commonly used to convey anger in speech

Ascending minor second or ascending perfect fifth.

the main finding when listeners heard the actors' speech phrases

The falling minor third interval was the best predictor of listeners' perception of sadness in speech

What evidence supports cross-cultural similarities in emotion communication between speech and music?

Pitch fluctuations in Indian Tamil speech for emotions resemble the melodic interval patterns in classical South Indian music conveying similar emotions.

cognitivist position

music expresses or represents emotions but does not elicit real emotions

emotivist position

music can stir up felt emotions in listeners

tears

were most often provoked by melodic appoggiaturas -> tone in the melody provides temporary dissonance and then resolves to a harmonious tone

shivers

provoked by a sudden or unprepared change in harmony

heart responses

often coincided with sudden changes in texture or dynamics, or a musical event occurring earlier than anticipated

music induced chill or frisson

a sudden arousing reaction that is accompanied by goose bumps, shivers, or tingles in the spine, changes in skin conductance, and changes in blood flow to specific regions of the brain

chills response

during slow movements, when a solo instrument emerged or became distinct from the accompaniment, when there was an increase in loudness or a swell in the music, or a sudden expansion of pitch range

study on music and emotion (ocean study example)

A study presenting six classical music excerpts to participants, measuring both self-reported emotions and physiological responses to examine how music evokes distinct emotional experiences.

Slider group in study on music and emotion

Participants who indicated the degree of sadness, fear, happiness, and tension they experienced while listening to music by adjusting a slider on a computer, and then rated emotions on 13 scales (e.g., afraid, angry, anxious, surprised).

Physiological group in study on music and emotion

Participants whose heart rate, blood flow, breathing, skin temperature, and skin dampness were measured while listening to music, and who also completed the 13 emotional rating scales.

Emotion-specific physiological responses

Physiological changes during music listening corresponded to emotion type

Sadness in the music and emotion experiment

cardiac and electrodermal changes

happiness in the music and emotion experiment

respiration changes

fear in the music and emotion experiment

cardiovascular changes

results from the music and emotion experiment

Music induces consistent self-reported emotional responses and emotion-specific physiological changes, supporting the emotivist view that music can actively produce emotional experiences.

Dynamic nature of musical emotions

emotional responses are moment-to-moment rather than static.

empathy and openness to experience

feels more intense emotional responses when listening to sad music

Frequency of mixed emotions in music listening

11% of music listening experiences

Conflicting affective cues

Musical features that suggest different emotions at once

Button-press method

A method where participants pressed buttons for different emotions (e.g., happiness, sadness), showing simultaneous button presses, which indicates experiencing mixed emotions at the same time.

Mixed emotions in perceived vs. felt emotion

Mixed emotional responses are typically stronger in perceived emotion (what the music expresses) than in felt emotion (what the listener actually experiences).

emotion regulation

the processes by which we manage what emotions we feel, and influence the intensity, duration, and physiological and behavioural expressions of those emotions

music when travelling

staves off boredom and brings about positive moods, and creates an auditory bubble that insulates listeners while heightening their senses to their environment

study on music choice and sadness

examining how resolved vs. unresolved sadness influences the type of music individuals prefer to listen to afterwards.

Unresolved sadness condition

Participants wrote about a sad event they had not yet come to terms with, leading to a stronger preference for happy, upbeat, and energetic music.

Resolved sadness condition

Participants wrote about a sad event that had already been emotionally resolved, resulting in a lower preference for upbeat music compared to the unresolved group.

Hedonic motivation

The tendency to choose music that improves mood or increases pleasure, especially when experiencing negative emotions.

reasons for choosing happy music during unresolved sadness

Boost energy needed to address the issue, Improve mood, Distract from ongoing negative feelings

rumination

the tendency to respond to negative emotional events by repeatedly focusing on the distressing feelings, consequences, and possible causes surrounding a negative emotional experience

rumination study

A study where sadness was induced using TV clips, after which participants chose music, showing patterns of mood-congruent and mood-regulating listening behavior.

Mood-congruent music selection

The tendency to choose music that matches one's current emotional state, such as listening to sad music when feeling sad.

Mood-shifting in music listening

The tendency to switch from mood-congruent music (sad) to mood-improving music (happy) over time to regulate emotions

Typical listening pattern after sadness induction

Most participants initially chose sad music, then shifted to happy/joyful music, suggesting adaptive emotion regulation.

Rumination and music choice

Individuals with a high tendency to ruminate prolong negative mood by continuing to listen to sad music and avoiding uplifting music.

Maladaptive music use in ruminators

A pattern where individuals maintain or intensify negative emotions by repeatedly choosing mood-congruent (sad) music instead of regulating mood.

Key implication of rumination research

People who ruminate tend to make maladaptive music choices that sustain negative emotions, even though adaptive choices would help them more

sad music arouses emotions like

nostalgia, wonder, tenderness, and peacefulness, many listeners report deriving rewards such as consolation and comfort from listening to sad music

paradox of tragedy or paradox of pleasurable sadness

people enjoy listening to sad music or find it pleasurable, even though sadness is normally an unpleasant emotion

dissociation node

the perception of emotion in music and the feeling of emotion are processed by separate but connected systems, allowing them to be dissociated (separated), which in turn inhibts the displeasure centre of the brain

pleasurable sadness

music that induces sadness may trigger the release of prolactin, the listener thus derives pleasure from experiencing the consoling and soothing effects of this hormone without the pain that usually triggers its release

prolactin

a hormone that counteracts the effects of intense negative emotions

Juslin's BRECVEMA model

music induces emotions: brain stem reflexes, rhythmic entrainment, evaluative conditioning, contagion, visual imagery, episodic memory, musical expectancy, and aesthetic judgment

homeostasis

music can arouse a pleasurable response if there is and imbalance in one's internal conditions that interferes with optimal function and if music can restore the balance

dopamine

a neurotransmitter that communicates reward in the brain and contributes to the experience of chills

basal ganglia

produces dopamine

consonant musical intervals stimulate

a region of the orbitofrontal cortex

orbitofrontal cortex

associated with reward and reinforcement

dissonant intervals stimulate

regions of the parahippocampal gyrus

parahippocampal gyrus

a region that has intricate connections to the amygdala, the brain's warning centre

removal of the amygdala

cant recognise scary music

Emotional enhancement by film music

The ability of music to intensify emotional responses to visual scenes, increasing both subjective feelings and physiological reactions.

Amygdala activation in audiovisual emotion

The combination of music and film produces stronger emotional brain responses (amygdala activity) than either music or film presented alone.

Mood-congruent audiovisual pairing

When music and visuals express similar emotions, leading to enhanced emotional perception and stronger memory integration

Mood-incongruent audiovisual pairing

When music and visuals express conflicting emotions, often resulting in weaker memory and less integrated processing.

Anempathetic music

Music that does NOT match or react to what's happening emotionally in the scene; The contrast feels unnatural, It makes you uncomfortable, It can intensify emotion instead of reducing it