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10 9 8 76 5 4 3 2 \
CHAPTER 9
AESTHETIC RESPONSE
MARGARET S. BARRETT
Introduction
'Aesthetic response'isoneofa constellation of related termsand concept s (e.g.,aesth etic experience. aestheticjudgemen t.aestheticchoice, affectiveresponse ,musicalappreciation,
musicalpreference. musicaltaste )that havebeen employed in musiced ucation research,
theory.and practicewhenatt em ptin g to describe and/o r define the natureof music knowing,
experience,andjudgem ent.As such the conceptof aesthe tic respo nseisdeeplyproblem
-atic,an 'essentiallycontested con cept'(Gallie,1964; Barre tt, 2002).To sepa rate theterm s,
the'aesthetic'stemsfro ma philosophical tradition established in theeighteenth century,
which drew on the
legacy of the Ancient Greeks in
an
attempt to
determine
the nature.
meaning and value ofthe arts andsensoryexperience tohuman existence.Thelatt er ter m'response'implies the end-po int of some form of interacti on;one thatco uld be theresult
of precipitat e stimulatio n,behaviouristtraining,or,consideredreflection.While origina lly locatedin therealm ofphilosophy,whenweddedto 'response',andplacedinthecontext of music ed ucatio n,'aesthetic response'has also been the objectofstudy with inpsychology andsociology.
This chapter examine stheways in which 'aestheticresponse'has been described and usedwithin thephilosophy,psychol ogy, and SOCiology ofmusiceducation,and examines relevant research that has so ught to identifythe natureand developmenta l trajectory in children'smusical engagement within and across thesefields.In so doing,it exploresa viewof aesthetic respo nseas 'perfo rrna tive'and constitutiveofide nti ty,and considers the
implicationsof thisviewfor theo ries of children'smusicaldevelopment.
Thetopic of'aesth etics;whethercouchedin philosophical,psycholo gical, or sociological
term shasgenerated an exten sivebodyof literature. It isbeyondthe scope of thischapter
todealwith thediverseandcomp lexthe oriesthat have arisen within theliterature,or to
addfurthe r tothenumerous attem pts to arrive at a definitive accou nt of aesth eticresponse. Rath er, thech apter is intendedtoalertthe reader tothe depthand complexityof theoretical wo rk in relati on to this concept, and to provoke further discussion. Necessarily, many perspectivesare om itted,
s
om e
dealt with ina curso ry manner when deservingofa more174 THE CH I L O AS MUSICIAN
i
s
pu
rsued
.
For th
is
r
eason,
read
ers
ar
e e
ncouraged to
mo
ve b
eyond
my
o
missions
a
nd
'
prejudices" a
nd t
o explo
re
t
he fi
eld i
n
gr
eater
d
epth'.
Philosophical views of aesthetic response
Phil
osoph ical
vi
ews
of
ae
sthetic re
spons e a
rise
f
rom philo
sophic al
end
eavour
that h
as
ai
med
to
p
rovide'
sustain ed,
sys
tematic and
c
ritical ex
amin ation o
f beli
ef' (
Elliott,
20
02, p.
85
), a
nd
make
'th
e
i
mp
l
icit ex
plicit,
w
ith the
u
ltimate
aim
of
enr
iching
bo
th u
nderstandin g an
d
per
-ce
ptio n'
(
Bowma n
,
19
98,
p.
5
).
Wh
ile
th
e s
t udy
o
f th
e
n
atu re o
f mu
sic
,
itseff
ects, an
d hum
an
resp
onse,
h
as
be
en
th
e
topic of philosophical debat
e
sin
ce
the writin
gs
of Plato,
S
ocrates,
a
nd A
ristotle
,
th
e fo
rmalization
of
this
d
ebat e
und
er
th
e te
rm
<
ae
s
thetic
'
, st
e
ms from the
e
ighteenth ce
ntury
a
nd the
work
of
Al
exand
e
r G
ottlie b
Ba
umgarten
(I7
35
3
). Baum
garten
crea
ted
the
t
erm
'
a
esth
e
tica'
to des
cr
ibe
a
typ
e
of
und
erstanding
th
at o
ccurs through
sen
s-o
ry
ex
perience of the world
,
that i
s,
through p
ercepti on
rather th
an
concept
ion.
H
e
thereby
c
rea
ted
a co
mplementary
fo
rm
of
kn
owing
and kn
owledge
,
a 's
econd -order' form
o
f
c
og-n
ition
.
Th
is
id
ea
o
f th
e
ae
sthetic
wa
s
ta
ken
up by
K
ant
i
n h
is wor
k
The critique ofjudgment(1
952/
1
790),
an
d
expanded
u
po n i
n d
i
st
inctive
w
ay
s
.
Fo
r
K
an t,
ae
sthetic ex
perience
co
n-sisted of th
e
appr
ehen sion
o
f b
eauty in
a
n obj
ect.
an
a
pprehension th
at
rests in our
c
apacity
t
o pe
rceive f
ormal
qu
a
lities
and mak
e d
irect,
p
erso nal
jud
ge
m
en
ts th
at ar
e <
d i
s
interest
e
d
:
t
hat i
s,
u
n
m
ediated
b
y consi
deration
of exte
rnal
iss
ues
such
a
s
m
oral o
r
et
hical
co
ncerns.
Unf
ortunately,Ka
nt
co
nsidered m
usic's
'f
or
m
a
l pro
pertie
s'
as
b
eing
t
oo
lo
cated
in
t
he re
alm
o
f th
e s
ensuous
as
opp
osed
t
o
th
e co
ntemplative, thu
s
rele
gating
m
u
s
ic
to
a
lowly form of
aest
hetic
exp
erience
wi
thin th
e s
pectrum
o
f
the a
rts
.
T
h rou ghout the eigh
teenth
an
d n
in
et
eenth centu
ries
a view of
th
e ae
sthe
tic
arose t
hat
sought to i
dentify
en
gagem
e
nt
w
ith
the
a
rts
a
s
rat
i
onal , co
gn it ive,
a
nd
se
parate
f
rom the
p
owerful a
nd
s
edu ctive
eff
e
cts
of
t
he
em
otions and the
se
nsuou
s. Philo
sophers s
trove to
i
dent ify
'u
n
i
ver
s
a
l' an
d
'e
t
ern
a
l'
q
ualities th
at co
uld be dr
awn o
n wh
en
m
aking
ju
dg
emen
ts
a
bout
t
he n
atur e a
nd q
uality o
f ar
t
s
w
or ks
a
nd exp
eriences,
a
nd
a
u
nique
k
ind
of a
ttention
or
<
a
e
s
th
e
t
ic
att
itude'
that was
em
ployed in
such experi
ence
s
".
Th
i
s
focus
on univ
ersal
a
nd
eter
na
l
q
ualities n
ecessitated
the
d
iscarding
of
all r
eference
to
c
ontext
o
r qu
alities
ex
te
r
nal
to
th
e work
i
t
se
l
f
:
t
he ar
ts
work
b
e
c
am e
'
a
ut
ono mo
us
'
, a
n
ob
ject
o
r
even
t t
o
be
j
udged
s
o
l
ely
throu
gh a
nalysis
of
it
s
'
inter
na
l'
f
eatures,
i
ts
<
f
o
rm
'
.
Thi
s i
s
perh
aps
mo
st
pow
erfully
illu
strated
in Eduard Hans
lick
's
'ae
sthetics of mu
sic
'
(1
986)
fir
st
pub
lished i
n
1
854,
wh
ere
the
ca
pacity to
ap
preciate th
e
f
ormal
p
roperti
es
of
m
usical
w
orks o
ver se
nsuo us
o
r
emo
tive
pro
per ties,
w
as
emp
hasized.
Hans
lick's
an
tipathy t
o
the c
on
side
ration of'co
ntext'
1 Iuse theterm'prejudice' inGadam er'sno n-pejorativesensethat'allunderstanding necessarily involves some prejudice'(1982.p.239).
2 Analysisofprim ary sourcesand interpretationsof these(e.g., Bowm an.1998)willprovideagreaterinsight andundersta ndi ngofthecomplexitiesofthesedebates inrelation10music.
3 MeditationesPhilosophicae de Nonnulius adPaemaPertineruitous.
AESTHET IC RE SPO N S E 175
or
e
xt
r
a-musica
l
fea
tu
r
es
in m
aking
m
us
ical
j
ud
geme
nts i
s
e
vid
en
ced i
n
h
i
s
d
iscuss
io
n
o
f
p
rogra
mm
e
mu
sic, s
pec
ifi
cally B
eet
ho
ven's o
ver
tu re t
o
Egmont:ThecontentofBeethoven'sovertureisnotthe characterEgmon t,norhis actions, experiences, attitudes, butthesearethecontentoftheportrait 'Egmont',of thedrama Egmant.The contentsof theoverture are sequences oftones whichthecomposerhas created
entirely spontaneously,accordingtological musicalprinciples. For aesth etical
contemplation,they arewholly autono m ousandinde pendentofthemental image of Egmont,withwhichonlythe poetical imaginatio n of the composer hasbro ught theminto connection,no matterwhether,insome inexplicableway,theimagewas suitablefor initiatingthe invention of thatsequenceoftone sorwhetherheinvented thatseq uenceof tonesand thenfound the im ageof Egmontconsistentwith it.
H
ansl
i
c
k
(
1986, pp
.
7
4-
75)
F
o
r H
an
sl
ick
,
mu
sica
l
co
nten t
co
n
s
i
s
t
ed of
t
h
e
'
se
q
u
e
n
ce
s o
f
t
on es'
r
at
her
th
an a
ny e
x
t ra
-m
u
sic
al
ma
teri
al,
wh
ere
mu
sic '
.
.
.
s
p
e
aks n
ot
m
e
rely
by m
eans of
t
on es
) it sp
eaks o
nl
y
ton
es'
(1986,
p.
78
).
In Han
s
lick
's
theory,
mu
sical
c
ontent
a
nd
f
or
m we
r
e
'
f
u
s
ed i
n an
o
bscu
re
,
in
separ
able
u
n ity'
(198
6,
p
.
80) th
a
t
d
isting
uished m
u
sic
fr
om
allot
he
r
literar
y
a
nd
v
i
s
ual arts
. Fee
li
ngs wer
e a seco
n
da
ry effe
ct
i
n
m
usic
as
'
.
.
.
t
he
mo
re
pow
erfu
ll
y
an
e
ffect
f
rom a
w
o
rk of ar
t
o
verw
h
elms
u
s ph
ysically
(
a
nd
he
n
ce
i
s
p
ath olog
ic
al
),
t
he
m
ore
n
eg
l
igib
le
i
s its
ae
s
the
ti
cal
co
mpo n
e
nt
'
(1
986
,
p
.
5
7).
H
ans
l
ick
(1
986
)
i
n
s
te
ad
promo
ted
a
'd
e
lib
e
ra
t
e pur
e
co
n
tem
pl
at
io
n'
of mu
s
ic,
t
ha
t
yi
el
ded an
'un
emotio
n
al y
e
t
h
eartfe
lt
p
leas
ur
e
',
a
'
mental s
atisfaction w
hic
h
th
e
li
s
ten
er
find
s in cont
i
n
uo
usly
fo
llowing
a
nd
an
tic
ipa
t
ing
th
e
co
m
pose
r's d
es
i
gns,
h
er
e to be
co
nfi
rm
ed
i
n h
is ex
pectat
io
n
s
, th
e
r
e
to be
ag
re
ea
b
ly le
ad
ast
ray'
(
p
.
64
).
This e
m ph
asis
o
n t
he
cognit
io
n
of
aut
on o m
o
u
s
f
o
rm
as
t
h
e de
ter min ing
fac
to
r
i
n
makin
g
m
eani
ng and
j
ud
gem
ents in
m
usic
c
ontinue
s i
n va
rious
guis
es
th
rough t
h
e acco
unts o
f
mu
sical
mean
ing
o
ffer
ed by th
e
ori
sts
such a
s Su
za
nne Lang
er (1
942
/1979)
a
nd
L
eo
n ard
B.M
eyer
(
19
56
)
.
L
an
ger's
theo
r
y o
f music
d
oe
s not e
xcl
u
d
e
e
m
ot
i
on an
d t
he s
e
n
suous,
as s
h
e
vi
ews
m
usi
c
a
s a
t
ype
of
a
n
a
l
ogue
o
f
e
mo t
io
n
a
l
ex
pe
rienc
e,
wh
ere
th
e
mo
vemen
t
of
mu
si
cal
t
ensio
n
m
i
rro r
s
th
at
o
f
e
m
o
tion
a
l
ex
perie
nce.
H
oweve
r
,
i
n h
er
vie
w w
e
d
o
n
o
t
e
xp
er
ie
n
ce the
e
mo tions
a
se
mo
t
io
n
s
.
r
at
h
er,
we expe
r
i
ence mu
sic
a
s a
'
p
resen
t
a
tio
n
al symbol' of
em
ot
ion s:
as
Bo
wm an
(2
004)
d
escr
ibe
s
th
i
s a
p
pro
ach ,'
..
. m
usic
s
h
ar
es commo
n
s
truct ur
al
fonn w
ith
t
h
e
r
eal
m o
f
f
eeling
(
mus
i
c so
und
s
l
ike
fee
lings
f
ee
l
)'
(
p
.
31).176 THE CH I LD AS MUSICIAN
t
o pa
ttern
a
nd
s
t
r
uctu
r
e within the mu
sical
w
ork
in a m
anner
r
emi
nis
cent
of
H
ans
d
e
scripti
on
o
f
t
he
'
u
n
e
motional
y
et he
ar
tfelt
ple
a
sur
e
'
ga
ined
from
t
he
'
deliberate pur
e
te
mpl
atio
n o
f
mu
sic'
.
F
or
Me
yer
(
2
00
1)
, un
certainty
i
s
of
a
es
t
h
e
t
ic
importance as
'
whe
t
ension
s
o
f in
stabilit y a
re resolved t
o
the
c
ognitive
s
ecurity
o
f
s
table p
a
tt
erning,
fun
ct
r
e
l
ation
sh
ips
h
ave
at
o
nce
a
rticulated
a
nd unifi
ed
mu
sical
s
tru
c
t
ur
e' (
p. 3
59
).
La
ng
er
's
a
nd Me
yer
's
the
ories
ar
e
in v
a
r
ying de
grees
se
nsitive t
o
st
ylistic a
nd cul
diffe
rences
,
th
ereby b
eginning
t
he mo
ve away from
an e
mphasis o
n univer
sal
q
u
a
i
n th
e
w
ays
i
n
whic
h w
e
un
derstand
,
m
ake
m
eaning
,
a
nd resp
ond
t
o
mu
sic.
H
o
v
t
h
e
t
e
rm
s
b
y
w
hich M
eyer
'
s
'
expe
cta
ti
o
n
s'
a
re
unf
o
l
ded
wi
thin
s
ty
l
es
r
ests i
n a
W
e
a
rt m
u
s
ic de
fini
t
io
n of
'
styl
e' tha
t
id
entifies
'
intr
a
-stylistic'
f
eatu res
t
hrough th
e
'
un
i
t
l
ens'
of
W
estern
a
rt
mu
sic.
Th
i
s ci
rcular pro
ce
ss i
n
ev
it
a
b
ly
j
ud
g
es
a
ll mu
sic
f
rom a
c
on:
(
W
e
s
t
e
rn ar
t
m
usic
)
fra
mework reg
ard
l
e
ss
o
f
th
e
a
cknowledgement of
s
tyle
-
s
p
e
ci
fic
f
ea
wi
thin t
hat
fram
ework, a
nd t
ends
t
o
d
raw
u
s back to a co
gn
i
tive
foc
u
s
o
n
a
uto
n
omou
s
I
a
lbeit
o
n
e
t
hat admit
s
o
f a
fo
rm
o
f
emo
t
i
ona l e
ngag
e
men t
(
fo
r
further di
sc
u
ssion c
d
evel
o
pm ent o
f
e
mo tional
response
s
ee
C
hapter 10
)
.
P
hilosophical
vi
ews:
i
mplicatio ns
for c
hild ren's mu
sical
d
evelopment
Th
e
l
egacy o
f the
se (
mode
r
nist) accou
nt
s
o
f ae
s
t
he
tics and
a
esthetic
r
e
s
ponse h
as
be,
ex
clusive f
ocus o
n
a
udie
n
c
e-
lis
t
ening
a
s
t
he k
ey
m
ode
by
w
hich
ae
sthetic
respon
se
:
ci
ted/de monstrated , where the listener
's
in
creasing a
bility t
o
identify
th
e interp
la
y
of fc
fe
atures
i
s
t
aken
a
s
an in
dicator
of aesthetic und
erstanding
and develop
ment.
Adhe
t
o
the
se a
ccounts of the ae
sthetic
suggests that th
e
developm
ent
of aes
thetic
r
espor
c
hild ren re
sts
in a gro
wing capaci
ty to identi
fy a
nd
'
eng
a
ge' in a
udience-listening
Jw
i
th
the f
ormal
fea
tur es of musical wo
rks in p
articula
r
m
u
sical
s
tyles. Specifically, a
c
cap
acity
t
o
identify a
nd respond to
musical tensi
on a
chieved thro
ugh t
he
manipul
ati
mu
sical
element
s (
Lange
r
),
or, to id
entify the w
ays
in which musi
ca
l
pa
ttern s are e
stabli
d
e
vel
oped,
and resolved
(
M
ey
e
r) , is in
dicativ
e o
f
ae
s
thetic unders
tanding
an
d
respon~Suc
h
a
n
ap
proach does no
t
acknowledge
t
hat mu
sic
h
as
m
any
roles and
fun
ctions
ili
ves bey
ond
th
at
of be
ing
a
n
'object' of
'
p ure cont
emp
lation',
ro
les
that I shall expk
gr
eat
er
depth
l
ater in t
his
chapter
.
F
urthermore,
p
ostm odernist
per
spectives
on aest
l
h
av
e
c
hallenged the v
e
ritie
s
that were th
e
foundati
on
of moderni
st a
esthe
t
ic
th
eo r
y
,
o
f a
utonomo u
s
form
,
u
niver
sa
l
a
nd ete
rna l
qualitie
s,
a
nd di
sint
erest
ed
n
ess
,
sugge
stin
o
ur
a
tt
e
ntion in a
nd t
o mu
sic
en
compasses
m
ore
th
an
a di
sinterested
focus on
f
p
rop
e
rt i
es.
Acknowl
edgemen
t
of the p
articul ar a
nd l
ocal
,
o
f plurality
,
t
he
'
other
;
a
'
bi
as' o
r
'
pr
e
j
ud i
ce'
in
a
non-pe
jorative
s
e
n
s
e m
ov
e
the a
esthetic
p
roject
aw
ay
fr
om
a
o
n d
efin
itiv
e s
tatem
e
nts
.
A
s
Bo
wman (1
998
)
r
emin
ds
u
s:
Theco mforting belief that allmusic is evaluable bythesame,strictly'aestheti c'criteriahas
lostits persuasiveness, ashasthe noble vision ofmusicas aninherently andinevitably
'h umanizing' affair. Theessen tiallymusicalcorewhich'masterworks'wereoncethoughttc representabundantlyisincreasinglycharacterizedasideologicalandpoliticalsubterfuge. Whattheterm'm usic'designateshasbecome increasinglyproblematic,and its potential
AESTHETI C RESPO NS E 177
The admis
sion
of post
rnoderni st
theory to the discu
ssion
of
a
esthetics has gen
erated co
n-si
derable d
ebate. a
nd philo
sophical a
ccounts
o
f
a
esthetic re
sponse
in mu
sic
are cont
ested
h
eavily
.
H
owever
,
with
in
th
e
di
scipline of
t
he
p
s
ychology of
mu
s
ic, t
he
s
tu dy
o
f
aes
thetic
re
sponse
h
as
b
een s
ubject t
o
les
s
de
bate .
In the f
ollowing s
ectio n 1
s
hall explor
e
the wa
ys
in
w
hich
a
esthetic
respo
nse h
as
b
een
d
escribed a
nd
i
nterrogated from thi
s
p
er
spective.
Ps
ychological
view
s
of aesthetic respollse
P
sychological v
iew
s
o
f
a
esthetic r
esponse
h
ave
arise
n
lar
gely fr
om th
e s
tudy
of
mu
sic
p
er-c
eption
an
d
cog
nition i
n
t
h
e
fi
eld o
f p
sycho-
a
cou stics, s
pecifi
c
all
y,
wi
thin
th
e
s
u
bfi
eld
of empiri
cal o
r expe
rimental a
esthetics. E
mp irical
aes
thet ics (F
echner, 18
76/1978)
wa
s
d
eveloped as a
compl
ementar y a
rea
o
f
s
tudy t
o
th
at o
f
p
hilosophical a
esthet ics,
and wa
s
i
ntended t
o establis
h
a
m
e
an
s to scien
tific
st
udy
of th
ose c
oncepts
r
aised in philo
sop
hical
a
esthetics. T
his wo
rk
w
as
t
aken
up b
y
Be
rlyne
(1
970, 197
1, 19
74)
w
ho es
tablished th
e
field o
f
exper
imental aes
thetics
i
n
an
att
empt
to dev
elop a
n
'o
bjective'
appro
ach
to the
s
tu
dy o
f
aes
-t
hetic a
ppreciation in m
usic
that
was sepa
rat
e
fr
om
th
e
'
s
p
ec
u
la
t
ive' nat
ur
e
of
ph
ilosophical
ae
sthetics.
Despi
te
t
his di
stinction i
n th
e i
ntentions
o
f em
pirical a
nd
ex
perimental ae
sthetics,
b
oth
a
pproaches h
ave
a phil
osophical
found
ation
in m
odernist accou
nts
of
th
e
a
esthetic. T
his
i
s
p
erhaps
a
c
onsequence
o
f
ea
rly pa
rallel
develo
pment
wher
ein e
mpiri cal
a
nd e
xper
i-men
t
al
a
e
s
thetics de
veloped f
rom
m
odernist
accoun
t
s
of p
hilosophic
a
l
aes
thetics
,
a
nd h
ave
n
ot
b
een
s
ubject
to
r
ecent
po
stmodernist
d
evelopments i
n th
e
fi
eld.
W
ithin
e
mpirical
a
nd
ex
perimental
a
esthetics, th
e res
earch
e
nterprise w
orks
f
rom '
universal'
fe
atures
o
f mus
ic
(
e.g
.,
the percep
tion
of aco
ustic
s
tim uli
and/o
r
pa
tte rn
an
d f
o
rm)
to
i
denti
fy
characteris
tic
p
atterns of
d
evelopment in
t
he a
esthetic
/
affective p
erception a
nd
c
ognition
of
mu
sic. Co
n
-se
quently,p
sychological acc
ounts
o
f
aes
thetic r
esponse
ar
e s
ubject t
o
the
c
riticisms le
velled
a
t m
odernist philoso
phical
accou
nts
of the
a
esthetic in th
eir
foc
us
o
n a
utonomous fo
rm,
u
niversal a
nd
e
ternal quali
ties, a
nd 'di
sinterested'
re
sponse.
S
tud ies
o
f
a
esthetic
r
esponse in the p
sychology of
mu
sic
ha
ve
in
clud ed
th
e ana
lysis
of
lis
tener re
sponse
t
o
h
earings of
n
on-musical
a
coustic sti
muli
(Berlyne,1971
)
, of eleme
nts
o
f music
al
sy
stem s,
such a
s
tunin
g (
Lyn ch
&
E
ilers, 1
991),
an
d
o
f p
artial a
nd
/
or comp
lete
perf
ormanc
es
o
f mu
sical
w
or ks (
M
a
dsen
etaL
,
1993).
Th
ese st
ud ie
s
h
ave
i
ncluded
th
e
in
vest-iga
tion
o
f r
esponses
t
o a
uditor
y/
musical
experie
nces th
at
r
equir
e
l
ittle
pr
ior knowle
dge
or
ex
perience o
f
mu
sic, a
nd/or
e
xtensive kn
owledge a
nd ex
perience (
Madsen
&G
eringer,
1990; Ma
dsen
e
t a
l.
,
1993
).
Th
e f
orm er of
th
e
se
app
roaches
ar
i
ses
i
n p
a
rt
from
n
ativist
v
iews of
a
esthetic thi
nking
an
d
r
esponse
th
at a
rgue th
at
innat
e cog
nitive
s
tructures
go
v-e
rn
t
hinkin
g,
le
arning, a
nd d
evelopment, a
nd
s
eek t
o i
dentify th
e
na
ture o
f th
ese,
and
178 THE CH ILD AS MUSICIAN
meanstoaccessingmusic responseunrnediatedbylan guage andthespecializedvocab ulary requiredforthediscussionof music experience(Madsen&Geringer,1990; Mad sen et«L,
1993). The CRDI involves man ipu lat ion of adial during listeningexperience,a process
thatproducesa'map' ofemotio nalresponse to musicexperience thatindicates thepeaks and troughs of such response (in par tanapplicatio nof Langer'ssuggestio n thatmusicis
a'presentational symb ol' ofemotio ns).The viewof'aesthet icresponse'that emergesfrom thisapproach is onetha t highlightsmusic's roleinaro using feelingsandemotio ns,rather than one that focuses on the identification ofeleme nts of musical struc ture and for m.
Essentially, the CRD1maps 'reflection-in-action', providing a means to moni to r arousal states.
Non -verbal approacheshavebeenemployedalsoin developmental psycho logy research withinfantsand youngchild ren as a meansto circumventinginfants' actual and young children's perceived inability to verbalize a response to musical experience. Researchers examining infants' responses to music have adapted 'head -tu r n preference procedures'
(H T PP) employed in develo pme ntal linguistics to test infants' abilities to discr im in-ate between varying auralstimuli (Karm iloff& Karmiloff-Smith ,2001). This procedu re has been used to identify infants' musical preferences for consona nce over dissonance (Zentner&Kagan, 1996;Trainor
et
aI.
,
2002);musicallyphrased segme ntationofmelodies over non-musicallyphrased segmentation (Krumhansl& Iuscyk. 1990); and tone repet i-tionin melody (Schellenberg& Trehub, 1999). HTP Pstrategies have also beenemployed toiden tify infants' abilitytodetectchangesin melodiccontour (Trehubet a
l
.,
1997),and in sem i-tonalvariationsin intervalsize(Schellenberg&Treh ub ,1996).TheseHTPP studies indicate tha tinfantshaveestabli shedpreferencesand abilitiesfromanearlyage,suggesting thatmusicpreferen cesand respon ses arisefrom innatestru ctures. Analternat ive interpret-ationof these findings takesint o accou nt thecon siderabl e exposureto music that many infantsexperience
i
ll
ut
ero
and duri ngthe firstmonthsof life, mod ifyingapurely nativist accountof this aspectofmusical develop men t to one that ad mitsofthe formative nature ofcult ure and environ m ent.In a bid to addr ess criticisms concern ing the ecological valid ity of some me thodo-logical approaches to the psychological study of aesthetics (e.g., asking participants to respon d toisolated tonesorartificialstim uli thathavelittleor no resem blan ce to music events)researchers wo rkingwithchild parti cipan tshave sough t increasingly tousecomplete musicalworksof varyinglength and co mplexityasameansto eliciting and studying aes-theti cresponse.Strategies employedinthesestudieshaveinclud ed:eliciting verb al respon se during the auralevent using'think-aloud' protocols (Richa rdson, 1995); eliciting verbal response after the auralevent using in terview, verb al checklist.orwrittenreflectiveresponses (Hevner,1936;Farnsworth,1954;Flowers,1984,1988;Nelson,1985;Preston,1994; Rod rig-uez & Webster, 1997; Rodrig uez, 1998; Swanwick & Franca , 1999;Barrett, 200012001); eliciting non- verbal taesthetic respo nse'du ring the aur al event usingdevicessuc h asthe CRDl(Byrnes, 1997); eliciting non-verbal responseafter the auralevent usingmovement ana logues(Gro mko& Poorm an, 1998;Fung& Gromko,2001), adult-genera ted listening maps(Gromko&Russell,2002),andgraphictasks (Hair,1993/199 4).Inreviewingthisbody of research, questio nsmaybe raised in regardtothetim ing oftheelicitationof the response
AESTHET IC RESP O N SE 179
a
'
refl
e
c
t
i
o
n -
i
n-a
c
t
io
n
' s
trategy
a
s
o
pp ose
d
t
o
r
esp
o
nding aft
er
lis
tening
a
s
ar
eflection-on-a
c
t
io
n
'
s
tra tegy
.
\Vhile
s
om e would d
i
sp
ute
wh
e
the r li
st
en ing i
s
"a
ct
ion
'
, o
r
in
d
eed, c
apab
l
e
of bea
ring t
he di
s
tinct ion
be
tw
een
reflec
tion
"
i
n
'
rathe
r
t
ha n
"
on
'
actio
n,
w
hat
i
s
acce
ssed
'
in'
ra
ther t
han
'
after'
t
he
even
t
m
ay
be
q
u
a
litatively differe
nt
in w
ays
t
hat
are i
m
por
t
ant
t
o
un
de rstandin
g
aes
thetic
thinking a
nd r
esponse.
Si
m ilarly,
distinc
tio n n
eed
s
t
o
be
ma
de
betwe
en arou
sal,
a
ffec
t, and
en
during respon
s
e.
Fur
ther res
ear
c
h is n
eeded t
o
e
xplo
r
e
these
ques
t
ions i
n relation to a
esthetic
r
espons
e.
The emp
lo
ym en
t
of ve
rbal
s
trategies
t
o e
licit
c
h
ild
r
e
n
's ae
sthetic
r
espon se ha
s
not been
without cri
ti
ci
sm
as
r
esearch
e
rs
have sugges
t
ed
t
h
at y
oung
c
hild
r
en's
abili
ty
t
o v
erbalize
th
eir i
deas
a
nd
r
e
sponse
s is sig
nificantly
le
ss th
a
n
their
p
erceptua
l
abiliti
es
(H
a
ir
,
1
9
8
1
,
1
9
87
).
Nevert
hele
ss
a n
umbe r
o
f
s
t
udie
s
h
a
ve
pro
posed devel
opmental
t
rends
in
children
'
s
v
erbal
respon
se
s
to
li
sten
ing
e
xpe rience
.
Th
ese include
t
he
o
bservation
t
hat:
1.
young childre
n
a
re
mo
re
conce
rned
with de
sc
r
ibi
ng
isol
ated
pro
pertie
s
of
so
und tha
n
wi
th
t
he
a
ffec
t
ive
a
spects
o
f music
(
Rodriguez
&W
ebster
,
1997
);
2
.
m
usically
unt
ra
ined chil
dren
's
a
nd adul
t
s
' verb
al resp
ons
e
s
are
prim
arily co
ncerned
wi
th
'extra
-mu
sical'
r
efer
e
n
ces
wit
h
som
e r
efe
r
en
c
es to timbr
e,
te
mp o, and dyn
amics
(Flowers, 1
990);
a
nd
3.
children m
ove
prog
res
sively
through
s
tages
d
omi
nated
respectivel
y
b
y
•
a fo
cus o
n th
e
material
s o
f mu
sic
(
isola
ted propertie
s
)
•
a
foc
u
s o
n
e
xp ressive p
ropert
i
es,
and
•
a f
ocus
o
n
iss
u
es of f
orm
and
s
t
ructure
(
Swa
nwick
&Fr
a
n
ca
.
1999)
.
The hierarch
ic
separatio
n
of
children's pe
rc
eption
of isolat
ed
p
roper
ties,
e
xp
r
essive
prop-e
rt
i
es,
and
issu
e
s
of
form
and struc
ture th
a
t
is
o
utlined
in
t
hese
find
ing
s r
efle
c
t
s th
e
c
oncer
ns o
f m
od ernis
t ae
sth
e
tic
s
wit
h th
e s
eparati
on o
f aff
e
ctive
issu
es from tho
se
of
s
tr ucture and form, a Carte
sian s
eparation of emot
ion
fr
om c
ogn
iti
on .
Itc
ou
l
d be
s
peculated th
at
the
se
r
esult
s
refl
ect
t
he
underlyin
g a
esthetic th
eo
r
y
o
f
s
uch
r
es
e
ar
c
h.
i
n
th
at
a theor
et ical
separatio n
o
f
a
ffective
a
nd
str u
c
t ura
l
p
rop erties
.
of fo
rm a
n
d co
n
-t
e
nt
.
shap
es
th
e
wa
ys
in w
h
ich
t
hese
i
ssues
are iden
tified
i
n
p
arti cipant
r
esponses, a
nd
s
u
bsequently int
erp r
e
ted:
th
a
t
i
s
,
a dual
istic
fr
amework
inev
i
t
a
bl
y
p
roduce
s
duali
stic
r
esu
lt
s
.
I
n
ot
her
appro
aches
t
o
t
he
s
t
u
dyo
f ae
s
theti
c
resp
o
nse r
es
ea
rch
ers
have sought t
o
examine
m
odes
o
f
music e
ngagement
oth
er
than audi
en ce
-listening
a
s a
m
eans
to
ac
cessing music
al
thinki
ng a
nd a
esthetic
de
cision
-
making, focu
sing
on c
hildr
en
'
s
musica
l
d
isc
o
ur
s
e as
com
-p
os
ers
(Barr
ett
,
1996,
1998)
. Findings
from
thi
s
resea
rch di
spute t
he hier
arch
ic s
epa
ration
of
expressive pr
op ert
ies a
nd is
su
e
s
of form and struc
ture
in
c
hildren's m
usical
thin
king,
a
finding
th
at i
s
supp
o
rt
ed b
y
o
th
e
r r
e
search
(M
a
r
s
h
,
1995
)
.
Fro
m t
his r
e
s
ear
c
h,
a
v
iew
of
t
he
a
est
h
etic a
s
a situated i
nt
erp
r
etive
'd
ia
logu
e'
b
etween
the
c
hild,
the mu
sic
event, an
d
t
h
e
s
oci
al and
c
u
lt
u
ra
l
c
ontexts
i
n
w
h ich
she e
xperien ces
mu
sic
and music-makin
g
is
p
ro posed
180 THE CH ILD AS MUSIC IA N
