Gerald Cupchik - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Gerald Cupchik
Visual arts research, 1992
Page 1. The Evaluation of HighArt and Popular Art By Naive and Experienced Viewers Andrew S. Wins... more Page 1. The Evaluation of HighArt and Popular Art By Naive and Experienced Viewers Andrew S. Winston University of Guelph Gerald C. Cupchik University of Toronto Abstract In a study of aesthetic judgments, preferences, and ...
The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 1995
... of artists 154 Ellen Winner and M. Beth Casey 11 Assessing knowledge in the visual arts 171 G... more ... of artists 154 Ellen Winner and M. Beth Casey 11 Assessing knowledge in the visual arts 171 George W. Hardiman, Feng J. Liu, and Ted Zernich Part II Literary and other aesthetic processes 12 The beginning of a new psychology: Vygotsky's psychology of art 185 Vladimir S ...
Universities have changed over the past forty years that I have been teaching. We see more and mo... more Universities have changed over the past forty years that I have been teaching. We see more and more hybridized course offerings that build bridges across various disciplines. The same kind of process is evident in the hiring practices of research-oriented departments of psychology. In “the old days” we hired new faculty either in social/personality/developmental, cognitive/learning, or physiological psychology.
Cambridge University Press eBooks, Aug 5, 2016
Cambridge University Press eBooks, Aug 5, 2016
Scientific study of literature, May 23, 2011
How shall we guide ourselves to ensure that research on creation and reception are ecologically v... more How shall we guide ourselves to ensure that research on creation and reception are ecologically valid, representative of natural processes in everyday life? Rather than romanticizing science, we need to be critically aware of the hidden assumptions which lie behind theempirical narrativesthat appear in journals. Francis Bacon awakened us to the “false idols” and Goethe encouraged us to place the careful observation of phenomena of the natural world ahead of theories which should be derived from observation and help focus our understanding of them. Following Bacon and Goethe, I advise that researchers should work from actual instances or episodes in which the phenomena of interest are manifested. Our goal should be to ensure that the parallel world of experimentation is not divorced from everyday life. This can be achieved by developing a large sample space of materials (poems, literary texts, films, and so forth) from which at least two must be chosen to represent each kind of stimulus. Further, we need to specify the orienting task set according to which participants are to approach these materials. Finally, I advocate the use of quantitative and qualitative kinds of data in a complementary manner to elucidate the underlying processes. By engaging in anempirical dialoguewith ourselves and others, we can advance our understanding and explanation of the phenomena which fascinate us.
Empirical Studies of The Arts, Mar 15, 2016
We conducted a study to examine how people perceptually encode and then recognize real artworks a... more We conducted a study to examine how people perceptually encode and then recognize real artworks and constructed design patterns. We first manipulated depth of processing during an incidental perceptual encoding task (Phase 1) wherein participants made both affective/aesthetic and cognitive judgments. For painting stimuli, the contrast was between liking (yes/no) and a search for food in the paintings (present/ absent). For design stimuli, the comparison was between liking and relative similarity of figure and ground in terms of color or texture. In Phase 2, we examined the effects of transforming visual features (i.e., color and texture) of the original stimuli on performance in a surprise recognition-memory task. Consistent with a depth-of-processing hypothesis, affective (i.e., liking) processing led to deeper perceptual encoding
Cambridge University Press eBooks, Aug 5, 2016
Routledge eBooks, Feb 17, 2015
Art & perception, Aug 10, 2017
Understanding the complexities of how emotions could be implicated in the semantic (subjectmatter... more Understanding the complexities of how emotions could be implicated in the semantic (subjectmatter) and the syntactic level (form/style) in art might contribute to integrating contrasting approaches regarding emotion experience and meaning. This study explores what happens when we strip away subject matter and only provide expressive information that is embedded in the physicalsensory qualities of 'style' of non-representational forms. What could be, if we ask artists to produce specific emotions-matières (the way in which paint-its materiality-is applied by an artist) intended to communicate specific emotion's states to observers? Could observers share somehow these emotional artistic intentions, yielding some consistency across ratings regarding the intended meanings and the symbolic potential of the drawings? A cross-cultural study was performed (152 Canadians, 48 Greeks, 68 Japanese) using 12 non-representational, emotion-drawing stimuli of the emotion at hand. The results showed a systematic sharing of affective meaning across artists, spectators and cultures. This study serves as an illustrative case for discussion. For spectators to match the bottom up spatiotemporal derived from the syntactic, demands to go all the way down to catch up and match the stimulus impact as an 'as if' reciprocally created homology based on affective predictions. At this interface there is mutuality between perceiving, feeling and imaging, indicating the deep passage from expression/gesture to representation. It is discussed that there is continuity between expression and experience and agency is at its core-yet, shaped by culture it participates differentially in this iterative matching of top-down affective predictions checked against first-level bottom-up sensory-motor affective cues.
Gerald C. Cupchik builds a bridge between science and the humanities, arguing that interactions b... more Gerald C. Cupchik builds a bridge between science and the humanities, arguing that interactions between mind and body in everyday life are analogous to relations between subject matter and style in art. According to emotional phase theory, emotional reactions emerge in a 'perfect storm' whereby meaningful situations evoke bodily memories that unconsciously shape and unify the experience. Similarly, in expressionist or impressionist painting, an evocative visual style can spontaneously colour the experience and interpretation of subject matter. Three basic situational themes encompass complementary pairs of primary emotions: attachment (happiness - sadness), assertion (fear -anger), and absorption (interest - disgust). Action episodes, in which a person adapts to challenges or seeks to realize goals, benefit from energizing bodily responses which focus attention on the situation while providing feedback, in the form of pleasure or pain, regarding success or failure. In high representational paintings, style is transparent, making it easier to fluently identify subject matter.
Routledge eBooks, Nov 2, 2022
Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, Aug 1, 2022
Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, Aug 1, 2019
Cambridge University Press eBooks, Aug 5, 2016
Journal of Vision, Oct 20, 2020
Visual arts research, 1992
Page 1. The Evaluation of HighArt and Popular Art By Naive and Experienced Viewers Andrew S. Wins... more Page 1. The Evaluation of HighArt and Popular Art By Naive and Experienced Viewers Andrew S. Winston University of Guelph Gerald C. Cupchik University of Toronto Abstract In a study of aesthetic judgments, preferences, and ...
The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 1995
... of artists 154 Ellen Winner and M. Beth Casey 11 Assessing knowledge in the visual arts 171 G... more ... of artists 154 Ellen Winner and M. Beth Casey 11 Assessing knowledge in the visual arts 171 George W. Hardiman, Feng J. Liu, and Ted Zernich Part II Literary and other aesthetic processes 12 The beginning of a new psychology: Vygotsky's psychology of art 185 Vladimir S ...
Universities have changed over the past forty years that I have been teaching. We see more and mo... more Universities have changed over the past forty years that I have been teaching. We see more and more hybridized course offerings that build bridges across various disciplines. The same kind of process is evident in the hiring practices of research-oriented departments of psychology. In “the old days” we hired new faculty either in social/personality/developmental, cognitive/learning, or physiological psychology.
Cambridge University Press eBooks, Aug 5, 2016
Cambridge University Press eBooks, Aug 5, 2016
Scientific study of literature, May 23, 2011
How shall we guide ourselves to ensure that research on creation and reception are ecologically v... more How shall we guide ourselves to ensure that research on creation and reception are ecologically valid, representative of natural processes in everyday life? Rather than romanticizing science, we need to be critically aware of the hidden assumptions which lie behind theempirical narrativesthat appear in journals. Francis Bacon awakened us to the “false idols” and Goethe encouraged us to place the careful observation of phenomena of the natural world ahead of theories which should be derived from observation and help focus our understanding of them. Following Bacon and Goethe, I advise that researchers should work from actual instances or episodes in which the phenomena of interest are manifested. Our goal should be to ensure that the parallel world of experimentation is not divorced from everyday life. This can be achieved by developing a large sample space of materials (poems, literary texts, films, and so forth) from which at least two must be chosen to represent each kind of stimulus. Further, we need to specify the orienting task set according to which participants are to approach these materials. Finally, I advocate the use of quantitative and qualitative kinds of data in a complementary manner to elucidate the underlying processes. By engaging in anempirical dialoguewith ourselves and others, we can advance our understanding and explanation of the phenomena which fascinate us.
Empirical Studies of The Arts, Mar 15, 2016
We conducted a study to examine how people perceptually encode and then recognize real artworks a... more We conducted a study to examine how people perceptually encode and then recognize real artworks and constructed design patterns. We first manipulated depth of processing during an incidental perceptual encoding task (Phase 1) wherein participants made both affective/aesthetic and cognitive judgments. For painting stimuli, the contrast was between liking (yes/no) and a search for food in the paintings (present/ absent). For design stimuli, the comparison was between liking and relative similarity of figure and ground in terms of color or texture. In Phase 2, we examined the effects of transforming visual features (i.e., color and texture) of the original stimuli on performance in a surprise recognition-memory task. Consistent with a depth-of-processing hypothesis, affective (i.e., liking) processing led to deeper perceptual encoding
Cambridge University Press eBooks, Aug 5, 2016
Routledge eBooks, Feb 17, 2015
Art & perception, Aug 10, 2017
Understanding the complexities of how emotions could be implicated in the semantic (subjectmatter... more Understanding the complexities of how emotions could be implicated in the semantic (subjectmatter) and the syntactic level (form/style) in art might contribute to integrating contrasting approaches regarding emotion experience and meaning. This study explores what happens when we strip away subject matter and only provide expressive information that is embedded in the physicalsensory qualities of 'style' of non-representational forms. What could be, if we ask artists to produce specific emotions-matières (the way in which paint-its materiality-is applied by an artist) intended to communicate specific emotion's states to observers? Could observers share somehow these emotional artistic intentions, yielding some consistency across ratings regarding the intended meanings and the symbolic potential of the drawings? A cross-cultural study was performed (152 Canadians, 48 Greeks, 68 Japanese) using 12 non-representational, emotion-drawing stimuli of the emotion at hand. The results showed a systematic sharing of affective meaning across artists, spectators and cultures. This study serves as an illustrative case for discussion. For spectators to match the bottom up spatiotemporal derived from the syntactic, demands to go all the way down to catch up and match the stimulus impact as an 'as if' reciprocally created homology based on affective predictions. At this interface there is mutuality between perceiving, feeling and imaging, indicating the deep passage from expression/gesture to representation. It is discussed that there is continuity between expression and experience and agency is at its core-yet, shaped by culture it participates differentially in this iterative matching of top-down affective predictions checked against first-level bottom-up sensory-motor affective cues.
Gerald C. Cupchik builds a bridge between science and the humanities, arguing that interactions b... more Gerald C. Cupchik builds a bridge between science and the humanities, arguing that interactions between mind and body in everyday life are analogous to relations between subject matter and style in art. According to emotional phase theory, emotional reactions emerge in a 'perfect storm' whereby meaningful situations evoke bodily memories that unconsciously shape and unify the experience. Similarly, in expressionist or impressionist painting, an evocative visual style can spontaneously colour the experience and interpretation of subject matter. Three basic situational themes encompass complementary pairs of primary emotions: attachment (happiness - sadness), assertion (fear -anger), and absorption (interest - disgust). Action episodes, in which a person adapts to challenges or seeks to realize goals, benefit from energizing bodily responses which focus attention on the situation while providing feedback, in the form of pleasure or pain, regarding success or failure. In high representational paintings, style is transparent, making it easier to fluently identify subject matter.
Routledge eBooks, Nov 2, 2022
Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, Aug 1, 2022
Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, Aug 1, 2019
Cambridge University Press eBooks, Aug 5, 2016
Journal of Vision, Oct 20, 2020