Talk 2

Effects of Music and Information on Art Induced Affect

Can Ozger

Visual imagery is a potent way of eliciting emotions. Additionally, auditory experiences like music and narration are used to enhance visual experiences in many forms, from advertisements to art exhibitions. In accordance with this, we hypothesized that music and narration will enhance the emotional impact of artworks. Some possible contributors to this enhancement are cross modal (auditory to visual) top-down (music and information) effects. The robustness of these effects was investigated in a study with 47 undergraduate students (11M, 35F, 1NB) using a between-subjects group design. While all participants watched a video presentation of a selection of artworks (Goya’s series of Black Paintings), in group 1 the video was accompanied by a piece of music (first movement of Shostakovich’s 1st Symphony), in group 2 it was accompanied by a narration of the artist’s life and interpretations of the paintings, in group 3 it was accompanied by both music and narration. Immediately after the video session, all participants completed an implicit affect questionnaire that measures the overall negativity and positivity of their mood (lower scores indicating a more negative emotional state) and a test of art interest and knowledge. A one-way ANOVA revealed that group 3 reported lower affect scores than other groups. There was no correlation between art interest or knowledge and induced affect. The results confirmed our hypothesis of affect enhancement, since we expected the paintings to have a negative emotional impact due to their macabre nature.