Behavioral and Brain Sciences - Current Issue

Volume 31 Issue 05

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 23:00:00 GMT

Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05

BBS is the internationally renowned journal with the innovative format known as Open Peer Commentary. Particularly significant and controversial pieces of work are published from researchers in any area of psychology, neuroscience, behavioural biology or cognitive science, together with 10-25 commentaries on each article from specialists within and across these disciplines, plus the author's response to them. The result is a fascinating and unique forum for the communication, criticism, stimulation, and particularly the unification of research in behavioural and brain sciences from molecular neurobiology to artificial intelligence and the philosophy of the mind. As Cambridge continues its philosophy of moving towards fully online submission, refereeing and commentary, see preprints of articles currently undergoing commentary at www.bbsonline.org

Language as shaped by the brain

Research Articles
Morten H. Christiansen, Nick Chater,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 489-509

Abstract
It is widely assumed that human learning and the structure of human languages are intimately related. This relationship is frequently suggested to derive from a language-specific biological endowment, which encodes universal, but communicatively arbitrary, principles of language structure (a Universal Grammar or UG). How might such a UG have evolved? We argue that UG could not have arisen either by biological adaptation or non-adaptationist genetic processes, resulting in a logical problem of language evolution. Specifically, as the processes of language change are much more rapid than processes of genetic change, language constitutes a both over time and across different human populations, and, hence, cannot provide a stable environment to which language genes could have adapted. We conclude that a biologically determined UG is not evolutionarily viable. Instead, the original motivation for UG arises because language has been shaped to fit the human brain, rather than vice versa. Following Darwin, we view language itself as a complex and interdependent which evolves under selectional pressures from human learning and processing mechanisms. That is, languages themselves are shaped by severe selectional pressure from each generation of language users and learners. This suggests that apparently arbitrary aspects of linguistic structure may result from general learning and processing biases deriving from the structure of thought processes, perceptuo-motor factors, cognitive limitations, and pragmatics.

Language is shaped by the body

Research Articles
Mark Aronoff, Irit Meir, Carol Padden, Wendy Sandler,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 509-511

Abstract
Sign languages provide direct evidence for the relation between human languages and the body that engenders them. We discuss the use of the hands to create symbols and the role of the body in sign language verb systems, especially in two quite recently developed sign languages, Israeli Sign Language and Al-Sayyid Bedouin Sign Language.

Adaptation to moving targets: Culture/gene coevolution, not either/or

Research Articles
H. Clark Barrett, Willem E. Frankenhuis, Andreas Wilke,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 511-512

Abstract
We agree that much of language evolution is likely to be adaptation of languages to properties of the brain. However, the attempt to rule out the existence of language-specific adaptations a priori is misguided. In particular, the claim that adaptation to cannot occur is false. Instead, the details of gene-culture coevolution in language are an empirical matter.

Languages as evolving organisms – The solution to the logical problem of language evolution?

Research Articles
Christina Behme,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 512-513

Abstract
Christiansen Chater (C C) argue persuasively that Universal Grammar (UG) could not have arisen through evolutionary processes. I provide additional suggestions to strengthen the argument against UG evolution. Further, I suggest that C C's solution to the logical problem of language evolution faces several problems. Widening the focus to mechanisms of general cognition and inclusion of animal communication research might overcome these problems.

Memes shape brains shape memes

Research Articles
Susan Blackmore,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 513-513

Abstract
Christiansen Chater's (C C's) arguments share with memetics the ideas that language is an evolving organism and that brain capacities shape language by influencing the fitness of memes, although memetics also claims that memes in turn shape brains. Their rejection of meme theory is based on falsely claiming that memes must be consciously selected by sighted watchmakers.

Prolonged plasticity: Necessary and sufficient for language-ready brains

Research Articles
Patricia J. Brooks, Sonia Ragir,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 514-515

Abstract
Languages emerge in response to the negotiation of shared meaning in social groups, where transparency of grammar is necessitated by demands of communication with relative strangers needing to consult on a wide range of topics (Ragir 2002). This communal exchange is automated and stabilized through activity-dependent fine-tuning of information-specific neural connections during postnatal growth and social development.

Convergent cultural evolution may explain linguistic universals

Research Articles
Christine A. Caldwell,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 515-516

Abstract
Christiansen Chater's (C C's) argument rests on an assumption that convergent cultural evolution can produce similar (complex) behaviours in isolated populations. In this commentary, I describe how experiments recently carried out by Caldwell and colleagues can contribute to the understanding of such phenomena.

Brain and behavior: Which way does the shaping go?

Research Articles
A. Charles Catania,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 516-517

Abstract
Evolutionary contingencies select organisms based on what they can do; brains and other evolved structures serve their behavior. Arguments that brains drive language structure get the direction wrong; with functional issues unacknowledged, interactions between central structures and periphery are overlooked. Evidence supports a peripherally driven central organization. If language modules develop like other brain compartments, then environmental consistencies can engender both structural and functional language units (e.g., the different phonemic, semantic, and grammatical structures of different languages).

Time on our hands: How gesture and the understanding of the past and future helped shape language

Research Articles
Michael C. Corballis,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 517-517

Abstract
Recognising that signed languages are true languages adds to the variety of forms that languages can take. Such recognition also allows one to differentiate those aspects of language that depend on the medium (voiced or signed) from those that depend on more cognitive aspects. At least some aspects of language, such as symbolic representation, time markers, and generativity, may derive from the communication of the products of mental time travel, and from the sharing of remembered past and planned future episodes.

A biological infrastructure for communication underlies the cultural evolution of languages

Research Articles
J. P. de Ruiter, Stephen C. Levinson,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 518-518

Abstract
Universal Grammar (UG) is indeed evolutionarily implausible. But if languages are just to a large primate brain, it is hard to see why other primates do not have complex languages. The answer is that humans have evolved a specialized and uniquely human cognitive architecture, whose main function is to compute mappings between arbitrary signals and communicative intentions. This underlies the development of language in the human species.

Why is language well designed for communication?

Research Articles
Jean-Louis Dessalles,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 518-519

Abstract
Selection through iterated learning explains no more than other non-functional accounts, such as Universal Grammar (UG), why language is so well designed for communicative efficiency. It does not predict several distinctive features of language, such as central embedding, large lexicons, or the lack of iconicity, which seem to serve communication purposes at the expense of learnability.

Language as shaped by social interaction

Research Articles
N. J. Enfield,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 519-520

Abstract
Language is shaped by its environment, which includes not only the brain, but also the public context in which speech acts are effected. To fully account for why language has the shape it has, we need to examine the constraints imposed by language use as a sequentially organized joint activity, and as the very conduit for linguistic diffusion and change.

The origin of language as a product of the evolution of double-scope blending

Research Articles
Gilles Fauconnier, Mark Turner,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 520-521

Abstract
Meaning construction through language requires advanced mental operations also necessary for other higher-order, specifically human behaviors. Biological evolution slowly improved conceptual mapping capacities until human beings reached the level of double-scope blending, perhaps 50 to 80 thousand years ago, at which point language, along with other higher-order human behaviors, became possible. Languages are optimized to be driven by the principles and powers of double-scope blending.

Co-evolution of phylogeny and glossogeny: There is no “logical problem of language evolution”

Research Articles
W. Tecumseh Fitch,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 521-522

Abstract
Historical language change ( ), like evolution itself, is a fact; and its implications for the biological evolution of the human capacity for language acquisition ( ) have been ably explored by many contemporary theorists. However, Christiansen Chater's (C C's) revolutionary call for a replacement of phylogenetic models with glossogenetic cultural models is based on an inadequate understanding of either. The solution to their lies before their eyes, but they mistakenly reject it due to a supposed Gene/;culture co-evolution poses a series of difficult theoretical and empirical problems that will be resolved by subtle thinking, adequate models, and careful cross-disciplinary research, not by oversimplified manifestos.

Universal Grammar? Or prerequisites for natural language?

Research Articles
Adele E. Goldberg,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 522-523

Abstract
This commentary aims to highlight what exactly is controversial about the traditional Universal Grammar (UG) hypothesis and what is not. There is widespread agreement that we are not born that language universals exist, that grammar exists, and that adults have domain-specific representations of language. The point of contention is whether we should assume that there exist unlearned syntactic universals that are arbitrary and specific to Language.

Intersubjectivity evolved to fit the brain, but grammar co-evolved with the brain

Research Articles
Patricia M. Greenfield, Kristen Gillespie-Lynch,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 523-524

Abstract
We propose that some aspects of language evolved to fit the brain, whereas other aspects co-evolved with the brain. Cladistic analysis indicates that common basic structures of both action and grammar arose in phylogeny six million years ago and in ontogeny before age two, with a shared prefrontal neural substrate. In contrast, mirror neurons, found in both humans and monkeys, suggest that the neural basis for intersubjectivity evolved before language. Natural selection acts upon genes controlling the neural substrates of these phenotypic language functions.

Why and how the problem of the evolution of Universal Grammar (UG) is hard

Research Articles
Stevan Harnad,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 524-525

Abstract
Christiansen Chater (C C) suggest that language is an organism, like us, and that our brains were not selected for Universal Grammar (UG) capacity; rather, languages were selected for learnability with minimal trial-and-error experience by our brains. This explanation is circular: Where did our brain's selective capacity to learn all and only UG-compliant languages come from?

Niche-construction, co-evolution, and domain-specificity

Research Articles
James R. Hurford,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 526-526

Abstract
That language is shaped to fit the human brain is close to the Chomskyan position. The target article by Christiansen Chater (C C) assumes an entity, outside individual heads. What is the nature of this entity? Linguistic niche-construction and co-evolution of language and genes are possible, with some of what evolved being language-specific. Recent generative theory postulates much less than the old Universal Grammar (UG).

Language enabled by Baldwinian evolution of memory capacity

Research Articles
Thomas K. Landauer,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 526-527

Abstract
The claim that language is shaped by the brain is weakened by lack of clear specification of what necessary and sufficient properties the brain actually imposes. To account for human intellectual superiority, it is proposed that language did require special brain evolution (Deacon 1997), but that what evolved was a merely quantitative change rather than a radically new invention.

Cortical-striatal-cortical neural circuits, reiteration, and the “narrow faculty of language”

Research Articles
Philip Lieberman,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 527-528

Abstract
Neural circuits linking local operations in the cortex and the basal ganglia confer reiterative capacities, expressed in seemingly unrelated human traits such as speech, syntax, adaptive actions to changing circumstances, dancing, and music. Reiteration allows the formation of a potentially unbounded number of sentences from a finite set of syntactic processes, obviating the need for the hypothetical

Perceptual-motor constraints on sound-to-meaning correspondence in language

Research Articles
Laura L. Namy, Lynne C. Nygaard,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 528-529

Abstract
The proposal that language has evolved to conform to general cognitive and learning constraints inherent in the human brain calls for specification of these mechanisms. We propose that just as cognition appears to be grounded in cross-modal perceptual-motor capabilities, so too must language. Evidence for perceptual-motor grounding comes from non-arbitrary sound-to-meaning correspondences and their role in word learning.

The potential for genetic adaptations to language

Research Articles
Mark Pagel, Quentin D. Atkinson,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 529-530

Abstract
We suggest there is somewhat more potential than Christiansen Chater (C C) allow for genetic adaptations specific to language. Our uniquely cooperative social system requires sophisticated language skills. Learning and performance of some culturally transmitted elements in animals is genetically based, and we give examples of features of human language that evolve slowly enough that genetic adaptations to them may arise.

Language as ergonomic perfection

Research Articles
Massimo Piattelli-Palmarini, Roeland Hancock, Thomas Bever,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 530-531

Abstract
Christiansen Chater (C C) have taken the interactionist approach to linguistic universals to an extreme, adopting the metaphor of language as an organism. This metaphor adds no insights to five decades of analyzing language universals as the result of interaction of linguistically unique and general cognitive systems. This metaphor is also based on an outmoded view of classical Darwinian evolution and has no clear basis in biology or cognition.

On language and evolution: Why neo-adaptationism fails

Research Articles
Eric Reuland,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 531-532

Abstract
I identify a number of problematic aspects of Christiansen Chater's (C C's) contribution. These include their suggestion that subjacency and binding reflect non-domain-specific mechanisms; that proto-language is a ; and that non-adaptationism requires overly rich innate structures, and is incompatible with acceptable evolutionary processes. It shows that a fully UG (Universal Grammar)-free version of the authors' neo-adaptationism would be incoherent.

Language acquisition recapitulates language evolution?

Research Articles
Teresa Satterfield,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 532-533

Abstract
Christiansen Chater (C C) focus solely on general-purpose cognitive processes in their elegant conceptualization of language evolution. However, numerous developmental facts attested in L1 acquisition confound C C's subsequent claim that the logical problem of language acquisition now plausibly recapitulates that of language evolution. I argue that language acquisition should be viewed instead as a multi-layered construction involving the interplay of general and domain-specific learning mechanisms.

The brain plus the cultural transmission mechanism determine the nature of language

Research Articles
Kenny Smith, Simon Kirby, Andrew D. M. Smith,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 533-534

Abstract
We agree that language adapts to the brain, but we note that language also has to adapt to brain-external constraints, such as those arising from properties of the cultural transmission medium. The hypothesis that Christiansen Chater (C C) raise in the target article not only has profound consequences for our understanding of language, but also for our understanding of the biological evolution of the language faculty.

Case-marking systems evolve to be easy to learn and process

Research Articles
Maggie Tallerman,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 534-535

Abstract
Christiansen Chater (C C) suggest that language is itself an evolutionary system, and that natural languages to be easy to learn and process. The tight economy of the world's case-marking systems lends support to this hypothesis. Only two major case systems occur, cross-linguistically, and noun phrases are seldom overtly case-marked wherever zero-marking would be functionally practical.

Language as shaped by the brain; the brain as shaped by development

Research Articles
Joseph C. Toscano, Lynn K. Perry, Kathryn L. Mueller, Allison F. Bean, Marcus E. Galle, Larissa K. Samuelson,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 535-536

Abstract
Though we agree with their argument that language is shaped by domain-general learning processes, Christiansen Chater (C C) neglect to detail how the development of these processes shapes language change. We discuss a number of examples that show how developmental processes at multiple levels and timescales are critical to understanding the origin of domain-general mechanisms that shape language evolution.

Language is shaped for social interactions, as well as by the brain

Research Articles
Mikkel Wallentin, Chris D. Frith,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 536-537

Abstract
Language learning is not primarily driven by a motivation to describe invariant features of the world, but rather by a strong force to be a part of the social group, which by definition is not invariant. It is not sufficient for language to be fit for the speaker's perceptual motor system. It must also be fit for social interactions.

Brains, genes, and language evolution: A new synthesis

Research Articles
Morten H. Christiansen, Nick Chater,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 537-558

Abstract
Our target article argued that a genetically specified Universal Grammar (UG), capturing arbitrary properties of languages, is not tenable on evolutionary grounds, and that the close fit between language and language learners arises because language is shaped by the brain, rather than the reverse. Few commentaries defend a genetically specified UG. Some commentators argue that we underestimate the importance of processes of cultural transmission; some propose additional cognitive and brain mechanisms that may constrain language and perhaps differentiate humans from nonhuman primates; and others argue that we overstate or understate the case against co-evolution of language genes. In engaging with these issues, we suggest that a new synthesis concerning the relationship between brains, genes, and language may be emerging.

Emotional responses to music: The need to consider underlying mechanisms

Research Articles
Patrik N. Juslin, Daniel Västfjäll,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 559-575

Abstract
Research indicates that people value music primarily because of the emotions it evokes. Yet, the notion of musical emotions remains controversial, and researchers have so far been unable to offer a satisfactory account of such emotions. We argue that the study of musical emotions has suffered from a neglect of underlying mechanisms. Specifically, researchers have studied musical emotions without regard to how they were evoked, or have assumed that the emotions must be based on the mechanism for emotion induction, a cognitive appraisal. Here, we present a novel theoretical framework featuring six additional mechanisms through which music listening may induce emotions: (1) brain stem reflexes, (2) evaluative conditioning, (3) emotional contagion, (4) visual imagery, (5) episodic memory, and (6) musical expectancy. We propose that these mechanisms differ regarding such characteristics as their information focus, ontogenetic development, key brain regions, cultural impact, induction speed, degree of volitional influence, modularity, and dependence on musical structure. By synthesizing theory and findings from different domains, we are able to provide the first set of hypotheses that can help researchers to distinguish among the mechanisms. We show that failure to control for the underlying mechanism may lead to inconsistent or non-interpretable findings. Thus, we argue that the new framework may guide future research and help to resolve previous disagreements in the field. We conclude that music evokes emotions through mechanisms that are not unique to music, and that the study of musical emotions could benefit the emotion field as a whole by providing novel paradigms for emotion induction.

How music fills our emotions and helps us keep time

Research Articles
Patricia V. Agostino, Guy Peryer, Warren H. Meck,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 575-576

Abstract
Whether and how music is involved in evoking emotions is a matter of considerable debate. In the target article, Juslin V ll (J V) argue that music induces a wide range of both basic and complex emotions that are shared with other stimuli. If such a link exists, it would provide a common basis for considering the interactions among music, emotion, timing, and time perception.

Ritual harmony: Toward an evolutionary theory of music

Research Articles
Candace S. Alcorta, Richard Sosis, Daniel Finkel,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 576-577

Abstract
Juslin V ll (J V) advance our understanding of the proximate mechanisms underlying emotional responses to music, but fail to integrate their findings into a comprehensive evolutionary model that addresses the adaptive functions of these responses. Here we offer such a model by examining the ontogenetic relationship between music, ritual, and symbolic abstraction and their role in facilitating social coordination and cooperation.

Musical emotions in the context of narrative film

Research Articles
Matthew A. Bezdek, Richard J. Gerrig,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 578-578

Abstract
Juslin V ll's (J V's) discussions of evaluative conditioning and episodic memory focus on circumstances in which music becomes associated with arbitrary life events. However, analyses of film music suggest that viewers experience consistent pairings between types of music and types of narrative content. Researchers have demonstrated that the emotional content of film music has a major impact on viewers' emotional experiences of a narrative.

Affective spectra, synchronization, and motion: Aspects of the emotional response to music

Research Articles
Jamshed J. Bharucha, Meagan Curtis,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 579-579

Abstract
We propose three extensions of the theory developed by Juslin V ll (J V). First, motion should be considered as an additional mechanism. Second, synchronization plays a role in eliciting emotion. And, third, the spectrum of musical affect or feelings is denser and broader than the spectrum of emotions, suggesting an expansion of the scope of the theory beyond emotions.

The role of semantic association and emotional contagion for the induction of emotion with music

Research Articles
Thomas Fritz, Stefan Koelsch,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 579-580

Abstract
We suggest that semantic association may be a further mechanism by which music may elicit emotion. Furthermore, we note that emotional contagion is not always an immediate process requiring little prior information processing; rather, emotional contagion contributing to music processing may constitute a more complex decoding mechanism for information inherent in the music, which may be subject to a time course of activation.

Responses to music: Emotional signaling, and learning

Research Articles
Martin F. Gardiner,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 580-581

Abstract
In the target article, Juslin V ll (J V) contend that neural mechanisms not unique to music are critical to its capability to convey emotion. The work reviewed here provides a broader context for this proposal. Human abilities to signal emotion through sound could have been essential to human evolution, and may have contributed vital foundations for music. Future learning experiments are needed to further clarify engagement underlying musical and broader emotional signaling.

Evidence from young children regarding emotional responses to music

Research Articles
Steven John Holochwost, Carroll E. Izard,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 581-582

Abstract
Juslin V ll (J V) propose a theoretical framework of how music may evoke an emotional response. This commentary presents results from a pilot study that employed young children as participants, and measured musically induced emotions through facial expressions. Preliminary findings support certain aspects of the proposed theoretical framework. The implications of these findings on future research employing the proposed framework are discussed.

A skeptical position on “musical emotions” and an alternative proposal

Research Articles
Vladimir J. Konečni,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 582-584

Abstract
Key premises of the target article by Juslin V ll (J V) are challenged. It is also shown that most of the six proposed by the authors as underlying the induction of emotion by music involve nonmusical proximal causes. As a replacement for the state of being-moved is proposed.

Musical expectancy: The influence of musical structure on emotional response

Research Articles
Carol L. Krumhansl, Kat R. Agres,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 584-585

Abstract
When examining how emotions are evoked through music, the role of musical expectancy is often surprisingly under-credited. This mechanism, however, is most strongly tied to the actual structure of the music, and thus is important when considering how music elicits emotions. We briefly summarize Leonard Meyer's theoretical framework on musical expectancy and emotion and cite relevant research in the area.

Why we experience musical emotions: Intrinsic musicality in an evolutionary perspective

Research Articles
Daniela Lenti Boero, Luciana Bottoni,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 585-586

Abstract
Taking into account an evolutionary viewpoint, we hypothesize that music could hide a universal and adaptive code determining preferences. We consider the possible selective pressure that might have shaped, at least in part, our emotional appreciation of sound and music, and sketch a comparison between parameters of some naturalistic sounds and music.

Emotional responses in mother-infant musical interactions: A developmental perspective

Research Articles
Elena Longhi,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 586-587

Abstract
With this commentary, I raise two issues relevant to the theoretical framework from a developmental perspective. First, the infants' emotional responses are induced by the music as well as by the multimodal information they perceive in interaction with their mothers, and these responses change with time. Second, contrary to what is suggested in the target article, musical expectancy is already experienced by young infants.

What about the music? Music-specific functions must be considered in order to explain reactions to music

Research Articles
Guy Madison,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 587-587

Abstract
The mechanisms proposed in the target article are quite general and do not address variables specific for music. I argue that reactions to music include motivational mechanisms related to functions of music. To further the field, as the authors envision, consideration of internal mechanisms must be paired with specific hypotheses that include musical and musically relevant variables.

Identifying and individuating the psychological mechanisms that underlie musical emotions

Research Articles
Helge Malmgren,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 587-588

Abstract
Juslin V ll (J V) have suggested a promising theoretical framework for understanding musical emotions. However, the way they classify the hypothetical underlying psychological mechanisms suffers from certain weaknesses, both in principle and when it comes to details. It is proposed that the authors consider incorporating ideas from a recent dissertation that has advanced another multimechanism theory of musical emotions.

Distinguishing between two types of musical emotions and reconsidering the role of appraisal

Research Articles
Agnes Moors, Peter Kuppens,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 588-589

Abstract
The target article inventories mechanisms underlying musical emotions. We argue that the inventory misses important mechanisms and that its structure would benefit from the distinction between two types of musical emotions. We also argue that the authors' claim that appraisal does not play a crucial role in the causation of musical emotions rests on a narrow conception of appraisal.

A neurobiological strategy for exploring links between emotion recognition in music and speech

Research Articles
Aniruddh D. Patel,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 589-590

Abstract
Are the neural systems involved in recognizing affective prosody in language also used for emotion recognition in instrumental music? One way to test this idea is to study musical affect perception in patients with receptive affective aprosodia (RAA). Music perception in RAA is totally unexplored and could provide a powerful way to test the idea that we perceive music as a kind of emotional voice.

The need to consider underlying mechanisms: A response from dissonance

Research Articles
Isabelle Peretz,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 590-591

Abstract
Current research on emotional responses to dissonance has yielded consistent data in both developmental psychology and neuroscience. What seems to be lacking is a definition of what might constitute dissonance in non-musical domains. Thus, contrary to Juslin V ll's (J V) proposal for the need to distinguish between six broad mechanisms, I argue that future research should rather focus on perceptual determinants of each basic emotion.

Notation and expression of emotion in operatic laughter

Research Articles
Robert R. Provine,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 591-592

Abstract
The emotional expression of laughter in opera scores and performance was evaluated by converting notation to temporal data and contrasting it with the conversational laughter it emulates. The potency of scored and sung laughter was assayed by its ability to trigger contagion in audiences.

Do all musical emotions have the music itself as their intentional object?

Research Articles
Jenefer Robinson,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 592-593

Abstract
Juslin V ll (J V) think that all emotions aroused by music have the music itself as their Some of the mechanisms they discuss almost certainly involve both cognitive appraisals and intentional objects. But some of the mechanisms are non-cognitive: they involve neither cognitive appraisals nor intentional objects. Partly for this reason they may produce moods rather than emotions proper.

Feelings and the enjoyment of music

Research Articles
Alexander Rozin, Paul Rozin,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 593-594

Abstract
We wonder about tying the universal appeal of music to emotion as defined by psychologists. Music is more generally about feelings, and many of these, such as moods and pleasures, are central to the enjoyment of music and fall outside the domain of emotion. The critical component of musical feelings is affective intensity, resulting from syntactically generated implications and their outcomes.

The role of exposure in emotional responses to music

Research Articles
E. Glenn Schellenberg,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 594-595

Abstract
A basic aspect of emotional responding to music involves the liking for specific pieces. Juslin V ll (J V) fail to acknowledge that simple exposure plays a fundamental role in this regard. Listeners like what they have heard but not what they have heard too often. Exposure represents an additional mechanism, ignored by the authors, that helps to explain emotional responses to music.

Music evoked emotions are different–more often aesthetic than utilitarian

Research Articles
Klaus Scherer, Marcel Zentner,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 595-596

Abstract
We disagree with Juslin V ll's (J V's) thesis that music-evoked emotions are indistinguishable from other emotions in both their nature and underlying mechanisms and that music just induces some emotions more frequently than others. Empirical evidence suggests that frequency differences reflect the specific nature of music-evoked emotions: aesthetic and reactive rather than utilitarian and proactive. Additional mechanisms and determinants are suggested as predictors of emotions triggered by music.

Super-expressive voices: Music to my ears?

Research Articles
Elizabeth A. Simpson, William T. Oliver, Dorothy Fragaszy,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 596-597

Abstract
We present evidence from neuroimaging and brain lesion studies that emotional contagion may not be a mechanism underlying musical emotions. Our brains distinguish voice from non-voice sounds early in processing, and dedicate more resources to such processing. We argue that super-expressive voice theory currently cannot account for evidence of the dissociation in processing musical emotion and voice prosody.

The role of signal detection and amplification in the induction of emotion by music

Research Articles
William Forde Thompson, Max Coltheart,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 597-598

Abstract
We propose that the six mechanisms identified by Juslin V ll (J V) fall into two categories: signal detection and amplification. Signal detection mechanisms are unmediated and induce emotion by directly detecting emotive signals in music. Amplifiers act in conjunction with signal detection mechanisms. We also draw attention to theoretical and empirical challenges associated with the proposed mechanisms.

Music as a dishonest signal

Research Articles
Sandra E. Trehub,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 598-599

Abstract
Instead of the discrete emotions approach adopted by Juslin V ll (J V), the present perspective considers musical signals as functioning primarily to influence listeners in ways that are favorable to the signaler. Viewing music through the lens of social-emotional regulation fits with typical uses of music in everyday contexts and with the cross-cultural use of music for infant affect regulation.

Anticipation is the key to understanding music and the effects of music on emotion

Research Articles
Peter Vuust, Chris D. Frith,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 599-600

Abstract
There is certainly a need for a framework to guide the study of the physiological mechanisms underlying the experience of music and the emotions that music evokes. However, this framework should be organised hierarchically, with musical anticipation as its fundamental mechanism.

All emotions are not created equal: Reaching beyond the traditional disputes

Research Articles
Patrik N. Juslin, Daniel Västfjäll,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Volume 31 Issue 05 , pp 600-621

Abstract
Most commentators have agreed with our thesis, that musical emotions cannot be studied without regard to underlying mechanisms. However, some commentators have expressed concerns that are addressed in this response. Others have suggested directions for future research. Topics discussed in our response include terminology, elaborations on particular mechanisms, possible additional mechanisms, ways of distinguishing among emotions and mechanisms, the prevalence of musical emotions, the relationship between perceived and felt emotions, developmental issues, and evolutionary perspectives. We end our response with a plea for researchers to reach beyond the traditional disputes in the field to pave the way for more theory-driven studies that can facilitate a deeper understanding of musical emotions.