Kaylyn - The Musician's Mind Chapter 1

 Chapter 8: Science, Art, and the Missing Mind

Summary: In the past, psychology was based on behaviorism. There was a cognitive revolution that challenged behaviorism into a new, modern way of thinking and cognitive neuroscience. Understanding the effects of behaviorist psychology is key to understanding our motivations and weaknesses. There are two cultures of controversy, science and humanities. The division of these two cultures has been a major handicap to both in solving the world's problems. The rise of a third culture is where humanists and scientists would communicate so effectively it would bridge a gap that would ultimately better society. Artists thrive in the gray area that contains the black and white answers scientists search for. It will take a creative mind to be able to discover the boundaries of art and science. 

Key Concepts: Behaviorism: primarily concerned with observable behavior not internal thoughts and emotion. Cognitivism (new theory of learning): is a learning theory that focuses on the processes involved in learning rather than on the observed behavior. Music provides cognitive enhancement, but it has more to do with the broader enhancement of the human experience. No behavioral distinction between animals or humans. (B.F. Skinner) The animals with unpleasant negative consequences just gave up. The Theory of Multiple Intelligences: people are not born with all of the intelligences they will ever have. It also describes different ways students learn information. (There are 8 intelligences: musical, logical mathematical, intrapersonal, interpersonal, naturalistic, linguistic, bodily kinesthetic, spatial). Neuroaesthetics: experimental science that combines psychological research with aesthetics by investigating the perception, production, and response to art, as well as things that evoke feeling.

Connections: Awe! You’re in the acknowledgment section! Since behaviorism is so deeply embedded into the American psyche, we need to focus on developing a new strategy for learning. Since incentives are not the primary forces that stimulate human creativity, we need to find a way to create just to create not for a reward. This is something I find very interesting and a reason why I hit such a large regression during quarantine. I feel like I work hard and I am able to see some kind of result (or in my eyes a “reward”). But everything I had done the work for was all of a sudden canceled, and so I actually had a “regression of the very motivations they are intended to ignite”, which ultimately had a negative impact on my technique and positivity towards music. 

I also loved the idea of Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences, meaning that intelligence is related to talent and ability. Music is not something that should be dismissed as “mere talent”.