aceUVi

While one might argue that the requirement of reporting their level of engagement
rules out the possibility of full captivation in the sense of Csikszentmihalyi’s
‘flow’ (described in Walmsley 2013, 75-76; WolfBrown 2012, 5; NEF 2008, 12) the
problem encountered by Latulipe et al raises questions about what we mean by
‘engagement’ or ‘captivation’ and what respondents really report, when researchers
ask them about such experiences 2 . A recent literature review commissioned
by the US National Endowment for the Arts (WolfBrown 2012) discusses several
related issues such as the timing and reliability of self-reported data in the context
of affect measurement.
Paul Silvia
One line of inquiry that is opened up by close Paul J. Silvia, 2009, ‘Looking past pleasure:
analysis of the immediate responses that occur Anger, confusion, disgust, surprise, and other
during the aesthetic experience is the possibility of unusual aesthetic emotions’, in Psychology of
observing ‘unusual aesthetic responses’ such as aesthetics
chills (Silvia 2011). Silvia criticises the near
Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts 3:1, 48-51.
exclusive focus on positive reactions and points out
that responses to art are not always just a matter or liking or disliking. There are
a range of possible emotional responses, including knowledge emotions (interest,
confusion and surprise), hostile emotions (anger, disgust and contempt) and selfconscious
emotions (pride, shame, guilt, regret and embarrassment) (Silvia 2009).
This underscoring of the ways in which knowledge, moral values and identity
play into complex emotional responses may be helpful in advancing the discussion
of impact and value indicators that frequently distinguish between intellectual,
emotional, spiritual and aesthetic components. In such compartmentalised
indicator systems, where are confusion, anger and embarrassment to be reported
Other studies that use biometric data to capture pre-cognitive physiological
responses include Tschacher et al (2012), which tracked the movements,
heart rates, skin conductance, emotional responses and aesthetic judgments of
art museum visitors, and Stevens et al (2007), which measured eye movements
during a dance performance. These studies raise the larger theoretical question
of whether the responses measured represent the purest, unmediated form of
2 For example, Vincs (2013) describes research in which respondents were asked to
continuously report their level of engagement on a scale from zero to ten on hand-held
devices during a dance performance.
Measuring Individual Impact: Physiological and psychometric responses measured during the experience 61
UNDERSTANDING the value and impacts of cultural experiences