Cognitive Media Theory PDF
Preview Cognitive Media Theory
COGNITIVE MEDIA THEORY Across the academy, scholars are debating the question of what bearing scientific inquiry has upon the humanities. The latest addition to the AFI Film Readers series, Cognitive Media Theory, takes up this question in the context of film and media studies. This collection of essays by inter- nationally recognized researchers in film and media studies, psychology, and philosophy offers film and media scholars and advanced students an introduction to contemporary cognitive media theory—an approach to the study of diverse media forms and content that draws upon both the methods and explanations of the sciences and the humanities. Exploring topics that range from color perception to the moral appraisal of characters to our interactive engagement with video games, Cognitive Media Theory showcases the richness and diversity of cognitivist research. This volume will be of interest not only to students and scholars of film and media, but to anyone interested in the possibility of a productive relationship between the sciences and humanities. Ted Nannicelliis Lecturer in Film and Television Studies at the University of Queensland, Australia. He is the author of A Philosophy of the Screenplay (Routledge, 2013). Paul Taberham is Lecturer in Animation Studies at Arts University Bournemouth, UK. He published in Projections: The Journal for Movies and Mind, Animation Journal, and The Routledge Encyclopedia of Film Theory. Previously published in the AFI Film Readers series Edited by Edward Branigan and Charles Wolfe Psychoanalysis and Cinema E. Ann Kaplan Fabrications: Costume and the Female Body Jane Gaines and Charlotte Herzog Sound Theory/Sound Practice Rick Altman Film Theory Goes to the Movies Jim Collins, Ava Preacher Collins, and Hilary Radner Theorizing Documentary Michael Renov Black American Cinema Manthia Diawara Disney Discourse Eric Smoodin Classical Hollywood Comedy Henry Jenkins and Kristine Brunovska Karnick The Persistence of History Vivian Sobchack The Revolution Wasn’t Televised Lynn Spigel and Michael Curtin Black Women Film and Video Artists Jacqueline Bobo Home, Exile, Homeland Hamid Naficy Violence and American Cinema J. David Slocum Masculinity Peter Lehman Westerns Janet Walker Authorship and Film David A. Gerstner and Janet Staiger New Media Anna Everett and John T. Caldwell East European Cinemas Anikó Imre Landscape and Film Martin Lefebvre European Film Theory Trifonova Temenuga Film Theory and Contemporary Hollywood Movies Warren Buckland World Cinemas, Transnational Perspectives Nataˇsa Dˇurovicˇová and Kathleen Newman Documentary Testimonies Bhaskar Sarkar and Janet Walker Slapstick Comedy Rob King and Tom Paulus The Epic Film in World Culture Robert Burgoyne Arnheim for Film and Media Studies Scott Higgins Color and the Moving Image Simon Brown, Sarah Street, and Liz Watkins Ecocinema Theory and Practice Stephen Rust, Salma Monani, and Sean Cubitt Media Authorship Cynthia Chris and David A. Gerstner Pervasive Animation Suzanne Buchan The Biopic in Contemporary Film Culture Tom Brown and Belén Vidal (cid:84)(cid:104)(cid:105)(cid:115)(cid:32)(cid:112)(cid:97)(cid:103)(cid:101)(cid:32)(cid:105)(cid:110)(cid:116)(cid:101)(cid:110)(cid:116)(cid:105)(cid:111)(cid:110)(cid:97)(cid:108)(cid:108)(cid:121)(cid:32)(cid:108)(cid:101)(cid:102)(cid:116)(cid:32)(cid:98)(cid:97)(cid:110)(cid:107) COGNITIVE MEDIA THEORY EDITED BY TED NANNICELLI AND PAUL TABERHAM First published 2014 by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 and by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2014 Taylor & Francis The right of the editors to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Cognitive media theory/edited by Ted Nannicelli and Paul Taberham. pages cm. — (AFI film readers) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Mass media. 2. Humanities—Research. 3. Social sciences— Research. I. Nannicelli, Ted, editor of compilation. II. Taberham, Paul, editor of compilation. P91.25C596 2014 302.2301—dc23 2013037903 ISBN: 978-0-415-62986-7 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-415-62987-4 (pbk) ISBN: 978-0-203-09822-6 (ebk) Typeset in Spectrum MT by Florence Production Ltd, Stoodleigh, Devon, UK contents list of figures ix list of tables x acknowledgments xi 1. introduction: contemporary cognitive media theory 1 ted nannicelli and paul taberham part one: the state of cognitive media theory: current views and issues 25 2. “the pit of naturalism”: neuroscience and the naturalized aesthetics of film 27 murray smith 3. evolutionary film theory 46 malcolm turvey 4. the geography of film viewing: what are the implications of cultural-cognitive differences for cognitive film theory? 62 daniel barratt part two: psychological research and media theory 83 5. audiovisual correspondences in sergei eisenstein’s alexander nevsky: a case study in viewer attention 85 tim j. smith 6. engaged and detached film viewing: exploring film viewers’ emotional action readiness 106 ed s. tan 7. coloring the animated world: exploring human color perception and preference through the animated film 124 kaitlin l. brunick and james e. cutting part three: cognitive theory and media content 139 8. mood and ethics in narrative film 141 carl plantinga 9. effects of entertaining violence: a critical overview of the general aggression model 158 dirk eitzen 10. a general theory of comic entertainment: arousal, appraisal, and the PECMA flow 177 torben grodal 11. postcolonial humor, attachment, and yasujiro ozu’s early summer 196 patrick colm hogan 12. avant-garde film in an evolutionary context 214 paul taberham part four: cognitive theory and media forms 233 13. cognitive theory and the individual film: the case of rear window 235 william seeley and noël carroll 14. cognitive theory and video games 253 andreas gregersen 15. blinded by familiarity: partiality, morality, and engagement with television series 268 margrethe bruun vaage 16. coming out of the corner: the challenges of a broader media cognitivism 285 greg m. smith bibliography 303 contributors 331 about the american film institute 335 index 337 figures 2.1–2.6 Iron Man 33 2.7–2.12 Ran 35 2.13–2.16 127 Hours 39 4.1 Flow diagram illustrating the possible relationship between (universal) modular perception, (universal) modular cognition, and (culturally-influenced) non-modular cognition 65 4.2 Examples of the experimental paradigms used for testing cultural differences in object categorizations and perceptual judgments 67 4.3 Potential ways in which culture may influence perception and aesthetics, in terms of framing and looking at scenes, from the perspective of (a) the sender/filmmaker and (b) the receiver/ film viewer 76 5.1 From The Film Senseby Sergei Eisenstein, translated by Jay Leyda 89 5.2 “Battle on Ice” sequence I–VI of Alexander Nevsky (1938) 95 5.3 “Battle on Ice” sequence VII–XII of Alexander Nevsky (1938) 96 5.4 “Battle on Ice” sequence I–XII of Alexander Nevsky (1938) 99 9.1 Proximate causes of aggression 161 9.2 Background causes of aggression 163
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