Aesthetic chills evokes by music and film : the influence of film imagery on chill experiences induced by music

 

Aesthetic  chills  evoked  by  music  and  film  

The  influence  of  film  imagery  on  chill  experiences  induced  by  music  

Master’s  Thesis  –  Gerlieke  Aartsen  (5953057)  

 

4  July  2014  

 

 

Graduate  School  of  Communication  

Master’s  programme  Communication  Science  

 

 

 

 

 

Preface

This study allowed me to combine the knowledge I have gained both as being a

musician and a communication scientist. First of all, I would like to thank prof. dr. Ed

Tan for all advices and the inspiring conversations we had about science, aesthetics

and arts during last months. Another person I would like to thank is Kim White,

violinist and PhD-student at the cognitive psychology department of the VU, who

helped me becoming familiar with the analysis of physiological measurements.

Concerning the analysis of the data, I would also like to thank dr. Helen Vossen who

gave me several advices using SPSS. Then, I would like to express my thanks to

Bert Molenkamp, Jasper Wijnen and Marco Teunisse of UvA’s technical support

department for helping me with preparations concerning the data collection and the

physiological measurements in the laboratory. The last person I want to thank is dr.

Ivar Vermeulen, who supervised me during my internship last year. His enthusiasm

for chill experiences induced by music inspired me to dive into this fascinating

subject.

 

 

 

 

 

Table of Contents

 

Abstract  ...  3

 

Introduction  ...  3  

Theory  ...  5  

Aesthetic chills  ...  5

 

Aesthetic chills and physiology  ...  6

 

Aesthetic chills and other emotions  ...  8

 

Aesthetic chills evoked by music and film  ...  9

 

Aesthetic chills, familiarity and individual differences  ...  11

 

Methods  ...  12  

Participants  ...  12

 

Research Design  ...  13

 

Experimental stimuli  ...  14

 

Apparatus  ...  14

 

Presentation  ...  14

 

Physiological measurements  ...  15

 

Self-reports of chills  ...  15

 

Self-report measures  ...  15

 

Procedure  ...  16

 

Results  ...  18  

Frequency and intensity of chills  ...  18

 

Chill experiences during music versus music with film  ...  20

 

Chill frequency  ...  20

 

Chill intensity  ...  21

 

Narrative versus associative imagery  ...  22

 

Music expertise  ...  23

 

Chill frequency  ...  23

 

Chill intensity  ...  25

 

Individual differences  ...  27

 

Conclusion and Discussion  ...  29  

Stimuli  ...  29

 

Materials  ...  30

 

Music expertise  ...  32

 

Individual differences  ...  33

 

Limitations  ...  33

 

Concluding Remarks  ...  34

 

References  ...  36  

Appendix A  ...  41  

Appendix B  ...  41  

Appendix C  ...  42  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Abstract

 

Strong appreciation of music is often accompanied by measurable bodily reactions, such as goose bumps or shivers down the spine, commonly known as “chills”. Music has been widely investigated as a generator of this aesthetic experience. However, the capability of the combination of music with film to induce chills has received limited attention to date. Therefore, it was examined to what extent the addition of film imagery influences chill experiences in response to music. In laboratory setting, 66 participants (33 musicians, 33 non-musicians) were exposed to one piece of music and to another piece of music in

combination with film. Reported chills were studied for their frequency and intensity (i.e. Skin Conductance Response). Results showed that subjective chill experiences were supported by significant increases in SCR. Stimulus that is music plus film imagery compared to music alone, did not significantly influence the number of chills. However, there was a trend in the expected direction, as people seemed to experience more chills when music was presented in combination with film than when only music was presented. Furthermore, Materials

(Schindler’s List versus Lion King) and Music expertise (musicians versus non-musicians) did not significantly influence chill experiences. Personality traits Openness to Experience and Empathy were not able to predict chill experiences either. However, trends could be

interpreted as to suggest that familiarity with the music played an important role concerning both the number and the intensity of chills.

Introduction

The last decades have shown an increase in live musical entertainment options, such as pop music concerts and musicals. In current society, patience and attention span seem to decline and the supply of popular music seems to cater for high-intensity though short-lived listener attention.However, not all musical genres can adapt to high-arousal needs, and this is the case for classical music. As relatively long lasting and complex art works they were created

in another era, with limited choices, with no or limited media, and probably with a different perception of time that we have nowadays. There are several examples of alterations of the original music pieces, which is one way of keeping them alive. However, as many people assign value to these art works in their original state, it would be regrettable if they were not being performed in this way any more.But how can we avoid that, due to a lack of

correspondence to expectations of the present-day listener, concerts of historical and contemporary classical music will vanish within a few decades?Fortunately, there are many inventive musicians who try to lower the barriers to classical music. Examples include playing in public areas instead of concert halls, mixing classical music with other musical styles and combining classical music with other art disciplines and media such as moving images. The latter idea will be the basis of the research reported here.

Adding film to music seems an attractive solution because the music itself is retained while an added medium can help to sustain attention. However, there may be all sorts of side effects to the solution. For instance, the experience of the music may be distracted from or altered altogether. In order to apply the solution, more knowledge is needed about how blending music with imagery affects the original musical experience. The present study is one of the rare studies into the subject. Because there is hardly any research on it, the scope of the study is broadened somewhat to include other forms of music than classical alone. The aim of this study is to provide more insight in the added value of film to the experience of music.

One of most striking and valued experiences that are part of the enjoyment of music is having chills. These small bumps that raise the hair on your skin are often experienced as an intrinsically pleasant feeling. Music is one of most generally mentioned generators of

aesthetic chills, but media such as films are often capable of eliciting chills as well.

Combining the two could result in an intensifying of the chill experience. But the combination may also work out differently on the original music-produced aesthetic chills. Therefore, the

research question of this study is: To what extent does the addition of film imagery influence chill experiences in response to music?

Theory

Aesthetic chills

Emotional reactions evoked by an aesthetic experience are often accompanied by an increase in physiological emotional reactions (e.g. Grewe, Nagel, Kopiez & Altenmüller, 2007b; Oliver, Hartmann & Woolley, 2012; Rickard, 2004; Sloboda, 1991).Examples of these aesthetic physiological reactions are shivers (down the spine), tears, lump in the throat/feel like crying, and chills/goose bumps. According to Panksepp (1995), chills offer useful indications of individual emotional peaks. He was one of the first and most important researchers who examined the chill phenomenon as an aesthetic experience. He conducted several studies in which he examined what was the best way to describe chills and how this physiological reaction is experienced in general. He concluded that chills could be described as ‘a shivery, gooseflesh type of skin sensation’ (Panksepp, 1995, p.171) and that people experience chills not at one specific spot in the body. Head, arms, back, chest and all over

the body were mentioned as body parts where chills were often experienced. Like Panksepp

(1995), most researchers who studied the aesthetic chills phenomenon used music as a generator. In this theory section, an overview of the existing literature discussing aesthetic chills evoked by music will be provided.

In recent years, researchers of different disciplines have been triggered by the chills phenomenon. Neuro-cognitive research showed that the dopamine production in the brain increases when people experience aesthetic chills, which can be compared to the dopamine increase people get from food intake or having sex. Hence, it appears that chills is a

Kopiez & Grewe, 2013; Blood & Zatorre, 2001; Koelsch, 2010; Menon & Levitin, 2005; Peretz, 2009; Salimpoor, Benovoy, Larcher, Dagher & Zatorre, 2011; Salimpoor, Benovoy, Longo, Cooperstock & Zatorre, 2009; Trost, Ethofer, Zentner, & Vuilleumier, 2012). From a musicology perspective, expectations play an important role in intense emotional reactions to music. Unexpected harmonies and sudden dynamic or textural changes seemed successful generators of chills (Grewe, Nagel, Kopiez & Altenmüller, 2007a;Grewe, Nagel, Kopiez & Altenmüller, 2007b; Huron, 2006; Nagel, Kopiez, Grewe, Altenmüller, 2008; Sloboda, 1991). Moreover, familiarity matters as these musical phrases often fail to evoke emotional

reactions for people of non-western societies (e.g. Huron, 2006). In addition, the emotional reaction can become stronger when people listen to a specific piece more frequently (Huron, 2006; Panksepp, 1995; Pereira et al., 2011). A last important and maybe straightforward -finding is that appreciation of the music is a prerequisite for aesthetic chills (Panksepp, 1995; Pereira et al., 2011). Hence, chills seem to depend on some appreciation that needs

knowledge, familiarity or training.

Aesthetic chills and physiology

Although it is assumed that chills are the result of intense positive emotional reactions, measuring this phenomenon remains an interesting and challenging issue. Just as the study of Panksepp (1995), many other studies based their results on self-reports (e.g. McCrae, 2007; Nusbaum & Silvia, 2011; Oliver, Hartmann & Woolley, 2012; Sloboda, 1991), but it is difficult to assess the veracity of this method. In line with the objective evidence of neuro-cognitive scientists, several psychologists tried to measure chills in a more objective manner. Especially the chills phenomenon appeared to be a useful parameter for emotion research, as they seem to involve physiological as well as subjective feeling aspects of emotion (Grewe, Kopiez & Altenmüller, 2009). As chills is a physiological reaction, physiological measures were used to examine this phenomenon, such as skin conductance response, skin temperature, heart rate and respiration. Skin Conductance was most often reported as being

a successful indicator of chills, as increases in the moisture level of the skin was significantly related to chill sections (Craig, 2005; Grewe, Kopiez & Altenmüller, 2009; Rickard, 2004; Salimpoor, Benovoy, Larcher, Dagher & Zatorre, 2011). However, Blood and Zatorre (2001) did not find a significant relationship.Concerning skin temperature, results are mixed. Some results revealed a significant decrease in skin temperature during chill episodes (Salimpoor, Benovoy, Larcher, Dagher & Zatorre, 2011; Salimpoor, Benovoy, Longo, Cooperstock & Zatorre, 2009), while other results did not show a significant correlation (Blood & Zatorre, 2001; Rickard, 2004). Furthermore, it seemed that chills was associated with increases in Heart Rate (Blood & Zatorre, 2001; Grewe, Kopiez & Altenmüller, 2009; Salimpoor, Benovoy, Larcher, Dagher & Zatorre, 2011; Salimpoor, Benovoy, Longo, Cooperstock & Zatorre, 2009). However, there was one exception, as Rickard (2004) did not find this increase. Finally, some authors found that Respiration Rate increased when chills were reported (Blood & Zatorre, 2001; Salimpoor, Benovoy, Longo, Cooperstock & Zatorre, 2009). In line with Rickard (2004) this study has opted for a combination of physiological measurements combined with self-reports, based on the assumption that chills thus measured are the most reliable indicator of positive emotional peaks. However, this assumption is open to test.

RQ1: Can chills be reliably established subjectively and physiologically (i.e. Skin

Conductance?

A combination of the most current physiological measurements was selected, namely Skin Conductance and Heart Rate. Due to the scope of this study, only Skin Conductance is incorporated in the results.

Aesthetic chills and other emotions

Although the explicit relationship between aesthetic chills and accompanied emotions has received limited attention to date, it seems that sadness plays an important role in the chill experience (Hanich, Wagner, Shah, Jacobsen & Menninghaus, 2014). Concerning the art of music, Eerola and Vuoskoski (2011) found that beauty ratings and sadness were strongly related among participants who evaluated film music excerpts in terms of perceived

emotions, preference and beauty. In contrast, this relation was not present between beauty ratings and happiness.This is in line with the results of Panksepp (1995), who studied the emotional basis of chills and the kinds of music that were best able to elicit chills. He stipulated that the two emotions that had the highest relationship with the number of chills were sad/melancholy and thoughtful/nostalgic. In addition, although the participants reported both happy and sad music as causes of chills, sad music seemed to be more capable of evoking chills.

As sadness is a negative emotion in terms of valence and aesthetic experiences are associated with enjoyment and pleasure, this seems to be a contradiction. However, it appears that most people do not consider the experience of sadness evoked by aesthetic objects in a negative way. Instead, this feeling of sadness is often combined with for example melancholic feelings (Panksepp, 1995) and meaningfulness or contemplation about life, which are in turn positively appreciated (Oliver & Bartsch, 2010; Oliver, Limparos, Tamul & Woolley, 2009). Recently, several researchers found evidence for another emotion that seems to be related to aesthetic experiences, which is ‘being moved’ (Hanich, Wagner, Shah, Jacobsen & Menninghaus, 2014) or ‘feeling touched’ (Silvia & Nusbaum, 2011). Hanich et al. (2014) argue that the correlation between sadness and enjoyment is almost fully mediated by the feeling of being moved. Based on a study of Tokaji (2003), the authors assume that being moved is a complex emotional state in which more emotions – and even opposing emotions such as joy and sadness – can be involved simultaneously. This feeling

can be described as a mixed emotional state. In this way, cognitive components such as meaningfulness are no prerequisites when it comes to enjoyment of sad entertainment. Therefore, in this study chills is considered as an intense emotional reaction, which is a result of the appreciation of being moved, caused by an aesthetic stimulus.

Aesthetic chills evoked by music and film

Continuing on aesthetic experiences such as being moved, it appears that these experiences mainly occur from a witness position (Tan, 2009; Tokaji, 2003). It is not the direct experience of sadness by the individual himself that is appreciated. Research on emotion has shown that sadness is a response to a personal loss (e.g. Frijda, 1986). Sadness provoked by aesthetic stimuli is indirect; such stimuli make subjects witness or share a sad experience expressed by them. Therefore, media such as sad films and other aesthetic stimuli such as paintings, dance performances or music are successful triggers of aesthetic experiences. Several studies included an investigation about what were most frequent generators of the specific aesthetic experience of chills. Results revealed that music was the most successful trigger. In the study of Goldstein (1980), musical passages was mentioned by 96% of the participants as a frequent cause of chills. In line with this finding, Silvia and Nusbaum (2011) stipulated that music was the domain of arts that evokes aesthetic experiences such as chills most frequently in daily life. Hence, it is not surprising that most studies that focus on

aesthetic chills chose music as generator for their experiments. In fact, of all art disciplines, music is the one that has an important aspect in common with emotions, namely its time-based or dynamic nature. However, it appeared that a scene in a movie, play, ballet or book was a frequent trigger of chills as well, as this was mentioned by 92% of the participants in the study of Goldstein (1980). Moreover, results of Silvia and Nusbaum (2011) showed that

motion picture media (film, television) was the second domain that elicited chills relatively

frequently. Both domains accounted for around 64% of reported chill experiences in their sample. Hence, although music seems to be the most powerful trigger of chills, the capability

of film to elicit chills should not be overlooked. It is assumed that when combining the two in a way that they match each other, chills that would have been induced by the individual generators are maintained. Then, the combination might result in a cumulative and intensifying effect, which is described in the following hypotheses:

H1a: When music is presented in combination with film, the amount of chill experiences will

be higher than when only music is presented.

H1b: When music is presented in combination with film, the intensity of chill experiences

(i.e. SCR) will be higher than when only music is presented.

Literature is scarce on which specific aspect in films elicits chill experiences in the

participants. An important feature of film is the plot or narrative. Rickard (2004) examined whether music that elicited intense emotions, produced higher levels in physiological measurements than less emotionally powerful music or an emotionally powerful film scene without music. Results revealed that the emotionally powerful music elicited significantly more chills and increases in skin conductance than the other treatments. However, the emotionally powerful film scene elicited more chills and physiological reactions compared to the less emotionally powerful treatments. This indicates that the plot might play an essential role in the aesthetic experience, which is in line with the findings of Oliver, Hartmann and Woolley (2012). Their results showed that people experienced both physiological responses like chills and mixed affective reactions during films in which ‘meaningfulness’ (e.g. moral virtues) was represented. Hence, the next hypothesis states that:

H2: Music combined with narrative imagery will result in more intense chills (i.e. SCR)

Aesthetic chills, familiarity and individual differences

In existing literature, individual differences in chill experiences received less attention

(McCrae, 2007; Nusbaum & Silvia, 2011; Silvia & Nusbaum, 2011) than their generality as a response, even if inter-person variability has been shown to hinder the search for

physiological markers of aesthetic chills (Grewe, Kopiez & Altenmüller, 2009). Concerning gender, results are mixed. Panksepp (1995) concluded that women experienced more chills than men. However, gender differences in chill experiences were not present in other studies (Rickard, 2004; Grewe, Nagel, Kopiez & Altenmüller, 2009; Grewe, Kopiez & Altenmüller, 2009). Musical expertise was presumed to play a role in the experience of chills as well. In every but one study (Grewe, Kopiez & Altenmüller, 2009), researchers did in fact find that musical education and/or experience with music was able to predict chills (Grewe, Nagel, Kopiez & Altenmüller, 2007b; Grewe, Nagel, Kopiez & Altenmüller, 2005; Goldstein, 1980; Silvia & Nusbaum, 2011). This corresponds to the results of Panksepp (1995), which show that most chills are experienced among people who are familiar with the music. It can be argued that persons with extensive musical training, that is musical experts or musicians, are familiar with music overall in comparison with untrained persons. An important assumption here is that musicians are familiar with a broader range of music genres, including less popular or culturally dominant forms. Therefore, it is assumed that:

H3a: The number of chills in both Stimulus conditions (music versus music with film) will be

higher for musicians than for non-musicians.

H3b: The intensity of chills in both Stimulus conditions (music versus music with film) will

be higher for musicians than for non-musicians.

Several researchers focussed on personality traits and found that Openness to Experience was the strongest predictor of chills (McCrae, 2007; Nusbaum & Silvia, 2011; Silvia & Nusbaum, 2011). People with a high score on this trait have a rich fantasy, are highly

imaginative and appreciative of aesthetics, and are sensitive to emotions. Another

personality trait that might influence aesthetic chills evoked by music and film is Empathy. Results indicate that level of empathy plays a role in the enjoyment of sad music (Vuoskoski, Thompson, McIlwain & Eerola, 2012) and that this level contributes to the enjoyment of films as well (De Wied, Zillmann & Ordman, 1994). Although this explicit relationship has not been studied yet, it could be that the level of empathy is able to predict aesthetic chills as well. Taken together, the literature points at the potential for the prediction of chills the use of familiarity related subjects, the trait of openness to experience and of empathy as a stable person characteristic.For this study, an experiment will be conducted, while mentioned prominent individual differences concerning chill experiences will be taken into account. Because a random sample - not stratified to Openness to Experience or Empathy - is used for this study, the following explorative research questions are posed:

RQ2: To what extent does the personality trait Openness to Experience influence chill

experiences?

RQ3: To what extent does the personality trait Empathy influence chill experiences?

Methods

Participants

66 participants were tested (19 males, 47 females, mean age = 22.52, SD = 3.17, range = 18-32). 50% of the participants (7 males, 26 females) were communication science students of the University of Amsterdam, who received research credits for their participation. They could register via the LAB website1 of the psychology and communication science

department of the UvA. The other 50% (12 males, 21 females) consisted of music students or professional musicians, recruited through the researcher’s personal network. They

                                                                                                               

received a financial compensation for participating in the experiment. The study had been approved by the Ethical Research Committee of the Department of Communication at UvA.

Research Design

In this experiment, chill experiences among young adults were compared while being exposed to experimental stimuli of two materials. The study has a 2x2x2 design with Stimuli and Materials as within-subjects factors and Expertise as between-subjects factor.

Dependent variable was Chill experiences, while Stimuli (music versus music and film), Materials (Circle of Life from the Lion King versus the Theme of Schindler’s List) and Expertise (musicians versus non-musicians) were the independent variables. During the experiment, participants were randomly exposed to one of the two stimuli and to one of the two materials, as shown in Table 1. Participants were exposed to the experimental stimuli shown in the upper part of the table or to the experimental stimuli shown in the lower part of the table. Factors were not fully crossed, due to the forbidding costs of introducing another

between-subjects factor.

Table 1. Research Design

Materials

Schindler’s List Lion King

Stimuli

Musicians

Music Music with film

Music with film Music

Non-musicians

Music Music with film

Experimental stimuli

The musical stimuli were selected to obtain a maximum number of chills. The two pieces were The Theme of Schindler’s List2 _{(3:35) and Circle of Life from the Lion King}3 _(3:47). Apart from the first prerequisite, selection was based on previously mentioned research. First, the music had to be used in a film, as the additional value of film to the original music was tested. Second, well-known pieces were selected because research has shown that familiarity matters. Questions concerning familiarity controlled for this aspect.Third, the music had to be appreciated by the participants. Certainty concerning this aspect was not guaranteed in advance, but it was assumed that the participants liked the selected pieces. This assumption was checked for in the questionnaire. Fourth, as sad or melancholic music is more capable of evoking chills, the stimuli should not be cheerful or upbeat. The music of Schindler’s List is clearly tragic as the piece is written in a minor key and the tempo indication is ‘slowly’. The Circle of Life has some sadness in it, but contains hope at the same time. This could evoke the earlier mentioned mixed emotional states in the participants, which is related to the ‘being moved’ feeling. Moreover, the theme of this song - continuity of life - corresponds with meaningfulness and contemplation about life, which can contribute to the aesthetic appreciation as well. Finally, the music had to contain particular sequences, such as unexpected harmonic changes or sudden dynamic or textural changes. These kinds of sequences are present in both pieces, as they both have a modulation, soft and loud passages and different atmospheres created by varying (combinations of) instruments.

Apparatus

Presentation

Music was presented via noise cancelling headphones (Sennheiser PXC450 NoiseGard) on a regular volume level. Film was presented through the computer on a 22-inch, wide-screen

                                                                                                               

2

 

_{http://www.youtube.cm/watch?v=fH8kPaqeiA4}

 

3

 

_{http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwSKkKrUzUk}

 

LCD monitor with a HDCP (High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection) supported function, with a resolution of 1680 x 1050 pixels (ASUS VW222U).Experimental stimuli were

presented using Presentation (Neurobehavioral Systems, version 17.0).

Physiological measurements

Biophysical responses were recorded through an amplifier developed by the technical support group of the UvA psychology department. For skin conductance the amplifier uses a 50Hz, sine-shaped excitation voltage with an amplitude of 1Vpp. A pair of curved Ag/AgCl electrodes (20 x 16 mm) were connected to the medial phalanxes of the index and ring finger of the non-dominant hand (see Appendix B). Signals were sampled with Vrssp98 version 8.5 software (developed by UvA's technical support department) and a NI-6224 A/D converter with a sample speed of 1000S/s.

Self-reports of chills

Participants were asked to press the chill-button - especially designed for this study - whenever they experienced a chill (see Appendix A). They could hold this button in their dominant hand (without electrodes) during the experiment, while laying the hand on their leg or on the armrest of the chair. A button was considered as an appropriate tool to indicate perceived chills during exposure, as research showed that the mere pressing of a button did not lead to strong and interfering physiological reactions (Grewe, Nagel, Kopiez &

Altenmüller, 2007b; Grewe, Nagel, Kopiez & Altenmüller, 2005).

Self-report measures

Three questionnaires were used in the experiment, two evaluating questionnaires presented after each of the two fragments and one general questionnaire at the end. All questionnaires appeared on screen and were filled in using a keyboard and mouse. In the evaluating

questionnaires, participants were asked to rate the fragment and to indicate their liking, experienced pleasantness of the piece and their bodily reactions they had during the fragment. Examples of questions were During the fragment, I had shivers down my spine and I enjoyed the fragment. Afterwards, questions concerning their appreciation of the fragment were asked, based on the Aesthetic Appreciation Scale of Doicaru (2014). Examples of questions were While watching this film/listening to this music I felt curious at

times and This film/music is unique. Finally, participants were asked to indicate their feelings

they had while watching or listening to the fragment, based on the UWIST Mood Adjective Checklist (Matthews, Jones & Chamberlain, 1990). Examples were happy, depressed and

calm. The general questionnaire contained questions concerning Openness to Experience,

based on McCrae and John (1992) and questions concerning trait empathy, based on the Children and Adolescent Measure of Empathy and Sympathy (Vossen, Piotrowski &

Valkenburg, 2014).Examples were, respectively, I like to hear new ideas and I can tell when

others are sad even when they do not say anything.Empathy questions were asked on a 5-point Likert scale from never to always. Apart from the rating question, all other questions were asked on a 5-point Likert scale from completely disagree to completely agree. Furthermore, familiarity with the stimulus materials were rated on a 5-point scale from

completely unfamiliar (first time I heard/saw the music/film) to very familiar. Finally,

engagement with music and film in general, music and film preferences and demographic variables (gender, age, education) were registered.

Procedure

Participants were tested individually to guarantee that the participants could concentrate on the music and their own feelings. The laboratory was set to make participants feel as relaxed as possible in order to facilitate chill experiences. Participants sat in a comfortable armchair (see Appendix C) in a dimly lighted room with closed and covered windows. They were seated with the face at 1.5 meters from the screen. After informed consent was obtained, the

experiment was explained in a standardized manner during the placing of the electrodes. Before the experiment began, participants read a magazine for five minutes in order to relax and get used to the setting. After finishing reading, instructions about the chill-button and the definition of chills for this experiment were provided by the researcher. Chills were defined as having a goose-bumps reaction or experiencing shivers (down the spine or in general), based on the method section of Panksepp (1995) and Grewe, Kopiez and Altenmüller (2009). It was emphasized that they had to press the button only when they experienced a chill while being exposed to the experimental stimuli. Then, participants put on the

headphones and a one-minute physiological baseline was taken in which participants sat in a comfortable manner in their armchair. Afterwards, the experiment started in which the

participants were asked to press the chill-button whenever they experienced a chill. During the experiment, participants were exposed to one of the two stimuli and to one of the two materials. Order of both Stimuli and Materials were randomized, which resulted in four experimental conditions: (1) Schindler’s List music + Lion King music with film; (2) Lion King music with film + Schindler’s List music; (3) Schindler’s List music with film + Lion King music; (4) Lion King music + Schindler’s List music with film.

Immediately after each fragment, experience self-report measures were taken, while

participants filled in the remaining general questions after the presentation of both fragments. At the end of the experiment, participants were exposed to three pictures of the International Affective Picture System (IAPS) (Lang, Bradley & Cuthbert, 2005) during eight seconds with intervals of fifteen seconds, in order to control for their susceptibility to the impact of images. Used IAPS-pictures were in fixed order: a basket (neutral, IAPS 7010), a victim of an

accident (unpleasant, IAPS 3100) and a chocolate sauce-covered ice cream (pleasant, IAPS 7330). The duration of the experiment was approximately one hour and fifteen minutes.

Results

Frequency and intensity of chills

The first research question was whether chills could be reliably established both subjectively and physiologically. The number of self-reported and thus subjective chills showed that several participants experienced chills while being exposed to the experimental stimuli. During the experiment, 40 out of 66 (61%) participants reported at least one chill (39% in the music condition and 47% in the music with film condition). The chills reported by the button-press were checked for in the self-report measures. Results showed that there was a significant, strong positive correlation between participants’ button-press chills and their self-report measures of chills, r = .64, p < .001. The self-reported number of chills corresponds to the study of Grewe, Kopiez and Altenmüller (2009), which was used as a guideline for this experiment (Panksepp (1995) did not report about frequency of chills). They found that about 66% of their participants experienced at least one chill. It should be noted that these authors used five music pieces, which were all classical music, instead of two music pieces of which one was pop music and one classical. Moreover, they did not present film during the music. Thus, there were several limits concerning the comparability of both experiments. However, taken together, frequencies of chill experiences seemed to conform to the observations of Grewe, Kopiez and Altenmüller (2009).On average, each participant experienced 2.03 chills (SD = 2.57) during the experiment. In total, 134 chills were collected (59 chills in the music condition and 75 in the music with film condition). The maximum of reported chills by a single participant was 12 for the whole experiment, but the median was only 1 (upper quartile 3, lower quartile 0). Furthermore, there was no significant gender difference concerning the frequency of chills as on average, women experienced 2.11 chills (SD = 2.52), while men experienced 1.84 chills (SD = 2.75), t(64) = -0.38, p = .355, 95% CI [-1.67, 1.14].

Physiological establishment of chills was measured by skin conductance response (SCR). In fact, when subjective chills are supported by increases in SCR, this contributes to the

objective establishment of the chill experiences. For each chill, the corresponding events in SCR were cut out in 20-second windows, starting 10 seconds before and ending 10 seconds after chill onset. Before starting analysing, most intense chill experience (containing the maximum SCR) for each participant was selected and baseline-SCR was deducted from chill-SCR. Only participants who experienced at least one chill were included in the analysis. SCR showed on average an increase starting 2 seconds before the chill was reported by a button-press, which reached its maximum at 4 seconds after the button-press, as shown in

Figure 1. This corresponds to the results of Grewe, Kopiez and Altenmüller (2009).

Therefore, means of SCR starting 2 seconds before and means 4 seconds after the reported chill were compared in the analysis. A paired-samples t-test showed that the subjective chills were accompanied by increases in SCR, t(39) = -8.71, p < .001, 95% CI [-1.46, -0.91], as SCR 4 seconds after the chill was higher (M = 2.16, SD = 2.16) than 2 seconds before the chill-onset (M = 0.97, SD = 1.87). Concerning the analysis, it should be noted that data were not normally distributed. Comparable results were found for the individual Stimuli (only music and music combined with film). In conclusion, the first hypothesis is confirmed.

Figure 1. Time window for the measurement of SCR chill intensity. Y-axis represents mean Skin Conductance Level after baseline-deduction.

0" 0,5" 1" 1,5" 2" 2,5" 1" 2" 3" 4" 5" 6" 7" 8" 9" 10" 11" 12" 13" 14" 15" 16" 17" 18" 19" 20" Me an %S CL %)% ba se lin e% Seconds%

A check was carried out of the assumption that chills are associated with experiences of being moved and appreciation. Results showed that there was a significant, moderately strong positive correlation between being moved and number of chill experiences, r = .38, p = .001. In the same way, there appeared to be a significant, moderately strong positive correlation between appreciation of the fragment and the number of chill experiences, r = .31, p = .010. This indicates that the more chills one experiences, the more one is moved and the more one appreciates the fragment.

Furthermore, there appeared to be only a significant, weak positive correlation between being moved and intensity of chills, r = .28, p = .042. Results showed no significant

correlation between appreciation and the intensity of chills, r = .012, p = .470. This suggests that if one experiences more intense chills, one is marginally more deeply moved, while appreciation is kept consistent. It should be noted that concerning the intensity of chills, only participants who experienced at least one chill were included in the analysis (n = 40).

Finally, there was only a significant, weak positive correlation between being moved and appreciation of this emotional reaction, r = .23, p = .033. However, it appeared that there was significant, moderately strong positive correlation between being moved and appreciation of the fragment, r = .42, p < .001. This indicates that being moved is slightly accompanied by appreciation of this emotion and that the more one is moved, the more one appreciates the fragment.

Chill experiences during music versus music with film

Chill frequency

Hypothesis 1a predicted that the number of chill experiences would be higher when music is presented in combination with film than when only music is presented. Results showed that on average, participants seemed to experience more chills in the music with film condition (M

= 1.14, SD = 1.78), than in the music condition (M = 0.89, SD = 1.43). However, this

difference was not significant, t(65) = -1.01, p = .158, 95% CI [-0.72, 0.24]. It should be noted that data were not normally distributed.

Concerning Materials, means of the Schindler’s List music and film condition versus

Schindler’s List music condition, t(64) = -1.18, p = .121, 95% CI [-0.90, 0.23] seemed to show greater differences than means of the Lion King music and film condition versus the Lion King music condition, t(64) = -0.31, p = .378, 95% CI [-1.12, 0.81], as shown in Table 2. However, both differences were not significant. It should be noted that data were not normally distributed. Summarizing, this hypothesis cannot be confirmed.

Chill intensity

Hypothesis 1b predicted that the intensity of chill experiences would be higher when music is presented in combination with film than when only music is presented. Because factors were not fully crossed in the experiment, it was only possible to analyse main effects for both materials separately. For the Lion King, the mean SCR for the music with film condition looked apparently higher (M = 2.48, SD = 1.61) than that for the music condition (M = 2.05,

SD = 1.63). However, an independent-samples t-test showed that this difference was not

significant, t(30) = -0.74, p = .232, 95% CI [-1.60, 0.75]. For Schindler’s List, the mean SCR was not higher in the music with film condition (M = 1.75, SD = 1.64) than in the music condition (M = 1.84, SD = 1.47), t(23) = 0.14, p = .444, 95% CI [-1.27, 1.46]. For both tests, data were not normally distributed and n < 30. Results for both materials are summarized in

Figure 2. Despite a small difference, means even seem to point in the opposite direction.

Figure 2. Distribution of chill intensity across Stimuli and Materials. Y-axis represents mean Skin Conductance Level after baseline-deduction.

Narrative versus associative imagery

The fourth hypothesis stated that music combined with narrative imagery would result in more intense chills than music combined with associative imagery. In this experiment, the Lion King stimulus represented the narrative imagery, as a scene of the movie was

presented during the music. Associative images were present in the Schindler’s List stimulus, as a compilation of images from the movie was presented during the music. Most intense chill experience (containing the maximum SCR-score) for each participant during the music with film condition was selected and SCR-baseline was deducted from SCR. Means of 2 seconds before, up to and including 4 seconds after the chill were computed. Results showed that chill intensity was higher among participants exposed to Lion King (M = 2.48,

SD = 1.61) than among participants exposed to Schindler’s List (M = 1.75, SD = 1.64).

However, when tested using an independent-samples t-test, this difference was not

significant, t(29) = -1.24, p = .111, 95% CI [-1.92, 0.47]. It should be noted that data were not normally distributed and n < 30. In conclusion, the fourth hypothesis cannot be confirmed.

0" 0,5" 1" 1,5" 2" 2,5" 3" Music" Music"with"film" Me an %S CL %)% ba se lin e% Schindler's"List" Lion"King"

Music expertise

Chill frequency

The fifth hypothesis concerned music expertise. First, it was predicted that musicians would experience more chills than non-musicians. In this experiment, the music students or professionals were considered as musicians and communication science students represented the non-musicians. A question in the self-report measures controlled for this aspect and showed no overlap, i.e. there were no communication scientists who were musician as well.

It appeared that musicians experienced hardly more chills (M = 2.06, SD = 2.91) than non-musicians (M = 2.00, SD = 2.22). An independent-samples t-test showed that the difference was not significant, t(64) = 0.10, p = .463, 95% CI [-1.21, 1.34]. It should be noted that data were not normally distributed.

Concerning Stimuli (music versus music and film), the number of chills for musicians did not increase significantly more than the number for non-musicians when film was presented in combination with music. However, when comparing Materials, it appeared that there was a difference between the groups concerning Schindler’s List. As shown in Table 2, the difference between the number of chills of the only music condition and the music with film condition was larger for non-musicians than for musicians. For non-musicians, this difference was marginally significant, t(29.66) = -1.53, p = .068, 95% CI [-1.05, 0.15], while for

musicians, there was no significant effect, t(31) = -0.50, p = .312, 95% CI [-1.22, 0.74]. It should be noted that for non-musicians, the assumption of equal variances in the population was violated, Levene's F(1, 31)= 5.78, p = .022. Furthermore, for both tests, data were not normally distributed and n < 30. In conclusion, this hypothesis is not confirmed.

Table 2. Descriptive statistics for number of chills

Schindler’s List Lion King Total

Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD

Music

Musicians 0.82 1.43 1.06 1.61 0.94 1.52 Non-musicians 0.38 0.72 1.29 1.69 0.84 1.21 Total 0.60 1.08 1.18 1.65 0.89 1.37

Music

with

film

Musicians 1.06 1.34 1.18 2.13 1.12 1.74 Non-musicians 0.82 0.95 1.50 2.42 1.16 1.69 Total 0.94 1.15 1.34 2.28 1.14 1.72 Total 0.78 1.12 1.26 1.97 1.02 1.55

Although the design of this study did not allow comparing means across Stimuli and Materials, it was possible to compare differences in the number of chill experiences across the experimental conditions, that is Schindler’s List music + Lion King music with film (version 1) and Schindler’s List music with film + Lion King music (version 2). Results showed that participants who were exposed to version 1 experienced slightly more chills (M = 2.12, SD = 2.30) than participants exposed to version 2 (M = 1.94, SD = 2.85). Musicians and non-musicians appeared to have a comparable number of chill experiences. In version 1, musicians experienced on average 2.00 chills (SD = 3.24), while non-musicians

experienced 1.88 chills (SD = 2.47). In version 2, the difference between musicians (M = 2.13, SD = 2.63) and non-musicians (M = 2.12, SD = 2.03) even seemed to be vanished.

A two-factor analysis of variance was carried out to assess the influence of Experimental condition (version 1/version 2) and Expertise (musicians/non-musicians) on the number of chill experiences. Nor Experimental condition F(1,62) = 0.08, p = .778, nor Expertise, F(1,62) = 0.01, p = .919, had a significant influence on the number of chill experiences. There

appeared to be no significant interaction effect between Experimental condition and Expertise either, F(1,62) = 0.01, p = .928.

Chill intensity

Second, it was predicted that musicians would experience more intense chills. For all tests concerning this hypothesis, it should be noted that data were not normally distributed and n < 30. Musicians experienced - although non-significant - slightly more intense chills (M = 2.18,

SD = 1.39) than non-musicians (M = 1.95, SD = 1.59). This difference was not significant, t(38) = 0.49, p = .314, 95% CI [-0.72, 1.19]. Concerning Stimuli, there were no significant

differences in chill intensity between musicians and non-musicians.

Finally, differences in chill intensity concerning materials were analysed. It appeared that, although not significant, for Lion King there seemed to be some remarkable differences when comparing musicians with non-musicians. For musicians, chill-intensity slightly decreased when film was added to music (M = 2.08, SD = 1.25) compared to when only music was presented (M = 2.29, SD = 1.63), t(15) = 0.30, p = .384, 95% CI [-1.28, 1.70], while for non-musicians, chills became more intense when film was added to music (M = 3.06, SD = 2.01) compared to when only music was presented (M = 1.83, SD = 1.70), t(13) = -1.28, p = .112, 95% CI [-3.31, 0.85]. For Schindler’s List these differences were smaller, but seemed to point in the same direction. Although non-significant, this indicates that there was an interaction effect between musicians and non-musicians. Means of Stimuli independent of Materials are presented in Figure 3. Chill-intensity for musicians seemed to be higher when only music

was presented, while chill-intensity for non-musicians seemed to be higher when music was presented in combination with film. In conclusion, this hypothesis cannot be confirmed.

Figure 3. Distribution of chill intensity across Stimuli and Expertise. Y-axis represents mean Skin Conductance Level after baseline-deduction.

The same comparison of differences between Experimental condition and Expertise as for number of chills was carried out for chill intensity. It appeared that participants exposed to version 2 experienced more intense chills (M = 2.89, SD = 2.60) than participants exposed to version 1 (M = 1.53, SD = 3.19). In both Experimental conditions, musicians seemed to experience more intense chills than non-musicians. In version 1, musicians experienced chills with an intensity of on average 2.21 (SD = 3.30), while the intensity of non-musicians was 0.79 (SD = 3.08). In version 2, this difference was still present but smaller. On average, musicians had an intensity of 3.77 (SD = 3.06), while the intensity of non-musicians was 2.09 (SD = 1.90).

A two-factor analysis of variance was carried out to assess the influence of Experimental condition and Expertise on the intensity of chill experiences. Nor Experimental condition

F(1,36) = 2.51, p = .122, nor Expertise, F(1,36) = 2.92, p = .096, had a significant influence

0" 0,5" 1" 1,5" 2" 2,5" Music" Music"with"film" Me an %S CL %)% ba se lin e% Musicians" Non6musicians"

on the intensity of chill experiences. There appeared to be no significant interaction effect between Experimental condition and Expertise either, F(1,62) = 0.02, p = .888.

 

 

Individual differences

According to existing literature, familiarity played an important role in chill experiences. In this experiment, musicians were considered as people high in familiarity with several musical styles. However, a check was carried out of the assumption that musicians were more familiar with the materials used in this study. Descriptive statistics of familiarity with the experimental stimuli are shown in Table 2. Results showed that musicians were significantly more familiar with the music of Schindler’s List than non-musicians, F(1,65) = 51.18, p < .001. Musicians were more familiar with the film of Schindler’s List as well, F(1,65) = 7.50, p = .008. In contrast, musicians were not more familiar with both music of the Lion King,

F(1,65) = 0.01 , p = .907, and film of the Lion King, F(1,65) = 2.07, p = .156 than

Table 3. Descriptive statistics for familiarity

Schindler’s List Lion King Total

Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD

Music

Musicians 4.33 0.89 4.36 1.08 4.35 0.99 Non-musicians 2.21 1.45 4.33 1.02 3.27 1.24 Total 3.27 1.17 4.35 1.05 3.81 1.11

Music

with

Film

Musicians 3.48 1.28 4.00 1.17 3.74 1.23 Non-musicians 2.52 1.58 4.36 0.86 3.44 1.22 Total 3.00 1.43 4.18 1.02 3.59 1.23 Total 3.14 1.30 4.27 1.04 3.71 1.17

Note: Means of familiarity were measured on a 5-point scale from completely unfamiliar to very familiar

The last two Research Questions asked whether Openness to Experience and Empathy were able to predict chill experiences. A logistic regression analysis was conducted to predict whether people experienced chills (yes/no) using Openness to Experience in the analysis as a predictor. The test of the model with Openness to Experience against a constant only model was not statistically significant,

_χ²

(1) = 0.12, p = .726. The Wald criterion

demonstrated no significant contribution of Openness to Experience to prediction (p = .728).

A second logistic regression analysis was conducted to predict whether people experienced chills using Empathy in the analysis as a predictor. The test of the model with Empathy

against a constant only model was not statistically significant either,

χ²

(1) = 2.08, p = .150. The Wald criterion demonstrated no significant contribution of Empathy to prediction (p = .157).

Conclusion and Discussion

The central question of the present study asked whether the addition of film imagery

influences chill experiences in response to music. To be able to answer this question, it was necessary to establish whether the experimental stimuli were capable of evoking chill among the participants. Results showed that 61% of the participants in fact experienced chills, which was supported by physiological measurements, i.e. increases in SCR. Apart from the study of Blood and Zatorre (2001), this was in line with existing literature (Craig, 2005; Grewe, Kopiez & Altenmüller, 2009; Rickard, 2004; Salimpoor, Benovoy, Larcher, Dagher & Zatorre, 2011) reporting physiological concomitants of chill experiences. Furthermore, there appeared to be no gender difference concerning chill experiences. Apart from the study of Panksepp (1995), other studies did not find significant effects of gender either (Rickard, 2004; Grewe, Nagel, Kopiez & Altenmüller, 2009; Grewe, Kopiez & Altenmüller, 2009). Having established that the selected materials were capable of evoking chills, the main question could be addressed.

Stimuli

Results did not show significant effects on chill experiences when film imagery was added to music. However, they represented a trend in the expected direction. First, results indicated that more participants experienced chills while being exposed to music combined with film than while only listening to music (47% versus 39%). Second, the total number of chill experiences seemed higher when music was presented in combination with film, compared to when only music was presented. As the experimental stimuli were selected to strengthen each other by using film images of the corresponding music, assumed to be familiar to the

participants, it is plausible that the combination of two stimuli capable of evoking chills (both music and film) results in an cumulative chill-effect. Further research is needed to get more insight in this possible effect of film imagery. First of all, film without music could be included to be able to measure the pure chill experiences induced by film. Furthermore, films

especially selected with a view to producing chills could boost effects of adding film to music.

Another reason why adding film did not result in great increases of chill frequency and intensity may be that music is such a potent source of chills that it leaves no room for

improvement. That music plays a key role in the chill experiences is argued in the studies of Goldstein (1980) and Silvia and Nusbaum (2011). They stipulated that music was the most mentioned trigger of aesthetic chills. Further research should determine whether music alone results in ceiling experiences of chills.

Materials

Concerning different materials, there were no significant effects on chill experiences either. However, there appeared to be some remarkable results. First, the difference in the number of chill experiences between music and music with film for Schindler’s List were more conspicuous than for Lion King. This finding indicates that the impact of the tragic images about death of Schindler’s List on the number of chill experiences was greater than the more positive and cheerful images about new life of Lion King. This is in line with previous studies, which found that sadness is the emotion that is most strongly related to aesthetic chills (Eerola & Vuoskoski, 2011; Hanich, Wagner, Shah, Jacobsen & Menninghaus, 2014; Panksepp, 1995). This sadness, which is often combined with meaningfulness and

contemplation about life, might be a more successful trigger of aesthetic chills than the more positive Lion King images. Building on results of Hanich et al. (2014), an explanation could be that people are more deeply moved by the Schindler’s List images and as a result both the enjoyment increases as well as their accompanying physiological emotional reactions.

However, it should be noted that for Schindler’s List, intensity of chills was not higher when film was added to the music.

One explanation for lack of chill intensity in Schindler’s List music with film condition might be that there was no narrative in the imagery. Narrative imagery could have caused more movement in the participants, as although not significant, it appeared that imagery of Lion King evoked more intense chills than imagery of Schindler’s List. This corresponds to the results of Rickard (2004) and Oliver, Hartmann and Woolley (2012). They stipulated respectively that an emotionally powerful film scene (without music) and a film containing meaningfulness were capable of evoking aesthetic chills.The combination of music with narrative imagery could result in higher involvement of the participants, who experience more intense chills as a result. To get more insight in the direct effect of the plot on chill

experiences, future research could use associative versus narrative imagery without music or use the same music when presenting different imageries.

Other explanations could be the other musical style (pop music instead of classical music) and familiarity, as people were significantly more familiar with the film Lion King than with the film Schindler’s List. Namely, familiarity appeared to be an important factor according to previous studies (e.g. Panksepp, 1995; Grewe, Kopiez & Altenmüller, 2009). This might indicate that familiarity with the materials is more important than the contribution of film regarding the intensity of chills. Future research could concentrate on music that is

previously tested to be familiar to the participants. Obviously, any difference between the two materials may explain observed moderate differences in chill effects. In principle, only

materials that differ on just one content dimension could be used to assess the influence of materials. This would require the production of experimental that is artificial materials, which has the disadvantage of being unnatural.

Music expertise

The design of this study allowed making one other comparison, which was the one between musicians and non-musicians. It appeared that across Stimuli and Materials, musicians did not experience more chills than non-musicians, which was in contrast to expectations. However, this finding was in line with Grewe, Kopiez and Altenmüller (2009) who failed to observe expected differences between groups differing as to level of musical training. Basis of the assumed difference between musicians and non-musicians in the present study was the familiarity hypothesis of Panksepp (1995). Whereas results of Grewe, Kopiez and Altenmüller (2009) showed no influence of musical education, they stipulated that familiarity with the music was able to predict chill experiences. When comparing materials, results of the present study showed a trend in the same direction, as illustrated in the next paragraph.

Musicians were significantly more familiar with the (classical) music of Schindler’s List than non-musicians. This could be the reason for a seemingly higher number of chills among musicians while listening to this music. In contrast, musicians were not more familiar with music of the Lion King than non-musicians. This might be the cause of comparable amounts of chills for musicians and non-musicians while listening to this music. This would mean that musicians are not more familiar with any type of music than untrained persons, as was assumed a priori.

The findings in the comparison of chill intensity between musicians and non-musicians illustrate that music expertise is able to influence the intensity to some extent. Although not significant, results showed that musicians seemed to experience more intense chills than non-musicians. This trend towards a difference in intensity was mainly present and

marginally significant in the only music condition. In contrast, in the music with film condition this difference was even smaller, which indicates that the adding of film might contribute to the intensity of chill experiences for non-musicians. Taken together, when non-significant

results are taken seriously, results suggest that when people are unfamiliar with the music, the addition of film might contribute to both the number and the intensity of chill experiences.

Furthermore, it appeared that for both materials there was a trend for the intensity of chills for non-musicians to be higher than the one for musicians when music was presented in

combination with film. When confirmed in a new experiment this would indicate that

musicians mainly focus on the music while film does not add much to their original feelings induced by the music. In contrast, the addition of film would matter much more to the experience of chills for non-musicians. Especially communication scientists who may be more focussed on media could be sensitive to this added factor.

Individual differences

As illustrated above, it seemed that familiarity played an important role in chill experiences. Furthermore, results of this study did not show significant effects of Openness to Experience, which was in contrast to results of McCrae (2007), Nusbaum and Silvia (2011), and Silvia and Nusbaum (2011). Empathy was not able to predict chills either. Although the explicit relationship between Empathy and aesthetic chills was not studied to date, this result was not in line with studies of Vuoskoski, Thompson, McIlwain and Eerola (2012) and De Wied, Zillmann and Ordman (1994). These lacks of effects could be explained by the small sample size and the fact that the sample was not stratified to both variables. Larger sample sizes might provide more insight in the possible relationship between these two factors and aesthetic chill experiences.

Limitations

As to Materials, the number of different music materials was extremely limited. On the one hand fragments could have been selected that caused more chills. This would have reduced the number of chills added by film even more. On the other hand less potent music

fragments could have allowed for more film added chills. In sum, the range of chill potential was limited and has to be extended in further research.

The lack of significant results in the present study might also be explained by the large distribution of the number of chills per participant, including many participants who

experienced no chill at all. Due to limited time, it was not possible to test more participants, which might have been resulted in stronger differences. Furthermore, results of this study should be generalized with caution, as all participants were highly educated young adults and the non-musicians were communication scientists instead of random people. Because of the explorative character of the study, these relatively homogeneous groups were selected to exclude as many other possibly influencing factors as possible. Future research could

broaden its selection of participants in order to be able to generalize its results for a larger population.

Finally, the design of this experiment did not allow complete comparison of chill experiences across all independent variables that are Stimuli, Materials and Expertise. Namely,

experimental stimuli were distributed between two equal and homogeneous groups of participants. However, results showed that it was not the combination of the two out of four selected experimental stimuli that influenced differences in the number and intensity of chill experiences. Future research could provide more insight in the direct effects by using fully crossed factors.

Concluding Remarks

This study succeeded in registering a rather special and sophisticated aesthetic response that is typical for more profound emotional experiences that at least some people have when they listen to music and watch films. A consistent picture emerged of what chills really are: an intense emotional reaction that is accompanied by appreciation of the aesthetic stimulus.

Occurrence of this remarkable aesthetic response was found to be only marginally influenced by the medium, the particular materials and even expertise. Further research is needed to decide whether more sensitive designs could establish influences of these factors, or whether, alternatively, chills are rather robust and mostly bound to the person.

Returning to the practical issue that led to the study, we nevertheless leave open the possibility that combining music with images could contribute to the enjoyment or

appreciation (i.e. aesthetic chills). The present study shows trends that support the idea that for persons unfamiliar with a specific piece, adding film imagery could make that bit of difference and might lengthen the attention span of the listener. In this way, classical music created in the past, might profit from the addition of present-day created film imagery

adjusted to or inspired by this music. The classical music is kept in its original form and fits in the current society by giving it a new impulse.

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Altenmüller, E., Kopiez, R., & Grewe, O. (2013). A contribution to the evolutionary basis of music: Lessons from the chill response. In Evolution of emotional communication: From

sounds in nonhuman mammals to speech and music in man, pp. 313-338.Oxford: University Press.

Blood, A., & Zatorre, R. (2001). Intensely pleasurable responses to music correlate with activity in brain regions implicated in reward and emotion. Proceedings of the National

Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 98(20), 11818-11823.

Craig, D. G. (2005). An exploratory study of physiological changes during “chills” induced by music. Musicae Scientiae, 9, 273-287.

De Wied, M., Zillmann, D., & Ordman, V. (1994). The role of empathic distress in the enjoyment of cinematic tragedy. Poetics, 23, 91-106.

Doicaru, M. (2014). Development of a scale for aesthetic appreciation for film. Manuscript in preparation.

Eerola, T., & Vuoskoski, J. K. (2011). A comparison of the discrete and dimensional models of emotion in music. Psychology of Music, 39, 18-49.

Frijda, N. H. (1986). The emotions. Cambridge: University Press.

Goldstein, A. (1980). Thrills in response to music and other stimuli. Physiological

Grewe, O., Nagel, F., Kopiez, R. & Altenmüller, E. (2005). How does music arouse “chills”? Investigating strong emotions, combining psychological, physiological, and psychoacoustical methods. Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 1060, 446-449.

Grewe, O., Nagel, F., Kopiez, R., & Altenmüller, E. (2007a). Emotions over time:

Synchronicity and development of subjective, physiological, and facial affective reactions to music. Emotion, 7(4), 774-788.

Grewe, O., Nagel, F., Kopiez, R., & Altenmüller, E. (2007b). Listening to music as a re-creative process: Physiological, psychological, and psychoacoustical correlates of chills and strong emotions. Music Perception, 24(3), 297-314.

Grewe, O., Kopiez, R. & Altenmüller, E. (2009). The chill parameter: Goose bumps and shivers as promising measures in emotion research. Music Perception, 27(1), 61-74.

Grewe, O., Nagel, F., Kopiez, R. & Altenmüller, E. (2009). Chills as an indicator of individual emotional peaks. Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci., 1169, 351–354.

Guhn, M., Hamm, A., & Zentner, M. R. (2007). Physiological and musico-acoustic correlates of the chill response. Music Perception, 24, 473-483.

Hanich, J., Wagner, V., Shah, M., Jacobsen, T. & Menninghaus, W. (2014). Why we like to watch sad films. The pleasure of being moved in aesthetic experiences. Psychology of

Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts,8(2), 130-143.

Koelsch, S. (2010). Towards a neural basis of music-evoked emotions. Trends in Cognitive

Sciences, 14(3), 131-137.

Lang, P. J., Bradley, M. M., & Cuthbert, B. N. (2005). International affective picture system

(IAPS): Affective ratings of pictures and instruction manual. NIMH, Center for the Study of

Emotion & Attention.

Matthews, G., Jones, D. M., & Chamberlain, A. G. (1990). Refining the measurement of mood: The UWIST mood adjective checklist. British journal of psychology, 81(1), 17-42.

McCrae, R. R. (2007). Aesthetic chills as a universal marker of openness to experience.

Motiv Emot, 31, 5-11.

McCrae, R. R., & John, O. P. (1992). An introduction to the five-factor model and its applications. Journal of personality, 60(2), 175-215.

Menon, V., & Levitin, D. (2005). The rewards of music listening: response and physiological connectivity of the mesolimbic system. Neuroimage, 28(1), 175-184.

Nagel, F., Kopiez, R., Grewe, O., & Altenmüller, E. (2008). Psychoacoustical correlates of musically induced chills. Musicae Scientiae, 12(1), 101-113.

Nusbaum, E. C. & Silvia, P. J. (2011). Shivers and timbres: Personality and the experience of chills from music. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 2, 199-204.