| Home > Scholarly Contributions > Abstracts > Volume 7 Issue 1
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| Volume 7 Issue 1
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On the thread of discourse: Homogeneity, trends, and rhythms in texts.
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Robert Hogenraad & Yves Bestgen, 1989, 7:1, 1-22.
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Abstract:
The rich variety of literary material can usefully be described by quantitative content analysis. Usually, such a description proceeds by segmenting the text into large aggregates that take no account of original word order. A more fine grained analysis can be obtained by taking word order into account. The latter analysis is closer to the linear nature of the text as narrative and also closer to the true nature of language itself. PROTAN, a computer-aided content analysis system, takes care of all the operations that result in the tagging of text words into an appropriate category (here called a dictionary); meanwhile, the original sequential order of the tagged words is kept unchanged within the text. Trend analyses and time-series analyses can then be performed on the condition that pertinent categories can be shown to be non-randomly distributed throughout the text (non-homogeneity). The corpus reported upon in this article is made up of two sets of texts. The first set consists of seven reference texts -- mostly short stories -- to serve as foil for a second set of eighteen texts written and distributed by a Belgian terrorist group during 1984 and 1985. The results point first to the psychological significance of whether texts are homogeneous or not on a given dictionary. They point secondly to the pertinence of content rhythms for describing texts. Compared to the reference texts, the eighteen target texts are more orderly in more ways. This is in opposition to the opinion generally held by public authorities.
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Pun frequency and popularity of Shakespeare’s plays.
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Peter L. Derks, 1989, 7:1, 23-31.
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Abstract:
Shakespeare's mixing of comedy and tragedy was not popular with his contemporaries. Modern research on emotion, however, indicates that the combination of conflicting arousal sources will increase subjective reaction and, perhaps, audience enthusiasm. To examine this possibility, citation estimates of each play's popularity were compared with two examples each of sexual or intellectual pun frequency counts. Sexual punning frequency did not predict popularity, while increased frequency of intellectual punning accompanied increased tragedy popularity and decreased comedy popularity.
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As member of the IAEA you receive the Empirical Studies of the Arts
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1983 at discounted rates.
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Reference and preference in narrative: Sherwood Anderson’s Winesburg, Ohio.
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Michel Grimaud, 1989, 7:1, 33-43.
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Abstract:
In story and discourse proper names may be seen as one of five basic choices confronting the text producer: proper name (given name, surname); specific description (the tall one); classifier (the woman); pronoun (they); and zero anaphora. In Grimaud, I studied cross-cultural (Hungarian and American) strategies in the use of those categories; in the present article, I look at some of the psychological implications of the various possible category choices by having twenty-five students comment on their preferences for one of the three versions of Sherwood Anderson's short story "The Strength of God" (in Winesburg, Ohio, 1919): a proper name only, a description only, and the mixed original version. Two influences dominated: a "friendliness" factor of proper names or descriptions (depending upon subject) and expectations concerning text coherence. Seven narrative maxims are postulated to account for the socio-cultural influences on preference for names in narrative.
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Buy the whole article at baywood.com - online shop now.
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As member of the IAEA you receive the Empirical Studies of the Arts
twice a year for free and are able to purchase all back issues since
1983 at discounted rates.
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The emotions of the apprentice poets.
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Alice G. Brand & John Chibnall, 1989, 7:1, 45-49.
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Abstract:
Nineteen college poets completed a twenty-item check list that asked them how they felt about writing in general as well as before, at a pause, and after seven poetry writing sessions. The intensity with which they experienced positive, negative passive, and negative active emotions was assessed as was the frequency with which those emotions were experienced when writing in general. Results indicated that the positive emotions intensified during writing. Instructor rated skilled poets experienced more positive emotions than their unskilled counterparts. But poets rating themselves as unskilled felt both more positive and negative active when writing than their skilled counterparts. Student poets unaccustomed to writing on their own experienced more intense emotions across the writing episodes than those with more years. Free writing was associated with more intense anxiety than structured poetry exercises. The rank orders of the emotion items suggested more emotional stability for poetry generated in an academic setting than generated at home.
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Buy the whole article at baywood.com - online shop now.
To let you know:
As member of the IAEA you receive the Empirical Studies of the Arts
twice a year for free and are able to purchase all back issues since
1983 at discounted rates.
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How many films noirs are there?: How statistics can help answer this question.
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Laurence Miller, 1989, 7:1, 51-55.
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Abstract:
Film noir refers to a body of films made in America from 1940-1959 and which is defined by a characteristic and particular content and style. Although there is agreement as to what constitutes this content and style, there is considerable disagreement as to which films constitute film noir. Appropriate statistical analyses are performed given the constraints imposed by the current method of film scholars of independently deriving their particular lists of films noirs. Much more powerful statistical analyses are discussed. These would facilitate consensus regarding which films are film noir, but would require that all film scholars independently judge the same list of films.
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Buy the whole article at baywood.com - online shop now.
To let you know:
As member of the IAEA you receive the Empirical Studies of the Arts
twice a year for free and are able to purchase all back issues since
1983 at discounted rates.
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Organizational cognition in a jazz ensemble.
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John J. Voyer & Robert R. Faulkner, 1989, 7:1, 57-77.
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Abstract:
The interaction of organizational structure and organizational cognition in a simple professional bureaucracy (a jazz ensemble) is examined using a combination of participant observation and cognitive mapping. The ethnographic results show that the ensemble has distinctive elements of professional bureaucracy and simple structure, but that it is dominated by the simple structure elements of direct supervision (criticism) and leader vision (musical arrangement). The cognitive mapping shows that these last two themes are firmly embedded in the cognitive schema of the ensemble - arrangement is the most potent causal variable in the schema, and criticism is the variable which drives the deviation-counteracting (negative feedback) loops of the schema. But the professional bureaucratic notion of member skills is also potent in the cognitive schema, and there were some unexpected results concerning the potency of satisfaction and performance quality, both of which are leading outcomes in the schema. Some implications for the management and study of such organizations are discussed.
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Buy the whole article at baywood.com - online shop now.
To let you know:
As member of the IAEA you receive the Empirical Studies of the Arts
twice a year for free and are able to purchase all back issues since
1983 at discounted rates.
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An historicodevelopmental analysis of the Regressive Imagery Dictionary.
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John Benjafield & Ron Muckenheim, 1989, 7:1, 79-88.
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Abstract:
The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is the standard reference work for determining the earliest known instance of the occurrence of a word (Date-of-Entry). Using the OED, we determined Date-of-Entry for the words which constitute the Regressive Imagery Dictionary (RID). Several of the categories have significantly different Dates-of-Entry. These differences can be interpreted by taking a developmental approach to the history of the language. From such an historicodevelopmental standpoint, the differences in Date-of-Entry between categories make perfectly good sense. These findings have implications for future studies of art history using the RID.
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Buy the whole article at baywood.com - online shop now.
To let you know:
As member of the IAEA you receive the Empirical Studies of the Arts
twice a year for free and are able to purchase all back issues since
1983 at discounted rates.
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