1. Physiognomic Perception

2. Heinz Werner 1890- 1964 Born and raised in Vienna, Austria Loved Music at a young age and entered college to become a composer and music historian Switched his major to philosophy and psychology Wrote dissertation on the psychology of aesthetic enjoyment 1917 joined Physiological Institute at Hamburg to participate in Gestalt Psychology 1926 published the first edition of his famous book Comparative Psychology of Mental Development Came to U.S. and became a research psychologist in Michigan, working with developmentally delayed and brain injured children. Went onto Brooklyn College as a teacher 1947 ended up at Clark University where he finished out his career

3. Key Words Physiognomic Perception –we perceive stimuli physiognmically when we react to their dynamic, emotional, and expressive qualities. Geometrical-technical perception – perceiving objects in terms of shape, length, hue, width, and other objective, measurable objects. Synesthesia –syncratic unity of the senses. Intersensory Experiences –when various senses influence one another through general bodily feeling.

4. Theory Werner believed that intersensory experiences exist prior to differentiation of the senses into separate modalities. If so, synesthesia would be especially prominent in children.

5. Three Domains Indigenous people Contemporary western adults in states of psychosis or under hallucinogens. Domain of the Artist

6. Research Project Using Werner’s theories we created our own research project involving music and children’s ability to perceive and express their feelings of music through their drawings. Three genres of music : Classical, Techno, Rock Second and Fourth graders drew pictures using a variety of colored crayons. Colors included: Purple, Orange, Light Blue, Dark Blue, Red, Yellow, Green, Black, and Brown

7. Setting Holy Family of Nazareth School 13 Second Grade Students (Ages 7-8) 7 Girls 6 Boys 16 Fourth Grade Students (Ages 10-11) 9 Boys 7 Girls

8. Questions 1.Does Werner’s theory of physiognomic perception hold true even with children today? 2.Will second grade students respond more emotionally to music than fourth graders? Will it be apparent in their drawings? 3.Will there be a clear distinction in their choices of color as a result of the music that is being played?

9. Hypotheses Children today will still have the same physiognomic perception as children would have as explained in Werner’s theories. Second graders will be unable to differentiate senses into separate modalities, therefore their intersensory experiences will be developmentally primitive to fourth graders.

10. Classical – Second Grade Classical – FourthGrade

11. Techno – Second Grade Techno – Fourth Grade

12. Rock – Second Grade Rock – Fourth Grade

13. Second Grade ColorClassicalTechnoRock Purple326 Orange248 Light Blue716 Dark Blue233 Red646 Yellow252 Green403 Black886 Brown225

14. Fourth Grade Color Classica l TechnoRock Purple477 Orange487 Light Blue768 Dark Blue768 Red647 Yellow968 Green545 Black11912 Brown1037

15. Marrianne, Age 8 Hayden, Age 10

16. Comparison Second GradeFourth Grade

17. Results and Conclusions Overall, second graders had more variety in their colors than fourth graders and these colors match up more consistently with the specific genre of music. Although the variation of colors between second and fourth graders is slim, it should widen if there was a larger group of students to observe.

18. Werner, right or wrong? Werner is right… Second graders have a more noticeable sense of physiognomic perception than fourth graders. Indigenous people?

19. Things to do Differently Work individually so as to avoid discussion and “cheating” Change the spectrum of colors Test a wider range of children Ensure the use of colors, rather than just drawing with black

20. Nature vs Nurture “Werner’s biological model is that of a maturationist (Baldwin 1980), but if we look to Werner for a clear statement, we look in vain.”

21. NatureNurture W e r n e r