Arousal, Attention, and Anxiety:

Some Fundamentals of Listener Physiology

David Huron

CCRMA Colloquim, 1997 January 15

This lecture reviews the psychophysiological research pertaining to musical affect. Accessible explanations will be given of a variety of complex phenomena -- including tonic and phasic arousal, passive and active attention, orienting resposnes, arousal compatibility preference, and the Yerkes-Dodson law. These phenomena will be related directly to stylistic and other features in music from Beethoven and Mozart to Beebop and Muzak.