Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The psychological theory of expectation that David Huron proposes in Sweet Anticipation grew out of the author's experimental efforts to understand how music evokes emotions. These efforts evolved into a general theory of expectation that will prove informative to readers interested in cognitive science and evolutionary psychology as well as those interested in music. The book describes a set of psychological mechanisms and illustrates how these mechanisms work in the case of music. All examples of notated music can be heard on the Web.

Huron proposes that emotions evoked by expectation involve five functionally distinct response systems- reaction responses (which engage defensive reflexes); tension responses (where uncertainty leads to stress); prediction responses (which reward accurate prediction); imagination responses (which facilitate deferred gratification); and appraisal responses (which occur after conscious thought is engaged). For real-world events, these five response systems typically produce a complex mixture of feelings. The book identifies some of the aesthetic possibilities afforded by expectation, and shows how common musical devices (such as syncopation, cadence, meter, tonality, and climax) exploit the psychological opportunities. The theory also provides new insights into the physiological psychology of awe, laughter, and spine-tingling chills. Huron traces the psychology of expectations from the patterns of the physical/cultural world through imperfectly learned heuristics used to predict that world to the phenomenal qualia we experienced as we apprehend the world.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Preface (p. vii)
• Acknowledgments (p. xi)
• 1 Introduction (p. 1)
• 2 Surprise (p. 19)
• 3 Measuring Musical Expectation (p. 41)
• 4 Auditory Learning (p. 59)
• 5 Statistical Properties of Music (p. 73)
• 6 Heuristic Listening (p. 91)
• 7 Mental Representation of Expectation (I) (p. 101)
• 8 Prediction Effect (p. 131)
• 9 Tonality (p. 143)
• 10 Expectation in Time (p. 175)
• 11 Genres, Schemas, and Firewalls (p. 203)
• 12 Mental Representation of Expectation (II) (p. 219)
• 13 Creating Predictability (p. 239)
• 14 Creating Surprise (p. 269)
• 15 Creating Tension (p. 305)
• 16 Expecting the Unexpected (p. 331)
• 17 A Sense of Future (p. 355)
• Notes (p. 381)
• Glossary (p. 409)
• References (p. 423)
• Index (p. 449)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

Though many have argued that music maps human emotions in time, few scholars have taken up this line of inquiry. Huron explores the inherent durational nature of music: how it moves through time and specifically how one perceives and reacts to it in time. The subject matter is elusive, but Huron (Cognitive and Systematic Musicology Laboratory, Ohio State Univ.) suggests that by framing the question in the larger realm of psychological expectation, one can identify five distinct responses: imagination, tension, prediction, reaction, and appraisal. Some of these are closely bound to real-time listening experience, whereas others (e.g., appraisal) are clearly bound to a reflective, retrospective response. Using these five aspects, Huron introduces methods researchers have used to measure expectation in general and applies them to specific musical instances. Particularly helpful are the chapters devoted to the anatomy of expectation, which take into account not only biological or innate but also cultural expectations. Although some may balk at the fastidious detail of the research, Huron balances meticulous accounts with illustrations and anecdotes and thus makes his argument more navigable than it would be were it merely a statistical compendium. Even so, this is quite a serious read. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. Graduate students, researchers, faculty. M. Neil Augustana College (IL)