Werner’s Theory of Synesthesia - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Werner’s Theory of Synesthesia

By: Emma DowneySlide2

Heinz Werner (1890-1964)

Born and raised in Vienna, Austria

Studious boy who loved music (started to learn how to play a violin at only 7 years old)

Considered becoming an engineer but enrolled at the University of Vienna

Aspirations to become a composer and a music historianSlide3

Werner’s education

Quickly became interested in philosophy and psychology

Accidentally walked into the wrong lecture hall

philosophy of Immanuel Kant

too embarrassing to simply walk out

Decided to double major in philosophy and psychologySlide4

Gestalt psychology

1917 – Werner joined the Psychological Institute in Hamburg

Whole of anything is greater than their parts

Gestalts – whole forms that we perceive

Cannot be analyzed by their separate elements

Closure – our tendency to complete patternsBerlin School (Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka, and Wolfgang Kohler)Leipzig School – too much focus on perceptionSlide5

Werner’s Theory

“

Whenever development occurs, it proceeds from a state of relative lack of differentiation to a state of increasing differentiation and hierarchic integration” (Werner & Kaplan)

Differentiation – when a whole separates into parts with different forms or functions

Example – embryo

Hierarchic integration – movements become more fluid as the nervous system begins to adaptSlide6

Different levels

Sensorimotor-affective level

World is limited to immediate world around them

Like Piaget’s observation that a baby thinks that something does not exist if it is out of sightSlide7

LEVELS CONTINUED:

Perceptual level

Perception of a world apart from themselves

But actions are still strongly bound up with their actions and feelings

Conceptual Level

highest of the levels (thinking in abstract dimensions)Slide8

Physiognomic perception

Children

Give emotions to inanimate objects

Adults

Only use physiognomic perception for animate objects

Develops more slowly than geometric-technical perception

Artists!Slide9

SYNESTHESIA

Syncretic unity of the senses

More common in children than adults

Intersensory experiences

Don’t experience colors or sounds objectively, but we feel them

Kandinsky Even geometric shapes have “their own inimitable fragrances”

Kandinsky – “Winter Landscape”Slide10

The more creative a person, the wider his range of operations in terms of developmental level, or in other words, the greater his capacity to utilize primitive as well as advanced operations

WernerSlide11

PHENOMENOLOGY

Abandon preconceptions

Look at children’s experience of the world

In the mall

Children run around and explore the escalators

Adults mostly pay attention to the merchandise Children and Adults have different perceptions of the worldSlide12

MY experiment

Course study of 11 students ranging from 4

th

grade to 8

th

grade I asked them to create cards for elderly people in a nursing homeFor the first 5 minutes I played music, for the last 5 minutes I had no music (for the older kids)For the younger children, I played music for 10 minutes and had no music for 10 minutesSlide13

QUESTIONS

Would listening to music affect the children’s performance in creating the card?

Would it help or hinder their performance?

Would there be any differences between the girls and the boys in relation to music?Slide14

Hypothesis

I think that listening to music will affect the children in a positive manner, and that there will be a difference between the boys and girls in relation to the music.Slide15

DATA RESULTS -

Gender

Grade

Music

or no music?

Why?

Girl

4

Music

N/A

Girl

4

Music

N/A

Girl

4

Music

N/A

Girl

4

Music

N/A

Girl

5

Music

“Because it helps me think”

Girl

5Music“Because it made me concentrate more”Boy5Music

“I like the music because they have sound and cool song”Girl6Music“Helps me focus”Boy

6Music“Because it’s really soothing”Girl 7Music“Owl City is awesome”Girl8

Music“It made me feel relaxed”Slide16

NOTABLE OBSERVATIONS

The older children were much more quiet than the younger children.

They sat in silence and barely talked at all whereas the younger children (the fourth graders) were very raucous

I noticed that the older children were glancing at the work of the child next to them, as if to see what they were writing

All the older children referenced God in their card (Jesus/God loves you)

No differences between the guys and girlsSlide17

SHORTCOMINGS TO MY STUDY:

Limited time

Limited amount of children for my study

I was a bit frazzled when I went over to the school – I had no transportation and had to hitch a ride with fellow classmates

Forgot to ask the fourth graders why they said they preferred music!Slide18

WHAT I WOULD CHANGE

I would have a larger sample size

I would take a longer amount of time and use different types of music (classical, pop, and no music)

I would not do something creative, but rather an academic quizSlide19

RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER THEORISTS:

He was researching during the same time period as Piaget and Vygotsky

Why is Piaget so much more famous?

More definitive stages – defined concrete levels of development

Could actually be tested and therefore proven/disproved

Rudolf Steiner and Goethe’s Theory of ColorsDifferent colors have different meaningsElicit different emotional effectsSlide20

Works cited:

Crain, William C. 

Theories of Development: Concepts and Applications

. 6th ed. Englewood

Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1980. Print.

Valsiner, Jaan. Heinz Werner and Developmental Science. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum, 2005. Print.Wapner

, Seymour, and Heinz Werner. The Body Percept. New York.: Random House, 1965. Print.

Werner, Heinz, and Bernard Kaplan. 

Symbol Formation; an Organismic-developmental

Approach to Language and the Expression of Thought

. New York: Wiley, 1963. Print.

Werner, Heinz. 

Comparative Psychology of Mental Development

. 4th ed. New York:

International Universities, 1948. Print.