The Psychology Student and the Imperfect Lens
Alison Heinhold Melley and Anna Sofia Caruso
The beginning of human knowledge is through the senses, and the fiction writer begins where human perception begins. – Flannery O’Connor
College As Education of your Senses
The college curriculum is designed to help you develop different perspectives with which you can understand and appreciate your life. You might take a course in art, music, or both. Such courses might be considered “education of the senses.” The fact that even bands of nomadic hunter-gatherers produce art and music suggest that there is something about our genetics which makes such activities intrinsically rewarding. Certainly, a developed appreciation of the different forms of human creativity enhances and enriches our lives.
College courses in art and music expose students to classic and current forms of human creativity. In the same way that reading requires constructing larger and larger “gestalts” (i.e., letters, words, phrases, sentences, etc.), the same can be true for art (lines, shapes, forms, patterns, etc.) and music (e.g., tones, chords, melodies, etc.). Your eyes and ears can be “trained” to detect elements and patterns of visual and auditory sensations. Courses in art and music analyze (i.e., determine the common elements of “good” art and music) and synthesize (i.e., relate different examples of art and art forms to each other) the creative and performing arts. In this way, such courses convey our current understanding of those defining human qualities which do not at first glance appear related to eating and surviving but rather to “What’s it all about?”
Links to Learning
Elements of Design: Watch this video describing the fundamental elements of design:
Music: Watch this video describing how to appreciate the five fundamental elements of music:
There is a saying that you get out of life what you put into it. The amount of time and effort you dedicate to any activity will influence how proficient you become. This applies to your schoolwork and grades, but the college experience provides other possibilities for developing your potential. There are usually many extra-curricular activities available for you to sustain existing hobbies and interests and explore new ones. Consider the knowledge, skills, and attitudes you would like to acquire in your immediate and long term future, and seek out opportunities that might support that skill development.
The psychology research literature can also play a valuable role in your skill development. One of the skills a professional in any field must possess is the ability to locate and evaluate research. We live in a time in which we are inundated with information from the media and the internet. Reviewing the literature can feel like searching for a needle in a haystack. Even when you think you have located relevant information, how can you be certain you can trust the source? Fortunately, most professions attempt to facilitate this p