David Huron
Music Department
University of California, Santa Barbara, February 5, 2003
The world provides an endless stream of unfolding events that can surprise, delight, frighten, or bore. The intentional manipulation of expectation has long been the playground of comedians, playwrights, theatrical magicians, film directors and musicians. Many of the traditional practices used in the arts and entertainment can be understood from the vantage of the psychology of expectation.
This lecture presents a theory of expectation that integrates contemporary psychological research within an evolutionary framework. Four "affective systems" are distinguished and used to account for the emotional consequences of expectation. The theory is illustrated using examples primarily from auditory and music research.