South West Branch

James Kennaway – Hypnosis: Sound and the Loss of Self from Mesmer to Brainwashing

Because of the direct physical character of hearing - the fact that one cannot close one's ears - music has long provoked anxieties about personal autonomy. Many physicians, psychologists and critics have wondered whether its effects can go beyond the powerful group dynamics and behavioural changes related to music in religious ritual and warfare and actually "hypnotize" or "brainwash" an audience. Over the past two hundred years the idea of musical hypnosis has been the basis of a whole discourse about music that can lead to involuntary hypnotic loss of self, robbing listeners of autonomy and making them sexually vulnerable. James Kennaway from Newcastle University will examine the debate on music as a hypnotic threat to the self from Mesmerism to the brainwashing panics of Cold War America.

Eleanor Ratcliffe – Responses to Environmental Sounds

Eleanor Ratcliffe is carrying out a three-year study looking at how natural sounds can improve mood and attention for her PhD in Environmental Psychology at the University of Surrey. She will present some of her findings on human responses to environmental sounds, focussing particularly on bird song. This will include discussion of how various acoustic and aesthetic properties of different bird sounds (e.g. frequency, intensity, brightness, complexity, and pattern) can predict their perceived restorative value following stress and fatigue.

For more details of Regional Branch activities, please refer to the IOA website: www.ioa.org.uk

This evening meeting is free; there is no need to book a place. We welcome both IOA members and non-IOA members.