Explore cognitive science and psychology insights with Occidental Professor Sasha Sherman.
In the past decade, there has been an increasing discussion related to a global "empathy deficit". In this talk, Â鶹ÊÓƵ Cognitive Science Professor Sasha Sherman will present her research exploring the arts as a venue for cultivating and sustaining empathy, and for living a good, flourishing life. She will expand on the ways psychologists and neuroscientists define and study empathy, discuss cognitive neuroscience evidence that art appreciation engages emotion recognition and empathy-related networks in the brain, and consider the importance of slow, mindful attention during art engagement as a mechanism for fostering empathy. Finally, she will offer an opportunity to put the research into practice at the current exhibition at OXY ARTS.
About Sasha Sherman
Professor Sherman's interdisciplinary research program investigates how different senses interact to influence a wide range of perceptual and cognitive states, as well as the role of social and emotional factors in mediating these states. She uses mixed methods including behavioral tasks, eye-tracking, and measuring the neurophysiological substrates of perception using EEG. She also uses both qualitative and quantitative analysis techniques.
Her main research focus aims to understand people's perceptual, cognitive, and emotional responses to the arts. Her publications in this area explore how individual differences in cognitive capacities such as working memory shape visual art preferences, how perspective-taking and empathy in the museum affect individual’s experiences, the role that the arts play in scientific practice, the social and epistemic value of art engagement, and how art appreciation and art-making generate meaning in our lives. She is currently working on a co-authored book titled "Why the Arts Matter".
