Michael Domjan, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychology and Viola Player
The University of Texas at Austin
Ever wonder how B. F. Skinner might have taught a music master class or what psychological principles make children more enthusiastic about playing baseball than playing the violin? The Tertis-Pavlov Project addresses such questions in a series of educational videos that explore connections between music and psychology. The project is named after Lionel Tertis, a highly influential viola player, and Ivan Pavlov, one of the pioneers of the study of associative learning. Although Tertis and Pavlov lived around the same time, they probably never met or heard of one another. Michael Domjan became familiar with both of them through his studies of music and psychology.
Each video starts with a discussion of a topic in music and psychology, followed by a brief musical selection. Musical selections include “Meditation” by Thaïs, the Csárdás by Monti, Paganini’s “Perpetual Motion,” and various movements from the cello suites by J. S. Bach, all played on a Tertis viola.
The videos are available on the Michael Domjan Channel on YouTube. The url is https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt_DMROXrGYSJKEDqd5K1iw