Ana Clemente

Ph.D., M.Sc., M.Phil., M.Mus., B.Mus. 

Margarita Salas Postdoctoral Fellow

Institute of Neurosciences, University of Barcelona
Cognition and Brain Plasticity Unit, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute
Human Evolution and Cognition Research Group, University of the Balearic Islands
Visiting researcher at Music Cognition Lab, Queen Mary University of London

Emails: a.clemente@ub.edu, a.clemente@qmul.ac.uk

Email | ORCID | Google Scholar | GitHub | OSF

Research interests

    • Motivation, learning, and reward
    • Sensory valuation
    • Cognitive and affective processing
    • Creativity and appreciation
    • Biocultural evolution
    • Active inference / Hierarchical predictive processing
    • Multisensory integration

Research fields

    • Cognitive psychology and cognitive science
    • Neurobiology and neuroscience
    • Empirical aesthetics and neuroaesthetics
    • Music cognition

Curriculum vitae

Education

Ph.D. in human evolution and cognition
M.Sc. in human evolution and cognition
M.Phil. in art history
M.Mus. in solo performance
M.A. in music education
B.Mus. in music performance

Awards

Frank X. Barron Award 2022 from the American Psychological Association (APA), Division 10: Society for the Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts

Short bio

Ana Clemente is a cognitive scientist and professional musician, combining her artistic and scientific facets in a mutually enriching way. She has an M.Mus. in solo performance (awarded a Humboldt-Wardwell Stipendium from the Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung) at the Robert Schumann Hochschule Düsseldorf, an M.Phil. in art history at the University of La Laguna, an M.Sci. (with a graduate scholarship from the Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte) and a Ph.D. (awarded a La Caixa INPhINIT fellowship) in human evolution and cognition at the University of the Balearic Islands. Ana is the recipient of the Frank X. Barron Award 2022 from the American Psychological Association (APA), Division 10: Society for the Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts for her doctoral thesis on aesthetic sensitivity (excellent cum laude).

Accomplished soloist and conductor, Ana has worked with leading figures such as Claudio Abbado, Martha Argerich, and Berliner Philharmonic Wind Quintet, recording for BBC Proms, EMI, Generalli, and RTVE, and has won musical prizes (e.g., Young Performers, Youth in Concert) and scholarships from prestigious institutions (e.g., Fundación Ibermúsica; Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte; Asociación de Artistas, Intérpretes o Ejecutantes de España). In addition, she was an associate professor at music conservatories for more than a decade, teaching at undergraduate and graduate levels and holding the positions of head of department, adjunct secretary, head of Erasmus program, and board member of the Bureau of international relations.

Since February 2020, Ana is a visiting researcher at the Queen Mary University of London (supported by Kungliga Musikaliska Akademin and Tobias Norlind Samfundet). In Autumn 2020, she was a visiting researcher at the Royal Institute of Technology KTH Stockholm (Short Term Scientific Mission endowed by NordicSMC). Since January 2022, Ana is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Learning from Reward Group in the Department of Cognition, Development and Educational Psychology, Institute of Neurosciences, University of Barcelona, and the Cognition and Brain Plasticity Unit, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL).

Ana has published papers in high-impact peer-reviewed journals (e.g., Behavior Research Methods, Brain and Cognition, British Journal of Psychology, Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts) and presented her research at top international conferences (e.g., ICMPC-ESCOM, Neuromusic, ICON, RPPW, CMMR, VSAC, VSS, IAEA). Since 2018, she is a regular reviewer for scientific journals (e.g., Behavior Research Methods, Empirical Studies of the Arts, Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts) and international conferences (ISMIR). Since January 2022, Ana is consulting editor for Musicae Scientiae and a member of the scientific committee of the Iberian Conference on Perception. Ana has been invited to give lectures and seminars at institutions like the Queen Mary University of London, Royal Institute of Technology KTH Stockholm, Royal Academy of Music KMH Stockholm, University of St Andrews, and the University of Cambridge.

 

Publications

Open resources

MUsical STimulus (MUST) set and toolbox: https://osf.io/bfxz7/

Naturalistic MUsical STimulus (NatMUST) set: https://osf.io/k6gme/

Complexity in AudioVisual Aesthetics (CAVA) stimulus set: https://osf.io/e5uh9/

Visual Contour (VC) stimulus set: https://osf.io/kv38d/

Articles in peer-reviewed journals

2021

Clemente, A., Pearce, M. T., Skov, M., & Nadal, M. (2021). Evaluative judgment across domains: Liking balance, contour, symmetry and complexity in melodies and visual designs. Brain and Cognition, 151, 105729. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandc.2021.105729

Clemente, A., Pearce, M. T., & Nadal, M. (2021). Musical aesthetic sensitivity. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/aca0000381

2020

Nadal, M., Corradi, G., Barrada, J. R., Clemente, A., & Chuquichambi, E. G. (2020). Reply to Myszkowski et al. (2020): Some matters of fact concerning aesthetic sensitivity. British Journal of Psychology, 111(4), 663–664. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjop.12443

Clemente, A., Vila-Vidal, M., Pearce, M. T., Aguiló, G., Corradi, G., & Nadal, M. (2020). A set of 200 musical stimuli varying in balance, contour, symmetry, and complexity: Behavioral and computational assessments. Behavior Research Methods, 52(4), 1491–1509. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-019-01329-8

Corradi, G., Chuquichambi, E. G., Barrada, J. R., Clemente, A., & Nadal, M. (2020). A new conception of visual aesthetic sensitivity. British Journal of Psychology, 111(4), 630–658. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjop.12427

Book chapters

2021

Clemente, A. (2021). Aesthetic sensitivity: Origin and development of an idea. In Skov, M. & Nadal, M. (Eds.), The Routledge International Handbook of Neuroaesthetics. In press.

Peer-reviewed conferences

2022

Clemente, A. (2022/08). Individual perceptual mediation of the influence of stimulus properties on liking for music. Society for Music Perception and Cognition (SMPC), Portland, USA

Clemente, A. (2022/06). Unpacking the Curvature Effect: Perceptual and Hedonic Judgments of Visual Contour. Vision Sciences Society, USA

Clemente, A. (2022/05). Evaluative judgment across domains. International Conference of Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON), Helsinki, Finland

2021

Clemente, A. (2021/09/03). Evaluative judgment across domains. XXVI Conference of the International Association of Empirical Aesthetics (IAEA), City University of London, UK

Clemente, A., Penacchio, O., Vila-Vidal, M., Pepperell, R., & Ruta, N. (2021/09/02). Contrasting perceptual and hedonic judgments of visual contour. XXVI Conference of the International Association of Empirical Aesthetics (IAEA), City University of London, UK

Clemente, A. , Penacchio, O., Vila-Vidal, M., Pepperell, R., & Ruta, N. (2021/08/26). Contrasting perceptual and hedonic judgments of visual contour. 43rd European Conference on Visual Perception (ECVP) 2021, Proceedings in Perception.

Clemente, A., Friberg, A., & Holzapfel, A. (2021/07/31). Perceived affect in sensory valuation across domains. ICMPC16-ESCOM11 conference on Connectivity and diversity in music cognition, Department of Music, The University of Sheffield, UK

Clemente, A., Board, F., Pearce, M. T., & Orgs, G. (2021/07/30). Hedonic judgment of audiovisual displays: Liking for complexity in dynamic sound and image sequences. ICMPC16-ESCOM11 conference on Connectivity and diversity in music cognition, Department of Music, University of Sheffield, UK

Clemente, A., Board, F., Pearce, M. T., & Orgs, G. (2021/06/23). Hedonic judgment of audiovisual displays: Liking for complexity in dynamic sound and image sequences. 18th Rhythm Production and Perception Workshop (RPPW) 2021, RITMO, University of Oslo, Norway

Clemente, A. (2021/06/20). Evaluative judgment across domains. Neurosciences and Music – VII (Neuromusic Aarhus) Conference, Aarhus, Denmark

Clemente, A., Board, F., Pearce, M. T., & Orgs, G. (2021/06/15). Hedonic judgment of audiovisual displays: Liking for complexity in dynamic sound and image sequences. Swedish Society of Musicology (SSM) Music Research Today 2021 Conference, University College of Music Education in Stockholm (SMI), Malmö Academy of Music (Lund University) and Piteå Academy of Music (Luleå University of Technology), Sweden

Clemente, A., Penacchio, O., Vila-Vidal, M., Pepperell, R., & Ruta, N. (2021/04/23). Contrasting perceptual and hedonic judgments of visual contour. Visual Properties Driving Visual Preference (VPDVP) 2021 Workshop, University of Liverpool, UK

2020

Clemente, A. (2020/06/10). Modality-specific or amodal cues informing sensory valuation? SSM Music Research Today 2020 Conference, Lund University: Department of Arts and Cultural Sciences, Malmö Academy of Music, Inter Arts Center, Odeum, Sweden

2019

Clemente, A. (2019/11/20). The MUST set and toolbox. Nordic Sound and Music Computing Network (NordicSMC) 2019 Conference, Stockholm, Sweden

Clemente, A. (2019/10/16). The MUST set and toolbox. 14th International Symposium on Computer Music Multidisciplinary Research (CMMR) 2019, Marseille, France, published by Springer Verlag in the Lecture Notes in Computer Sciences Series

Clemente, A. (2019/09/12). Musical and visual aesthetic sensitivity. The Aesthetic Experience Today (AET) 2019 Conference, Prague, Czech Republic

Clemente, A. (22/08/2019). Musical and visual aesthetic sensitivity. The Visual Science of Art Conference (VSAC) 2019, Leuven, Belgium

Clemente, A. (2019/08/08). A set of 200 musical stimuli varying in balance, contour, symmetry, and complexity: Behavioral and computational assessments. Cognitively Based Music Informatics Research (CogMIR) 2019 Conference, New York, USA

Clemente, A. (2019/06/20). Musical and visual aesthetic sensitivity. 8th Iberian Conference on Perception (ICP) 2019, Madrid, Spain, published in Spanish Journal of Psychology

Clemente, A. (2019/06/13). Musical and visual aesthetic sensitivity. SSM Music Research Today 2019 Conference, Gothenburg, Sweden, published in Swedish Journal of Music Research

2018

Nadal, M., Rey, C., Chuquichambi, E., Corradi, G., & Clemente, A. (2018/09/02). Musical and visual aesthetic sensitivity. IAEA 2018 Congress Conflict, Arousal, and Curiosity: Berlyne and Beyond, Toronto, Canada

Clemente, A. (2018/09/02). Musical aesthetic sensitivity. IAEA 2018 Congress Conflict, Arousal, and Curiosity: Berlyne and Beyond, Toronto, Canada

Invited speaker

2022

Clemente, A. (2022/11/21). Computational hedonics. Datasounds, datasets and datasense Workshop, KTH Stockholm, Sweden

Clemente, A. & Brielmann, A. (2022/05/04). Art in Conversation, St Andrews University, UK

Clemente, A. (2022/01/24). Aesthetic sensitivity. Brain & Plasticity Research Group, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), Barcelona, Spain

2021

Clemente, A. (2021/12/07). Aesthetic sensitivity. LOGOS Research Group in Analytic Philosophy, University of Barcelona, Spain

Clemente, A. (2021/11/16). Aesthetic sensitivity. Centre for Music and Science (CMS) Seminar series, University of Cambridge, UK

Clemente, A. (2021/10/29). Aesthetic sensitivity. Higher Seminar, KTH Stockholm, Sweden

Clemente, A., Board, F., Pearce, M. T., & Orgs, G. (2021/05/28). Hedonic judgment of audiovisual displays: Liking for complexity in dynamic sound and image sequences. Paper presented at the Music Cognition Lab, QMUL, UK

Clemente, A. & Ruta, N. (2021/05/14). Contrasting perceptual and hedonic judgments of visual contour. Paper presented at the Music Cognition Lab, QMUL, UK

Clemente, A. & Ruta, N. (2021/03/02). Contrasting perceptual and hedonic judgments of visual contour. Paper presented at the Vision Club, University of St. Andrews, UK

2020

Clemente, A. (2020/12/11). Perceived affect in the aesthetic appreciation of images and music. Music Cognition Lab (MCL), QMUL, UK

Clemente, A. (2020/12/11). Perceived affect in the aesthetic appreciation of images and music. EvoCog Graduate Lectures, UIB, Spain

Clemente, A. (2020/11/17). Aesthetic sensitivity and perceived affect. Sound and Music Interaction Seminar, KTH Stockholm, Sweden

Clemente, A. (2020/10/29). Free exploration and free play in music. Higher Seminar, Royal College of Music (KMH) Stockholm, Sweden

Clemente, A., Kaplan, T. M., & Pearce, M. T. (2020/08/21). Free exploration and free play in music. Paper presented at the Music Cognition Lab (MCL), QMUL, UK

Clemente, A. (2020/06/19). Specificity and generality of hedonic liking for music and images. Music Cognition Lab, QMUL, UK

Clemente, A. (2020/03/13). Aesthetic sensitivity. Computational Robotics and Intelligent Systems for the People Lecture (CRISP), QMUL, UK

Clemente, A. (2020/03/3–6). Aesthetic sensitivity. Perception, Cognition, Aesthetics (PCA) Group – Centre for Digital Music (C4DM) – Music Cognition Lab (MCL), QMUL, UK