ABSTRACT
Cognitive film studies has been a distinctly recognizable subfield for about twenty-five years now, and in that period of time our academic subfield has developed several schemata (if I may apply a cognitive term to our own scholarly activity): prototypes of what constitutes “film” as an object of study and procedures for analyzing that object (from neoformalist approaches to fMRI studies of clips). We cognitivists (like most humans) tend to follow certain norms; we share a set of broad assumptions and a collective history. We are bound together by a belief that the perceptions, cognitions, and emotions of a film viewer have much in common with normal, everyday processes. We believe that the traditions of empirical cognitive psychology and the philosophy of mind have produced rich insightful explanations of human experience. In my experience, cognitivists warmly welcome those who value these beliefs, traditions, and practices, regardless of their disciplinary training.
