Prismatic × Sig Nihl // Research notes
These notes summarise classical sources and peer-reviewed research relevant to the artifact. Each one separates three kinds of statement: what the cited studies found, where the evidence is mixed or limited, and what is interpretation by the author. Every note lists its references with DOIs where they exist, so each claim can be checked against its source.
The notes are written for an educated general reader. They are not systematic reviews, and they do not replace clinical assessment or treatment.
Research note 01
A short history of the concept of catharsis from Aristotle's Poetics through Breuer and Freud's cathartic method to empirical research on emotional expression, with the working definition used by this project.
Research note 02
Controlled experiments on venting anger found that it keeps anger active and increases aggression. This note reviews the evidence, its limits, and the regulation strategies that reduce anger instead.
Research note 03
What moving in time with others does to people: evidence that synchrony increases affiliation and cooperation, that group dance raises pain thresholds, and that musical peaks engage the brain's reward system.
Research note 04
Why a restorative experience can leave the underlying difficulty unchanged: negative reinforcement, experiential avoidance, acute mood effects of exercise, rumination and the peak-end rule.
Research note 05
Affective computing promises to infer emotion as if it were a system metric. The evidence on facial movements and autonomic signals, together with questions of consent, explains why every metric in this artifact is an artistic value.
Research note 06
How this site was built by an AI coding agent under Majordomus supervision: the measured timeline of the first release, the kinds of instructions given, what the supervision layer caught, and what cannot be claimed.
Research note 07
Evidence on crying, social sharing of emotion, talking about distressing experiences and affect labelling shows that expression helps through social support, meaning and regulation rather than through discharge itself.
Research note 08
What clinical psychology learned about emotional release: emotional processing theory and exposure, the Cochrane evidence against single-session psychological debriefing, and meta-analyses of regulation strategies across psychopathology.
Research note 09
Allostasis and allostatic load, the cognitive control of emotion, the stress-buffering effects of social support and the use of music for mood regulation explain what a night of collective movement does for the body, and what it cannot change.
Research note 10
People use music to change, maintain and release emotional states. This note reviews meta-analyses of music and stress, studies of how people regulate mood with music, and what the evidence cannot yet say about resolution.
Research note 11
Most bereaved people adapt without professional help, and rituals after a loss were followed by lower grief in experiments. This note reviews rituals, continuing bonds and the dual process model, and marks the clinical boundary of prolonged grief.
Research note 12
Physical activity lifts positive affect for hours and, practised regularly, is associated with lower depression and anxiety in trials. This note reviews the meta-analyses, the role of intensity, and why exertion does not discharge anger.
Research note 13
Experimental sleep loss reduces positive affect and increases anxiety, and poor sleep is associated with later depression. This note reviews the meta-analyses, what they say about emotion regulation, and why sleep matters after an emotional strain.
Research note 14
Writing about difficult experiences has small average benefits across hundreds of randomised studies, with wide variation. This note reviews the meta-analyses, what moderates the effect, and the gap between feeling relieved and benefiting.
Research note 15
Repetitive thought about a problem can be constructive or can sustain distress. This note reviews experiments, experience sampling and trials on rumination, the difference between abstract and concrete thinking, and why brooding feels like work.