The Nature of Expertise in Professional Acting: A Cognitive View (Expertise: Research and Applications Series) [Paperback]

Helga Noice (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0805821708 | ISBN-13: 978-0805821703 | Publication Date: August 3, 1997

For nearly 25 years, expertise has been considered an important testing ground for theories of cognition. Cognitive scientists have examined experts as diverse as chess masters, waiters, field-hockey players, and computer programmers. Recently, increased attention has been given to the arts, including dance, music appreciation and performance, and literary analysis. It is therefore somewhat surprising that--except for the authors' program of research dating from the late 1980s--virtually no studies on the cognitive processes of professional actors can be found in the literature. These experts not only routinely memorize hours of verbal material in a very short time, but they retrieve it verbatim along with the accompanying gestures, movements, thoughts, and emotions of the characters. The mental processes involved in this task constitute the subject of this recent research and are described in detail in this book.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The title of this curiously interesting volume suggests not only the subject matter but also the nature of the study itself. Several appendices and an extensive bibliography will be useful for reference, especially for psychologists interested in cognition and learning.
—CHOICE

Although presented primarily for the psychologist reader, the material is also of interest to performance researchers.
—New Theatre Quarterly

Hence, while this book was published some time ago, it is a landmark attempt to highlight the expertise involved in theatrical performance...
—High Ability Studies

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Psychology Press (August 3, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805821708
• ISBN-13: 978-0805821703
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,303,597 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Important Contemporary Study on the Subject of Acting, August 30, 2007

By 

T. J. Melody "TJM" (the Universe, here and now) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Nature of Expertise in Professional Acting: A Cognitive View (Expertise: Research and Applications Series) (Paperback)

It makes sense that if you are an actor or are interesting in acting or are a teacher of acting you would be interested in what kinds of contemporary science are out there which could help shed light on the nature and reality of the art form in various ways. This book and the studies therein represent such an attempt from the standpoint of cognitive science.

It is nice to see one form of contemporary science take acting seriously enough to examine it, as exemplified in this book, those of us within the art form or profession should return the favor and glean what we can from what they say, have discovered, etc. in order to help better frame contemporary acting theory -personal, professional, certainly educational.

If you are not familiar with the principals and perspectives of cognitive science it might help to do a little research first (e.g. Wiki, etc.) in order to understand the perspective these studies are coming from. But aside from that, actors, and all should be very interested and delighted that these kinds of studies -albeit still far to few and infrequent -are occurring.

Give it a read.