An example of role preparation by a professional actor: A think‐aloud protocol

Abstract

Previous research has shown that professional actors gain a deep understanding of a role by analyzing a script to discern the plans their assigned characters are following. The think-aloud protocol reported here shows this plan-recognition process in action by specifying the relationship between the aspects of the text attended to and the information derived from them. A coding procedure was developed that revealed that the actor attends not only to the meaning but also to such elements of the text as structure, punctuation, and linguistic devices in order to determine the character's internal states (e.g., intentions and motivations) and specific performance characteristics (e.g., speech and movement patterns). This approach may be dictated by the actor's need to turn written text into living conversation. The types of elaborations that the actor derived from the input and the role that these elaborations may play in the understanding and learning of lengthy complex material are discussed.

Long-term retention of a theatrical script by repertory actors: The role of context

“…This conclusion contradicts Rubin's (1977) hypothesis that learning text by heart is best described as associative chaining of surface structure units. It concurs however with findings of H. and T. Noice (1994), who have demonstrated that professional actors learn their lines by analysing the motives and emotions of their character. Verbatim memory seems to emerge as a by-product of this strategy.…”

“…Our understanding of how theatrical scripts are acquired has profited from the work of Helga and Tony Noice (1991Noice ( , 1992Noice ( , 1993Noice ( , 1994. These investigators have shown that professional actors do not rely on rote learning and repetition while committing the lines of a script to memory, but spend considerable time on analysing the motivations and underlying meanings of the utterances of their character.…”

The Influence of Creative Expertise on the Sensitivity and Selectivity of Analogical Reasoning

“…Analogically, we posit the argument that experts in a domain that regularly requires creative and divergent thinking—such as acting has been repeatedly shown to (e.g., Dumas, Doherty, & Organisciak, 2020; Kogan, 2002; Noice & Noice, 1994; Stacey & Goldberg, 1953)—would be expected to be able to demonstrate their expertise both in a domain‐specific activity (e.g., the interpretation and performance of a script) and on a domain‐general measure designed to relate to creative thought. In this way, just as domain‐experts in a variety of academic domains can be identified as expert readers, we suggest that creative experts be defined as those individuals who have developed deep expertise in a domain that regularly requires creative thinking, and therefore are also likely to be adept at creative thinking in a domain‐general setting.…”

Improving memory in older adults by instructing them in professional actors' learning strategies

“…In this paper we describe a new type of intervention study that combines all the above factors: theatre training. Our previous research has indicated that professional actors retain lengthy scripts with relative ease because they employ an analytical strategy in which memory for text is merely the byproduct of exploration of character (Noice, 1991;Noice and Noice, 1993, 1994. This exploration involves a multitude of factors including elaboration, perspective-taking, plan recognition and causal chaining.…”