Biomedical subjects

T Noice

Publications and source records attributed to T Noice.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2001

Learning dialogue with and without movement.

In two experiments, we investigated the contribution of physical movement to the processing and eventual retrieval of dramatic dialogue by untrained nonactors after they had received only brief procedural coaching. It was found that participants who processed a script by reading the text aloud while simultaneously moving in accordance with a director's instructions retained more material than did those who used verbal communication only or controls who deliberately memorized the same material. Furthermore, when the recall of the participants in the moving condition was analyzed on a speech-by-speech basis, the results showed significantly greater memory for speeches that had been accompanied by movement than for speeches during which the same participant had remained in one place. These findings are discussed in the contexts of embodied cognition and multimodal memory models.

Adult↗

PubMed2000

Effects of enactment by professional actors at encoding and retrieval.

This experiment investigated memory benefits similar to those found with subject-performed tasks (SPTs) but under widely differing circumstances. Almost all SPT research has shown that as long as enactment takes place at encoding, mode of recall (enactment vs. verbal recall) is immaterial. Using professional actors, the experimenters had previously shown (Noice & Noice, 1999) that movement that was not semantically congruent with the accompanying material produced enhanced recall at retrieval compared to a non-moving condition, a result that did not appear to be due to the fact that retrieval conditions closely resembled encoding conditions. Experiment 1 of the present study replicated and extended this finding, demonstrating that the effect can be found after a delay of five months with actors of varying age and experience, and that the enhancement is not dependent on physical context. Experiment 2 demonstrated that, even with purely verbal retrieval of material that had been equated for memorability, dialogue originally performed when the participants had been engaged in movement from place to place was better recalled than dialogue originally performed when the participants had remained in one location. Taken together, these results indicate that movement at retrieval is not necessary for the nonliteral enactment effect to occur, but that such movement can aid recall compared to a purely verbal mode of report.

Adult↗

PubMed1999

Long-term retention of theatrical roles.

Two experiments tested both long-term retention of complex material by professional actors, and the contributions made by motoric codes to that retention. The first experiment indicated that, during performance, the actors rendered the written script with approximately 98% accuracy, making only very minor changes, primarily additions or deletions of verbal interjections. The second experiment assessed recall three months after the final performance, with the actors having learned and performed new roles in the interim. Retention was still extremely high with approximately 90% of the text being recalled verbatim or within very narrowly defined limits. A repeated trials paradigm (involving actors either sitting or moving about as they did in performance) indicated that motoric cues aided long-term verbal recall even when the movements did not constitute enactments of the literal words.

Drama↗

PubMed1996

Two approaches to learning a theatrical script.

Previous research has shown that actors recall text with word-for-word fidelity by using a type of meaning-based learning strategy that usually results only in retention of the gist (Noice, 1993). Six actors generated think-aloud protocols while studying a theatrical script. Analysis of these protocols indicated that the actors' application of their strategy required minute attention to the exact wording, punctuation, etc. in order to derive the deep meaning they require for interpretation and performance. A think-aloud protocol of the well-known mnemonist, Harry Lorayne, was collected for the same theatrical script. Although the strategies of the actors and the mnemonist were totally different, they appear to be dependent on the same underlying processes. An additional finding was that, although the mnemonist employed imagery-mediation (usually used for learning discrete items), he had devised an original variation capable of yielding verbatim retention. The reasons why mnemonic devices might be useful to actors in certain situations are discussed.

Association Learning↗