Proposed Exercises for Memory and Emotion in Acting Pedagogy: a Shared Narrative with Science
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PROPOSED EXERCISES FOR MEMORY AND EMOTION IN ACTING PEDAGOGY: A SHARED NARRATIVE WITH SCIENCE Ellen M. Rooney A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY December 2010 Committee: Dr. Ronald E. Shields, Advisor Dr. Eileen Cherry-Chandler Dr. Michael Ellison Dr. Howard C. Cromwell Dr. Annette Mahoney Graduate Faculty Representative ii ABSTRACT Dr. Ronald E. Shields, Advisor Theater history records centuries of intersections between the scientific understanding of human behaviors and the skills needed by actors to create representational drama. This study reviews a shared historical narrative between science and acting with selected examples from medical traditions and acting traditions. Advancements in twenty-first century neuroscience have changed our understandings of basic principles governing the body and behaviors which pushes theater artists and educators to reconsider how we teach acting. This dissertation proposes acting exercises derived from neuroscientific behavior models which focus on performance memory and emotion expression. A serious study of acting requires a strong understanding of embodied knowledge, knowledge gained from experience. In order to guide acting students through the acting techniques, the study focuses on defining terms and basic scientific concepts and then applying the science through classroom exercises. These proposed exercises, Memory Accumulation and Emotion Scales, are designed for first-year theater undergraduates as part of any standard beginning acting class. The Memory Accumulation exercises introduce memory techniques of encoding and decoding, the concept of chunking (accumulating bits of information into larger performance sequences), and the concept of binding (associating different types of memory into a unified performance memory). The Emotion Scales exercises introduce basic emotions and the progression of building compound and complex emotions with the technique of accessing qualia, controlling intensity, and releasing emotions safely. Ultimately, using scientific models as teaching models, the proposed exercises presented in this dissertation define and identify basic memory systems and basic emotions conceptually (through scientific models) and experientially (through acting exercises). iii Dedicated to Dr. Raymond Francis Rooney Thank you Dad. Rest in peace. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to extend my sincerest gratitude and respect to my committee advisor, Dr. Ronald E. Shields, and committee members: Dr. Eileen Cherry Chandler, Dr. Michael Ellison, Dr. Howard C. Cromwell, and Dr. Annette Mahoney for serving as the Graduate Faculty Representative. I would like to thank Dr. Vern Bingman for his support and scientific scholarship which was fundamental to this project. I would also like to acknowledge the support and medical advice of David B. Rooney, MD; James Gandy, DO, and Sharon Rooney-Gandy, DO. I would like to thank Mrs. Tillie J. Rooney for her faith, determination, and heart-felt support and Dr. Vikki Krane for her friendship and kindness. I offer my appreciation to the Department of Theatre and Film at Bowling Green State University for awarding me the 2009-2010 Dissertation Fellowship. Without it, I never would have achieved the depth of scientific understanding or chart the epic narrative between acting and medicine. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………….…1 Background and personal narrative ...…………………………………………….............2 Statement of key research questions and need ...………………………………………....4 Embodied framework - basic skills, techniques, and training…………………………….6 Scientific framework – theories, hypothesis, and models…………………………...........8 Interdisciplinary approach…………………………………………………………...……9 Organization of the study…………………………………………………………...........12 Scope and limitations…………………………………………………………………….16 Contributions and new knowledge……………………………………………………….19 Summary…………………………………………………………………………………19 CHAPTER II. SHARED NARRATIVES OF THE BODY: ACTING TRADITIONS AND MEDICAL SCIENCE …………………………………………………………………………...21 Neolithic-medicine and the early performative…………………………………….........21 Medicinal theories in antiquity…………………………………………………………..24 Performing emotion in antiquity………………………………………………................26 Performing memory in antiquity…………………………………………………………31 Memory in the Middle Ages……………………………………………………………..35 Emotion in the Middle Ages……………………………………………………………..41 English Renaissance medicine, Islamic medicine, and Shakespeare……………….........45 Scientific Revolution, Locke, and Hill…………………………………………………..53 vi Science and Roach’s The Players Passion/Religion and Delsarte………….……..…….59 Stanislavski, Strasberg, and emotional memory…………………………………………64 Mid-twentieth century Method and postmodern Method……………………………......71 Cognitive Studies in theater and contemporary techniques………………………….......74 Summary………………………………………………………………………………....80 CHAPTER III. MEMORY SCIENCE …………………………………………….……….........82 Anatomy of neurons……………………………………………………………………...84 Anatomy of networks……………………………………………………..……………...88 Episodic, semantic, and procedural……………………………………………………...91 Five memory categories: sensory, motor/bodily, spatial, emotion, higher cognition .......96 Chunking and binding……………………………………………………………..........105 Summary…………………………………………………...……………………...……109 CHAPTER IV. PERFORMANCE MEMORY MODELS AND EXERCISES…...……...……110 Why is it important to study memory?............................................................................110 What is a Performance Memory Model?.........................................................................111 Memory exercises – Accumulation ………………….………………………..……….115 Summary…………………………………………………………………………...…...126 CHAPTER V. EMOTION SCIENCE ……………………………..…………………………..128 Historical discussions of emotion………………………………………………………128 Anatomy of Central Nervous System…………………………………………………..134 Anatomy of emotion in the brain…………………………...…………………………..135 Abstract models of emotion from Ekman, Panksepp, and Plutchik……………………139 Basic emotions………………………………………………………………………….142 vii Compound emotions and Relation dynamics ………………………………………….145 Complex emotions and appraisal ……….………………………………...……………147 Summary: Towards a definition of emotion ...…………………………………………149 CHAPTER VI. EMOTION SCALE MODELS AND EXERCISES ………………….……....152 Why is it important to study emotion? ............................................................................154 What is an Emotion Scale Model? ..................................................................................155 Emotion exercises – Scales ………………………………………………………….…162 Summary ...……………………………………………………………………..............174 CHAPTER VII. CONCLUSION …………………………………………………………...….176 Restatement of historical research issues ………………………………………………177 Summary of findings ………………………………………………………….……..…180 Future research …………………………………………………………………………183 Future interdisciplinary discourse ………………………………………….…………..185 Concluding thoughts ………………………………………………………...…………187 APPENDIX I. GLOSSARY OF TERMS ……………………………………..………….……188 APPENDIX II. EMOTION SCALE EXERCISE WORD BANK …………………….………196 REFERENCES……………………………………………………...………………………….202 viii LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1.1 Conquergood’s Moral Map, “Performance as a Moral Act: Ethical Dimensions of the Ethnography of Performance” (5)……..…………….11 Figure 2.1 Cicero’s descriptions of vocal emotion (qtd in Cole 24)………………………...30 Figure 2.2 Diagram of the Medieval Cell Doctrine (Carruthers and Ziolkowski 122-23, Clarke and Dewhurst 29) ………………………………………………………. 36 Figure 2.3 “Avicenna’s diagram of the Cell Doctrine” (Clarke and Dewhurst 30)……........37 Figure 2.4 “First Image of Luke” (Carruthers and Ziolkowski 281)…………………..……39 Figure 2.5 “Avicenna’s model of psychology and ‘Soul is Unity’” (Gruner 142)……...…..48 Figure 2.6 Aaron Hill’s sequence of emotional expression in acting…………...…………..57 Figure 2.7 Emotion Models of John Locke and Aaron Hill…………………………………58 Figure 2.8 Delsarte basic chart (Delaumosne 5) ……………………..……………………..62 Figure 2.9 Delsarte chart for the head (Stebbins 223)…………………………………….....62 Figure 2.10 Stella Adler’s chart of The Stanislavski System (Lewis Method 34) …………...73 Figure 2.11 Richard Schechner’s Rasabox (36)………………………………………………78 Figure 3.1 Memory Model from “Mechanisms of Memory” (Squire 505)………….…...… 90 Figure 3.2 Memory Model from Fundamentals of Human Neuropsychology (364) ……….90 Figure 3.3 Body in the brain – somatosensory homunculus (Baars and Gage 137) ...….....100 Figure 3.4 Body in the brain – motor homunculus (Baars and Gage 137) …….……….… 100 Figure 4.1 Performance Memory Model: X-Axis - Length of time (Rooney © 2010)….....113 Figure 4.2 Performance Memory Model: Y-Axis -Types (Rooney © 2010)…......……..…114 Figure 4.3 Performance Memory Model - Example of diagramming (Rooney © 2010) ....125 ix Figure 5.1 Model of emotion sequencing (Plutchik, Emotions and Life 35)………………132 Figure 5.2 Actors’ Viewpoint of sequencing (Rooney © 2010)….……………………..…133 Figure 5.3 Anatomical model of Rage (Panksepp Affective Neurology 195) ……….…… 137 Figure 5.4 Illustrated model of basic emotion (Panksepp, Affective Neurology 53) ……....138 Figure 5.5 Plutchik’s Circumplex Model of Emotions (Emotions and Life 105) ….......….141 Figure 5.6 Plutchik’s multidemenstional Model of Emotions (Emotions and Life 104) .…141 Figure 5.7 Summary of basic emotions from Ortony and Turner………………………143-44 Figure 6.1 Emotion Scale Model - Basic emotions