The Consciousness of Acting: The Effect of Divided and Unified Consciousness on Acting Performance
Maria Pleshkevich, Mark E. Mattson
Journal of Consciousness Studies February 1, 2024 DOI: 10.53765/20512201.31.1.110 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Experimental study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 24 |
| Population | Acting students and professionals |
| Measures | monologue ratings by acting professors, interference task performance scores, creativity and dissociative experiences questionnaire, open-ended questions |
| Key findings | Participants scored better on both the interference task and, according to one of two acting professors, the monologue when instructed to incorporate the interference into the imagined world of their monologue (unified consciousness) rather than dissociate it from their performance (divided consciousness). The authors argue that a unified conscious approach may be more adaptive for certain daily functions such as multitasking. |
Abstract
The art of acting, drama, or theatre has been largely excluded from the debate on the nature of consciousness in the scientific community. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether acting performance benefits from a divided or unified state of consciousness. Twenty-four acting students and professionals performed a monologue three times, twice with an interference task. Two different sets of instructions were provided for this task: one that asked participants to incorporate the interference into the world of their monologue (unified consciousness), and another that asked them to dissociate it from their theatrical performance (divided consciousness). The variables studied included an evaluation of performance on primary and secondary tasks, as well as responses on a creativity and dissociative experiences questionnaire and to open-ended questions. Two acting professors provided monologue ratings. There was a significant difference in interference task performance scores for the divided and unified conscious conditions, as well as for the primary rater's monologue scores. Participants performed better on both tasks when they were asked to incorporate the interference into the imagined world of their monologue. These results show that a unified conscious approach results in better performance on certain tasks, implying that unified consciousness may be more adaptive for certain daily functions such as multitasking.