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What Studies of Actors and Acting Can Tell Us About Memory and Cognitive Functioning
Abstract
The art of acting has been defined as the ability to live truthfully under imaginary circumstances. Our many years of researching theatrical expertise have pro-duced findings relevant to text comprehension, learning theory, cognitive aging, and expert memory. In this article, we first discuss how large amounts of dialogue, learned in a very short period, can be reproduced in real time with complete spontaneity. We then turn to abstracting the es-sence of acting and applying it to diverse undertakings, from discovering optimal learning strategies to promoting healthy cognitive aging. Finally, we address the implica-tions of acting expertise on current theories of embodied cognition. Actors report that the question they are asked most frequently is, ''How do you learn all those lines?'' However, actors themselves rarely consider memorization a defining skill. Rather they are concerned about giving honest, spontaneous performances, ones that focus on communicating the meanings underlying the literal words. Indeed, when actors do mention memory, it is usually within the context of forgetting the lines until they are needed to communicate the feeling of the moment. The fine British actor, Michael Caine, summed up the process: You must be able to stand there not thinking of that line. You take it off the other actor's face. Otherwise, for your next line, you're not listening and not free to respond naturally, to act spontaneously.
... Some research that investigated what happens when actors learn lines might illuminate the role that movement has on memory and the learning process. Noice and Noice (2006), actors and psychologists, have spent 20 years studying acting and its connection to cognitive function and memory. They sought to reveal what functions help actors learn large amounts of dialogue quickly and with ease. ...
... After testing a variety of theories in various studies, they considered a technique actors use to emotionally connect with the text or attempt to feel what they are saying is true. Noice and Noice (2006) have coined this concept "active experiencing" (AE), which they define as the "use (of) all physical, mental, and emotional channels to communicate the meaning of material to another person, either actually present or imagined" (p. 15). ...
... This study was replicated in multiple settings and with varied populations and revealed similar results. Noice and Noice (2006) also investigated a concept of "subject-performed tasks" (SPT), which is the act of connecting short phrases of text such as "move the cup" or "lift the pen" while actually performing the task. This occurrence, asserts Noice and Noice, may be explained by the use of motoric codes, a belief that when learning Introduction 13 information, some kind of "code" is created in the brain, be it a picture, verbal, or motion code. ...
... Linking action to word learning, for example, makes use of the developmental causal connections between action naming and categorization in young children (Smith, 2005). There is also strong evidence for the interaction between action and comprehension of basic word meaning, meanings of sentences about concrete and abstract situations, and comprehension of extended dialogue and enhanced memory (Noice & Noice, 2006). For key science and engineering vocabulary terms, hand gestures and body movements were created by the teachers during the teacher training and recorded for later viewing by the teachers. ...
... Subjectively, novice participants' knapping behaviors often appeared more physically demanding (e.g., rapid body movements, frequent repositioning, and unregulated battering), corroborating findings in prior experiments examining novice toolmakers (Pargeter et al., 2022) and in studies of motor-skill acquisition more broadly (e.g., Noice & Noice, 2006). This result is reflected in the overall energy expenditure differences between the groups, implying different demands on strength and aerobic fitness (Mateos et al., 2019;Williams-Hatala et al., 2021). ...
Objectives
This study investigates the energetic costs associated with Oldowan‐style flake production and how skill differences influence these costs.
Materials and Methods
Nine adult participants, including novice and expert toolmakers, underwent a 2‐h experimental session where we measured energy expenditure and flaking outcomes. We measured body mass (kg), percent body fat, and fat‐free mass (kg) and used open‐circuit indirect calorimetry to quantify energy expenditure. The lithic analysis used standard linear and mass measurements on the resulting cores and flakes. Qualitative observations from the video recordings provide insight into the subject's body positions and hand grips.
Results
Results reveal significant differences in energy expenditure between novice and expert toolmakers, with experts demonstrating lower overall energy expenditure. Additionally, experts produced more flakes, reduced greater core mass per unit of energy expenditure, and exhibited distinct body positions, hand grips, and core/flake morphologies compared with novices.
Discussion
The study provides novel insights into the bio‐cultural impacts of stone toolmaking skill acquisition, suggesting that skilled performance reduces the metabolic costs of stone tool production. These findings contribute to debates surrounding the origins of human cultural capacities and highlight the importance of including energy expenditure measures in knapping experiments. Moreover, the results suggest that the presence or absence of expertise in the Paleolithic would have fundamentally altered selective pressures and the reliability of skill reproduction. This study enhances our understanding of differences in stone toolmaking skill and their implications for human energy allocation strategies during early technological evolution.
... Linking action to word learning, for example, makes use of the developmental causal connections between action naming and categorization in young children (Smith, 2005). There is also strong evidence for the interaction between action and comprehension of basic word meaning, meanings of sentences about concrete and abstract situations as well as comprehension of extended dialogue and enhanced memory (Noice & Noice, 2006). For key science and engineering vocabulary terms, hand gestures and body movements were created by the teachers during the teacher training and recorded for later viewing by the teachers. ...
In this qualitative, descriptive case study, we examine how elementary emergent bilinguals (EBs) use disciplinary language as they engage in integrated science and engineering instruction. Lessons incorporated language and developmental scaffolds corresponding to EBs' language and content learning needs. Oral production of EB kindergarten to second grade triads was analyzed to assess disciplinary literacy in science inquiry and the engineering design process. Results demonstrate EBs’ use of disciplinary language shifted from paraphrasing ideas and concepts to ‘build on’ others’ ideas and challenging ideas/reasoning in ways that more consistently approximated science and engineering disciplinary literacy. The scaffolds allowed early EBs to successfully engage in disciplinary discourse practices leveraging their full semiotic resources. These results indicate young EBs can reason about evidence and engineering design constraints when provided with supports that address their language and developmental needs. In this context, EBs can successfully engage in science practices and solve engineering design problems.
... Meanwhile, the spotlight of attention focuses on the play's events. Noice and Noice's (1997a) analyses of actors' controlled versus automatic processing in learning (Noice, Noice and Kennedy, 2000;Noice and Noice, 2006) can be similarly interpreted: automatizing elements such as script recitation and choreography enables actors to free their attention to instead focus on their craft. While Stanislavski philosophically discusses these levels of attention, contemporary acting schools such as Meisner (1987) and Practical Aesthetics (Bruder et al., 1986) use them as a basis for their training. ...
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.
... Diğer yandan, yurtdışında bu konu üzerine birçok kitap ve deney odaklı araştırmalar bulunmaktadır. Bu çalışmalardan en kapsamlısı, oyuncuların ezber sürecinde fiilen kullandıkları öğrenme stratejilerinin belirlenmesini amaçlamaktadır (Noice, 1992;Noice and Noice, 2006). Oyuncuların ezber süreçlerini inceleyen bir başka çalışma (Oliver ve Ericsson, 1986), role ilişkin çalışmalar yapıldıktan ve profesyonelce icra edildikten sonra, rolün çeşitli bölümlerinin erişilebilirliğini ve hatırlanma hızını araştırmıştır. ...
Performansın eksiksiz ve hatasız bir şekilde gerçekleştirilmesi ilkesine dayanan tiyatro sanatında oyuncuların replik ezberleme ve unutma deneyimleri temel unsurlardan biridir. Bu çalışmanın amacı, tiyatro oyuncularının oyun metnini ezberleme, unutma deneyimleri ve algılarını araştırmak, bellek deneyiminin temsil pratiği ile ilişkisini incelemektir. Nicel yöntem temel alınan araştırmada betimsel tarama ve anket uygulanması yoluyla mevcut durum ortaya konmaya çalışılmıştır. Araştırmanın evreni, Türkiye’de 2022-2023 tiyatro sezonu içinde performans icra etmiş oyunculardan oluşmaktadır. Araştırmanın örneklemi, çalışma evreni üzerinden alınan toplam 322 oyuncudan oluşmaktadır. Çalışmanın bulgularına göre; oyuncular arasında ezberleme yeteneklerinin farklılık gösterdiği görüşü çoğunluktadır. Ayrıca replik unutma problemleri sadece bellek kapasitesine bağlı tutulmamaktadır. Monolog ve diyalog ezberleme konusunda oyuncular diyalog ezberlemenin daha zorlu olduğunu düşünmektedir. Oyuncular deneyim kazandıkça replik unutma eğiliminin azaldığına inanılmaktadır. Prova sürecinde oyuncular, çeşitli ezber tekniklerini kullanarak replik unutmayı minimize etmeye çalışmaktadır. Bunun yanı sıra oyuncular yeterli prova süresinin unutma eğilimini azalttığına inanmaktadır. Performans sırasında, çoğu oyuncu, replik unutmanın performanslarını veya oyunun bütünlüğünü olumsuz etkilemediği görüşündedir. Oyuncuların ezberleme ve unutma süreçlerine yönelik görüşlerinde eğitim seviyesi, deneyim, yaş ve cinsiyet gibi faktörlerin farklılıklara sebep olduğu gözlemlenmiştir. Özellikle, özel akademilerden mezun olan oyuncuların ezber tekniklerini daha fazla benimsedikleri görülmüştür. Deneyim düzeyi, oyuncuların replik unutma eğilimlerini nasıl değerlendirdikleri konusunda belirleyici bir faktör olarak karşımıza çıkmıştır. Yaşın replik unutma ve sahne performansına etkisi olduğu görülmüştür. Kadın oyuncuların ezber tekniklerinin replik unutma sorunlarına etkili bir çözüm olabileceğine inandıkları gözlemlenmiştir.
... Productivity is a fundamental feature of human cognition and refers to processing or producing an unlimited number of cognitive structures in a given cognitive domain (Velde, 2010). Studies show that activities such as theater acting (Noice et al., 2004;Noice and Noice, 2006), digital photography and quilting (Park et al., 2014), which involve a form of productivity, enhance cognitive functioning in older adults. Some researchers conceptualize linguistic processing in a productive-receptive continuum (Pignot-Shahov, 2012;Webb, 2005), where the degree of control increases from receptive to productive ability (Barrot, 2015). ...
Background
A common belief among people and some researchers is that keeping yourself mentally active may decrease the risk of dementia. Over the past years, despite widespread efforts to identify proxies for protecting cognitive reserve against age-related changes, it is still not clear what type of intellectual activity would be beneficial for cognitive reserve. To fill this gap, we propose a three-dimensional model of intellectual activity. According to this conceptual model, intellectual activities could be distinguished based on their locations in a three-dimensions space, including; (1) Activation: active vs. passive, (2) Novelty: novel vs. familiar, and (3) Productivity: productive vs. receptive. We assumed that the activities that are categorized as more active, novel, and productive could be considered as a cognitive reserve proxy.
Methods
To test this hypothesis, a sample of 237 participants older than 50 years (Mage = 58.76 ± 6.66; 63.7% women) was recruited to take part in the study. Episodic, semantic and working memory were assessed with computerized battery tests (Sepidar) and a self-report questionnaire was used to assess intellectual activities. Activities were categorized in terms of; (1) passive, familiar, and receptive activities (radio/watching TV), (2) active, familiar, and receptive activities (solving crosswords), (3) active, novel, and receptive activities (reading), and (4) active, novel, and productive activities (writing).
Results
The results indicated that writing moderates the effect of age on episodic and semantic memory. Reading only moderates the effect of age on semantic memory, and radio/watching TV and solving crosswords do not play a role in moderation analysis.
Conclusions
Our finding suggests that intellectual activities have different moderating effects on the relationships between age and memory performance. Individuals with high levels of participation in novel and productive activities over the life course are less likely to clinically demonstrate cognitive impairments. Our results support the potential benefit of the three-dimensional model to provide a better insight into the complex role of intellectual activities in cognitive reserve, particularly for older adults. Further research is needed to evaluate the efficacy and the benefits of the model.
Bu araştırma, clown oyunculuğu tekniklerinin, oyunculuk öğrencilerinin dikkat gelişimine etkisini incelemeyi hedeflemektedir. Çalışmada, iki gruplu öntest-sontest deneysel tasarım kullanılmıştır. Araştırmaya, oyunculuk eğitimi alan 10 gönüllü öğrenci katılmıştır. Katılımcıların dikkat ve konsantrasyon düzeylerini ölçmek için, Brickenkamp'ın 1998'de geliştirdiği d2 Dikkat Testi kullanılmıştır. Tüm katılımcılara başlangıçta uygulanan testin ardından, müdahale grubuna bir haftalık clown oyunculuğu eğitimi verilmiştir. Eğitimin tamamlanmasının ardından, tüm katılımcılara test tekrar uygulanmıştır. Verilerin analizinde SPSS 26.0 programı kullanılmış olup, betimleyici istatistikler ile bağımlı ve bağımsız örneklem t-testleri uygulanmıştır. Bulgular, deney grubunun hem kendi içinde hem de kontrol grubuyla kıyaslandığında, şu alanlarda anlamlı gelişmeler gösterdiğini ortaya koymuştur: Psiko-motor hız, kavrama hızı, dikkat yetisi, konsantrasyon performansı. Ayrıca, aynı grupta şu alanlarda azalma gözlenmiştir: Özel öğrenme güçlüğü, seçici dikkat sorunları, dikkat dalgalanmaları. Ek olarak, deney grubundaki 26-32 yaş aralığındaki katılımcıların, dikkat ve konsantrasyon becerilerinde daha belirgin bir ilerleme kaydettikleri tespit edilmiştir (p>0.05). Sonuç olarak, bu çalışma clown oyunculuğu eğitiminin, oyunculuk öğrencilerinin dikkat gelişimlerine potansiyel katkıları olabileceğini göstermektedir.
Αντικείμενο της διδακτορικής διατριβής είναι η αξιολόγηση της αποτελεσματικότητας μιας σειράς ολοκληρωμένων θεατροπαιδαγωγικών μεθοδολογιών για τη γλωσσική εκπαίδευση αναδυόμενα δίγλωσσων μαθητικών πληθυσμών, ηλικίας 10-12 ετών σε καιρούς κοινωνικο-υγειονομικών περιορισμών. Ειδικότερα η έρευνα είχε ως στόχο να εξετάσει την επίδραση επειγουσών εξ αποστάσεως και δια ζώσης διδακτικών παρεμβάσεων γλωσσικής εμβύθισης, που βασίζονται στο εφαρμοσμένο θέατρο και το δράμα, για τη διδασκαλία της ανάγνωσης στη νέα ελληνική ως δεύτερη γλώσσα. Μέσα από μια μεικτής μεθοδολογίας πανελλήνια έρευνα σε 388 αναδυόμενα δίγλωσσους μαθητές/τριες και 204 εκπαιδευτικούς τετάρτης, πέμπτης και έκτης τάξης του δημοτικού σχολείου, εξετάστηκε ολιστικά ο αντίκτυπος θεατροπαιδαγωγικών μεθόδων, με κύριο αυτόν του θεάτρου αναγνωστών, στη βελτίωση της αναγνωστικής αποκωδικοποίησης, της αναγνωστικής ευχέρειας, της αναγνωστικής κατανόησης, στη μείωση των αναγνωστικών λαθών, στην τροποποίηση της αναγνωστικής ικανότητας και των στρατηγικών του μαθητευομένου αναγνώστη. Επίσης εξετάστηκε η συμβολή των μεθοδολογιών αυτών στο αναγνωστικό άγχος, την ψυχοκοινωνική προσαρμογή του δίγλωσσου μαθητή, τη διαχείριση των μαθησιακών δυσκολιών και την αυτο-αποτελεσματικότητα του εκπαιδευτικού να διδάσκει ανάγνωση είτε εξ αποστάσεως είτε εκ του σύνεγγυς. Για τη διερεύνηση των παραπάνω αξιοποιήθηκε πρώτα ημιπειραματικός σχεδιασμός μεταξύ πειραματικής ομάδας και ομάδων ελέγχου μαθητών και εκπαιδευτικών. Αυτός περιλάμβανε προμέτρηση με ένα σύνολο σταθμισμένων κλιμάκων, εξ αποστάσεως και δια ζώσης παρεμβάσεις συνολικής διάρκειας επτά εβδομάδων, μεταμέτρηση και στατιστική σύγκριση για την ανάδειξη συμπερασμάτων. Η σύγκριση μεταξύ των δύο φάσεων συνδυάστηκε με συσταδοποίηση των συμμετεχόντων για την ανάδειξη αναγνωστικών προφίλ ως προς τα διαγλωσσικά χαρακτηριστικά και τις μαθησιακές δυσκολίες των αναγνωστών, ως πρακτική προστιθέμενης αξίας για την αξιολόγηση των παρεμβάσεων. Στη συνέχεια αξιοποιήθηκαν ποιοτικά δεδομένα από ημιδομημένες συνεντεύξεις σε εκπαιδευτικούς και μαθητές, όπως επίσης και από ημερολόγια αναστοχασμού εκπαιδευτικών τα οποία αναλύθηκαν βάσει των αρχών της Εμπειρικά θεμελιωμένης θεωρίας. Σύμφωνα με τα ποσοτικά αποτελέσματα οι μέθοδοι του θεάτρου αναγνωστών και της δραματοποιημένης αφήγησης ιστοριών, ως μεθοδολογίες διδασκαλίας, βελτιώνουν την αναγνωστική ικανότητα και τις σχετικές, με αυτή δεξιότητες, τροποποιούν τις γνωστικές, μεταγνωστικές, κοινωνικές και συναισθηματικές στρατηγικές και μειώνουν τα λάθη του δίγλωσσου αναγνώστη σε σύγκριση με την τυπική διδασκαλία, είτε αυτός αντιμετώπιζε μαθησιακές δυσκολίες είτε όχι. Επίσης συμβάλλουν στην ανάπτυξη μιας αίσθησης αποτελεσματικότητας για τους εκπαιδευτικούς στο να καλλιεργούν είτε εξ αποστάσεως είτε δια ζώσης τον αναγνωστικό εγγραμματισμό. Τα ποιοτικά αποτελέσματα ανέδειξαν ότι το θέατρο αναγνωστών ως μέθοδος διδασκαλίας δημιουργεί ένα αίσθημα αυτονομίας και ασφάλειας στον εκπαιδευτικό, βελτιώνει τις αναγνωστικές επιδόσεις των δίγλωσσων μαθητών του που αντιμετωπίζουν ή όχι μαθησιακές δυσκολίες και επηρεάζει θετικά τη σχολική, ψυχοσυναισθηματική και κοινωνική τους εξέλιξη. Τα ευρήματα της έρευνας υποδηλώνουν ότι η θεατροπαιδαγωγική μέθοδος, το εφαρμοσμένο θέατρο και το δράμα στην εκπαίδευση μπορεί να αποτελέσουν ένα αποτελεσματικό εργαλείο για τον αναγνωστικό εγγραμματισμό και τη διαχείριση των μαθησιακών δυσκολιών των αναδυόμενα δίγλωσσων εκπαιδευομένων, όπως επίσης και ότι η χρήση της τεχνολογίας για την ενίσχυση της εκπαιδευτικής λειτουργίας του δράματος μπορεί να είναι επωφελής όσον αφορά τη βελτίωση της αποτελεσματικότητας των εκπαιδευτικών παρεμβάσεων. Παρέχονται, τέλος, προτάσεις με εκπαιδευτικές προεκτάσεις καθώς και προτάσεις για περαιτέρω έρευνα.
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The aim of the Doctoral thesis is to evaluate the effectiveness of a series of integrated drama-based methodologies for the language education of emergent bilingual 10–12-year-old student populations, in times of socio-health constraints. Particularly, the research aims on examining the impact of emergency remote and face-to-face language submersion teaching interventions based on educational drama for teaching reading in Modern Greek as a second language. Using a mixed-methodology, a nationwide survey of 388 emergent bilingual students and 204 fourth, fifth and sixth grade elementary school teachers, was conducted, and the impact of drama-based methods, with the main one being reader's theatre, was holistically examined, on improving reading decoding, reading fluency, reading comprehension, reducing reading errors, and modifying the learner reader's reading skills and strategies. The contribution of these methodologies to reading anxiety, psychosocial adjustment of the bilingual learner, management of learning difficulties and self-efficacy of the teacher to teach either digital distance or face-to-face reading using drama-based methods, were also examined. To investigate the above, a semi-experimental design between experimental group and control groups of students and teachers, was first utilized. This research design included pre-measurement with a set of psychometric scales, digital distance, and face-to-face interventions of a total duration of seven weeks, post-measurement and statistical comparison to draw conclusions. The comparison between the two phases was combined with cluster analysis of participants to elicit reader profiles, in terms of readers' cross-linguistic characteristics and learning difficulties, as a value-added practice to evaluate the interventions. Qualitative data from semi-structured interviews with both teachers and students, as well as teacher reflection journals were then used according to the principles of the Grounded Theory. According to the quantitative results, the methods of reader's theatre as well as storytelling theatre, as teaching methodologies, improve reading ability and related skills, modify cognitive, metacognitive, social and emotional strategies and reduce bilingual readers' errors, compared to standard teaching, whether they had learning difficulties or not. They also contribute to the development of a sense of efficacy for teachers in cultivating either distance or face-to-face reading literacy. The qualitative results indicate that reader's theatre as a teaching method create a sense of autonomy and security for the teacher, improve the reading performance of bilingual students with or without learning difficulties, and positively influence their academic, psycho-emotional and social development. The findings of the study suggest that theatre pedagogy, applied theatre and drama in education can be an effective tool for reading literacy and managing the learning difficulties of emergent bilingual learners, as well as that the use of technology to enhance educational drama can be beneficial in terms of improving the effectiveness of educational interventions. Finally, suggestions with educational implications are provided as well as suggestions for further research.
Examined the modifiability of 73 older adults' (mean age 70.5 yrs) performance on measures of attentional processes and training transfer to the psychometric ability domains of perceptual speed, memory span, and fluid-crystallized intelligence. Significant training effects occurred for attention measures, and these effects were maintained at 6-mo posttest. However, no far training transfer was found to the ability factors of Fluid-Crystallized Intelligence or Memory Span. This lack of far transfer is supported by prior structural analyses of attention–ability relationships, which showed the present attention measures to load primarily on a Perceptual Speed factor, not on Fluid or Crystallized Intelligence dimensions. It is argued that examination of process–ability relationships within a transfer of training paradigm is of particular relevance for the educational researcher. (42 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The basis for representing narrative events in memory was investigated in reanalyses of the stories and data of R. C. Omanson (1982b, Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 21, 326–337) and N. L. Stein and C. G. Glenn (1979, In New Directions in Discourse Processing, Hillsdale, NJ, Erlbaum). Causal network representations of the stories were derived for prediction of data on immediate and delayed recall, summarization, and judged importance of events. Properties of the networks were compared in multiple regression analyses with other factors, notably the story-grammar categories of the events. Whether or not an event was in a causal chain and the number of its causal connections were both found to account for substantial proportions of common and unique variance in all four measures. The story-grammar category of events also contributed unique variance but overlapped substantially with the causal factors. The concreteness, serial position, and argument overlap of an event failed to account uniquely for the data. A recursive transition network model is discussed that integrates story grammar, causal chain, causal network, and hierarchical problem-solving approaches to story representation.
Data from the Victoria Longitudinal Study were used to examine the hypothesis that maintaining intellectual engagement through participation in everyday activities buffers individuals against cognitive decline in later life. The sample consisted of 250 middle-aged and older adults tested 3 times over 6 years. Structural equation modeling techniques were used to examine the relationships among changes in lifestyle variables and an array of cognitive variables. There was a relationship between changes in intellectually related activities and changes in cognitive functioning. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that intellectually engaging activities serve to buffer individuals against decline. However, an alternative model suggested the findings were also consistent with the hypothesis that high-ability individuals lead intellectually active lives until cognitive decline in old age limits their activities.
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.
Recent research suggests that frequent participation in cognitively stimulating activities may reduce risk of Alzheimer's disease in old age. We review epidemiological evidence of such an association. We then consider whether cognitive activity can account for the association between higher educational and occupational attainment and reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease. Finally, we discuss the behavioral and neurobiological mechanisms that may underlie the association between cognitive activity and risk of Alzheimer's disease.
Important new evidence suggests that under-recruitment of frontal cortex under intentional learning conditions in older adults can be repaired when older subjects are instructed to focus on meaning. However, the tendency for older subjects to activate both hemispheres when young adults recruit only one was not reversible. These findings provide important insights with respect to plasticity and compensation in the aging brain.