An empirical study of cognition and theatrical improvisation

This paper presents preliminary findings from our empirical study of the cognition employed by performers in improvisational theatre. Our study has been conducted in a laboratory setting with local improvisers. Participants performed predesigned improv “games”, which were videotaped and shown to each individual participant for a retrospective protocol collection. The participants were then shown the video again as a group to elicit data on group dynamics, misunderstandings, etc. This paper presents our initial findings that we have built based on our initial analysis of the data and highlights details of interest. Author Keywords Improvisation, empirical study, cognition, drama, narrative, performance ACM Classification Keywords J.5: Computer Applications: Arts and Humanities. General Terms Experimentation.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2009
• Where: CANDC
• Authors: Brian Magerko, Waleed Manzoul, Mark Riedl, Allan Baumer, Daniel Fuller, Kurt Luther, Celia Pearce
• Keywords: Author Keywords Improvisation, CANDC 2009, Emerging Technology, Empirical Study, Retrospective Protocol Collection