Interaction in acting training and its different manifestations in novice and professional actors.

This study aimed to identify the characteristics of interactions during acting training and the underlying intrapersonal changes evoked by a training process that emphasizes paying attention to a partner (the Meisner technique). This was operationalized by conducting a post-hoc analysis and categorizing the utterances made by novice and professional actors during acting training based on video and audio recordings. In Study 1, novice participants tended to change their way of communication as the course progressed, decreasing the number of utterances that simply described the partner's behavior and increasing those that speculated about the partner's inner state. We then used a different focus placed on the interaction, as implied by the different kinds of utterances used, to describe the divergences between novice and professional actors regarding their interaction characteristics. In Study 2, results showed that while professional actors devoted themselves more to the connection with their partner and demonstrated more balanced communication, novice actors relied on general inference to speculate about others' affective states. By comparing the characteristics of the utterances between novice and professional actors as they played different roles or made switches (i.e., changing from passive to active utterance in communication), this study suggests that an important impact of acting training on social abilities relates to its potential to increase the levels of involvement in on-going interactions.

Frailty, Falls and Osteoporosis: Learning in Elderly Patients Using a Theatrical Performance in the Classroom.

OBJECTIVE: To ascertain the usefulness of a simulated clinical scene with actors in the classroom (theatrical performance) as a teaching tool for the management of falls and their related injuries. DESIGN: Experimental design of two related groups. SETTING: Spain. PARTICIPANTS: A group of 12 students attended a seminar in which the approach to a clinical case was made using a simulated scene with actors in the classroom (scene group); a non-scene group of 34 students attended the seminar, without a theatrical performance (the same clinical case was read and presented in a traditional manner, oral presentation). MEASUREMENTS: Before and after the seminar, students answered a questionnaire [five questions on theoretical knowledge of falls and osteoporosis (score 0-10) and two on subjective learning perception (linear scale: 0-10) (score 0-20)]. In the scene group were two further questions included at the end on their opinion of the scene and on the seminar overall. RESULTS: Both groups significantly improved in all questionnaire scores after the seminar (p=0.001). The scene group had a greater rise in mean points of the questionnaire before and after the seminar than the non-scene group: theoretical knowledge [3.81±1.69 versus 2.75±1.33 (p=0.033)], subjective questions [6.08±4.10 versus 4.97±2.24 (p=0.247)], and the questionnaire overall [9.89±4.98 versus 7.72±2.66 (p=0.060)]. The scene group had a very good opinion of the usefulness of the scene and of the overall opinion of the seminar: 9.08±0.95 and 9.41±0.79. CONCLUSIONS: Theatrical performance in the classroom seems to promote better learning than classic oral presentation, providing qualitative value by adding creativity and different approaches to the teaching of medicine.

Impact of a workshop about aging on the empathy scores of pharmacy and medical students.

OBJECTIVE: To measure changes in pharmacy and medical students' empathy scores after a 40-minute workshop during which students observed and discussed a theatrical performance about the challenges of aging. METHODS: First-year pharmacy and medical students (n = 187 and n = 183, respectively) participating in the workshop observed and discussed a 10-minute performance in which students enacted problems and concerns faced by elderly patients. The Jefferson Scale of Empathy (JSE) was administered just prior to the workshop (pretest), immediately afterward (posttest 1), and 7 or 26 days afterward (posttest 2). RESULTS: Empathy increased significantly from pretest to posttest 1 for students of each profession (p <0.01). Improvement in empathy scores declined by the time the JSE was readministered to pharmacy students 7 days later and to medical students 26 days later (posttest 2). Similar patterns of improved and declining empathy were found when the data were analyzed by gender and medical student specialty interest (ie, primary vs non-primary care specialties). CONCLUSION: Empathy scores increased but were not sustained for both pharmacy and medical students after a brief workshop on aging that required limited personnel resources.