University of North Carolina-Charlotte

Title of Study/Project:

List of Team Members and Their Affiliation

• Mark Pizzato
• Paul Youngman
• Ted Carmichael

SEASR Staff Contact

• David Tcheng

Procedural Outline of Study/Project

1. Research Question/Purpose of Study

   Using Lacanian psychoanalytic theory and neuroscience research, various readers'/spectators' brains will be modeled, each with a distinct numerical S bias ("Symbolic," abstract, linear, rational, executive processes, more in left cortex), I bias ("Imaginary," pictorial, holistic, intuitive, novelty-detecting functions, more in right hemisphere), and R bias ("Real" emotions and drives of subcortical regions). A Complex Adaptive System (CAS) model, to be funded by a proposed NSF grant, will show readers'/spectators' receptivity to such values while reading certain dramatic texts and experiencing them in video or theatrical performances. For example, a spectrum of audience brains will be modeled, with color coding for changes in the S, I, and R activity--as such values are affected during the reading and performance of Hamlet's "To be or not to be" speech, depending on their proximity to the stage and each other (or effects of rereading, class discussion, or different video performances of the monolog). Experiments with the model will investigate the threshold of cathartic effects (continuous flow between brain areas) or overload in one area. Eventually, other types of dramas, various stage configurations, acting, set, and costume styles might be modeled. With further grant money and hardware, a live audience experience may be monitored with dials for S and I values, plus galvanic skin response for R value.

2. Data Source (in fall 2009 and later)

   • Students score dramatic texts with Symbolic, Imaginary, and Real values for each line
   • Students score various performances of those dramas on video using same system
   • Use WordNet (or other databases) to analyze keywords in dramatic text, like in UIMA
   • Train learning algorithms to quantify S, I, and R values for lines of this and other dramatic texts, like in NEMA/NESTER (working with David Tcheng of NCSA)
   • Use GSR (galvanic skin response) and other monitors for live-time audience responses to performance onstage or onscreen, involving Real, Imaginary, and Symbolic orders

3. Analysis Tools

   • Compare results of student scores for dramas and videos with keyword and algorithmic analyses and then with spectator responses
   • Model results as CAS (with NSF grant at UNC-Charlotte's Complexity Institute) to find cathartic effects in audience and potential thresholds of overloading collective brain functions
   • Apply findings to various theatre theories, with different directing, acting, and design choices
   • Also apply findings to performance studies situations beyond theatre, such as political speakers and spectacles, movies, TV, Webcasting, and other mass media events
   • Graph and disseminate data through SEASR

Activity Timeline or Milestones

Report or Project Outcome(s)

Ideas on what your team needs from SEASR staff to help you achieve your goal.

Team Communication Plans