Effort, Shape, and Embodied Cognition

Posted on June 22, 2015 by Carol-Lynne Moore

In Warren Lamb’s schema, the individual can use effort and/or shape to give Attention, form an Intention, and make a Commitment. By observing a person’s movement patterns, it is possible to discern whether the individual tends to be Assertive, that is, to apply effort to get results, or whether the person is more concerned to gain Perspective by using shaping.

For example, individuals high in Assertion tend to feel that “nothing happens unless I make it happen.” Their embodied actions incorporate focusing to probe for information, applying pressure to support determination, and pacing time to implement a decision at the opportune moment.… Read More

Extending Laban’s Notions of Embodied Cognition

Posted on June 18, 2015 by Carol-Lynne Moore

By observing that “the dancer moves, not only from place to place, but also from mood to mood,” Laban established human movement as a psychophysical phenomenon. He went on to relate the “movement from mood to mood” –manifested as effort variation – to psychological functions of giving Attention, forming an Intention, and making a Commitment to embodied action.

Laban’s protege, Warren Lamb, reasoned that there must also be correlations between the “movement from place to place” and psychological functions. He found the following associations.… Read More

The Mind in the Body

Posted on June 16, 2015 by Carol-Lynne Moore

According to Rudolf Laban, “The dancer moves, not only from place to place but also from mood to mood.” This simple statement establishes movement as a psychophysical phenomenon. Indeed, Laban was ahead of the embodied cognition theorists, for he recognized that bodily movement happens in two domains – the physical domain of visible space and the psychological domain of thought and feeling.

Thoughts and feelings cannot be observed directly, but they can be inferred from how a particular action is performed.… Read More

The Body in the Mind

Posted on June 11, 2015 by Carol-Lynne Moore

The notion of embodiment refers to the assumption that thoughts, feelings, and reactions that are grounded in sensory experiences and bodily states. By extension, mental processes involve simulations of physical actions and perceptions. For example, early childhood experiences moving about in the physical environment are believed to structure later understanding and representation of abstract concepts such as status, power, time, etc. 

Such notions tend to redress the position of movement professionals as a cognitive minority. As I noted in an earlier blog, we believe that movement is meaningful and may be studied in all its dynamic variations, yielding valuable insights into human behavior.… Read More

Embodiment is Hot

Posted on June 9, 2015 by Carol-Lynne Moore

Attention movement professionals – the body is now on everyone’s mind. From psychologists and philosophers to computer scientists and robotic engineers, everyone is saying goodbye to Descartes and the separation of body and mind and hello to “embodied cognition.”

Put simply, embodied cognition posits that intelligent behavior emerges from the interplay between brain, body, and the environment. Thinking is no longer the function of an isolated brain performing disembodied calculations based upon abstract concepts. Instead, the raw materials for thought are distributed over the brain, body, and environment and coupled together via our perceptual systems.… Read More

Celebrating Meaningful Movement Analysis

Posted on June 4, 2015 by Carol-Lynne Moore

Thirty-five individuals from across the nation and around the world gathered in Golden, Colorado over Memorial Day weekend to celebrate the life and work of movement analysis pioneer, Warren Lamb (1923-2014) at a seminar sponsored by Motus Humanus.

Warren Lamb began his career under the tutelage of movement theorist Rudolf Laban and management consultant F.C. Lawrence.  Their ground-breaking work provided a basis for matching the movement traits of manual laborers to the motion factors of various factory jobs. Lamb took this work much further, to relate movement patterns to cognitive processes used in decision making at the managerial level.… Read More

Teaching Observation Tip 5 – Discover Something

Posted on May 21, 2015 by Carol-Lynne Moore

Movement analysis is not an end in itself. It is a means to an end, a way to solve a problem or discover something. One way I encourage students to apply observation and analysis is through a Challenge Session.

The Challenge Session is a carefully structured class in which students are asked to observe videotaped material and answer a question. I have chosen the material, analyzed it myself, and framed the question – ideally one that can be answered in more than one way.… Read More

Teaching Observation Tip 4 – Show Me

Posted on May 19, 2015 by Carol-Lynne Moore

As students are grappling with the general concepts and descriptive terms of Laban Movement Analysis, they often ask hypothetical questions. For example, “If I were on board a ship crossing the international dateline while balancing an ice cream cone on my nose, would that be lightness?”

Laban Movement Analysis may be a parsimonious taxonomy of abstract terms, but it was developed to provide an empirical description of concrete physical actions. So whenever I get a hypothetical question like the one above, I always ask the student to demonstrate.… Read More

Teaching Observation Tip 3 – Use Video Wisely

Posted on May 14, 2015 by Carol-Lynne Moore

It has taken me years to realize that Laban’s movement analysis system is abstract. The descriptive terms are quite general. Take effort – there are only four motion factors and eight effort qualities for describing any movement a human being can do. This means that the same effort quality can be in movements that look nothing alike, occur in different contexts, and are performed for different reasons.

A student can do strong movements in the studio and concretely experience the physical sensation of increasing pressure.… Read More

Teaching Observation Tip 2 – Rewind

Posted on May 12, 2015 by Carol-Lynne Moore

Human movement exists at a perpetual vanishing point, disappearing even as it is occurring. With no fixed points, movement is devilishly difficult to observe, let alone to pin down and analyze.

Thank goodness for video recording. The rewind button makes it possible for students to see the same event repeated exactly as many times as they need. Live observation, of course, is richer. It is life size, genuinely three-dimensional, and many fine details blurred on a video recording are clearer in the flesh.… Read More