An anthology that examines - the interfaces between cognitive studies and Lacanian psychoanalysis, phenomenology and communication theory; the process of acting and the work of Antonio Damasio; and, theatrical response - the dynamics of perception, and the riots that greeted the 1907 production of "The Playboy of the Western World".

Introduction Bruce McConachie and F. Elizabeth Hart Section 1: Performance Theory and Cognition 1. Performance, Phenomenology, and the Cognitive Turn F. Elizabeth Hart 2. Cognitive Studies and Epistemic Competence in Cultural History: Moving Beyond Freud and Lacan Bruce McConachie 3. Performance Strategies, Image Schemas, and Communication Frameworks Tobin Nellhaus Section 2: Drama and Cognition 4. Essentialism and Comedy: A Cognitive Reading of the Motif of Mislaid Identity in Dryden’s Ampitryon (1690) Lisa Zunshine 5. `It Is Required/You Do Awake Your Faith’: Learning to Trust the Body through Performing The Winter’s Tale Naomi Rokotnitz Section 3: Acting and Cognition 6. Neuroscience and Creativity in the Rehearsal Process John Lutterbie 7. Image and Action: Cognitive Neuroscience and Actor Training Rhonda Blair Section 4: The Spectator and Cognition 8. See the Play, Read the Book Howard Mancing 9. Categories and Catcalls: Cognitive Dissonance in The Playboy of the Western World Neal Swettenham Glossary of Terms Jennifer Pierce