Konstantin Stanislavski is the creator of the “Stanislavski method”, which is a method that contributed to method acting in drama. Within this method is the concept of emotion memory and how it pertains to an actor establishing or learning a character. This method interacts with the emotion regulation concept in psychology, as emotion being a state of mind and psychological awareness. It can be characterized as storage of past experiences, emotional sensitivity, actual expression, the conscious and unconscious ability to control these emotions and how the nervous system and brain are involved. All these take part in the relationship between emotion regulation and emotion memory. Emotion memory is the actor’s own experience, transformed into
“often when we recall past experiences, we find that feelings conjured up are now stronger, weaker or simply different from the original, but that change is perfectly valid.” (Merlin, 61) The memories merge with each other and our imagination, which ends up making our responses to stimuli more sensitive. “Our whole creative experiences are vivid and full in direct proportion to the power, keenness and exactness of our memory…. sometimes impressions…continue to live in us, grow and become deeper.” (Stanislavsky, 56) Our experience leaves remnants on our central nervous system, which makes the nerves that were triggered by such emotions to become more sensitive to the stimulus. Therefore, making it easier for actors to conjure up a certain emotion that they have felt on numerous occasions or have felt
Stanislavski revealed that internal experiences and their physical expression are unbreakably united. “that human psychological life—moods, desires, feelings, intentions, ambitions—is expressed through simple physical actions, has been confirmed by such scientists as Ivan Pavlov and I. M. Sechenov.” (Moore, 17) Once you start to feel a certain emotion an expression of that emotion is conveyed, which is good to know for an actor when they need to express a certain emotion or stop expressing an