Lights, camera, learn: When the set is as important as the actors

In discussing the training of aspiring actors, Stanislavski makes explicit a simple, intuitive, idea that the setting or circumstances influence how we act. Conversely, the expectation that people are characterized by traits and abilities, and that they employ them with regularity and consistent outcomes across time and space, seems just as intuitive. Despite its surface intuitive appeal, empirical support for the consistency of performance across contexts is not as strong. In fact, context-dependent variation in performance has been documented by behavioral, cognitive, social and sociocultural psychologists. It is therefore ironic that the expectation of consistent performance has traditionally guided educational research and practice.