Predictors of engagement in and transfer from acting training.

Studies of transfer effects from arts training to nonarts skills are often criticized for not using random assignment of students to type of training. At the same time, there is little to no research on differences among children who take various kinds of arts classes. The study reported here investigated differences between children enrolling in theater compared with visual arts classes on previous experience and parental-rated characteristics. Children in theater classes were found to have higher levels of previous experience in theater and social activities and higher parental-rated characteristics such as tendency to role play and pretend play than children enrolled in a year of visual arts classes. Previously, a year of theater classes had been associated with an increase in self-reported empathy for these children. The currently found differences between groups did not predict transfer outcomes in empathy. Implications for studies of the effects of arts training and profiles of children who take arts classes are discussed.