Research and Validation
A good deal of research has been done seeking to test the reliability and validity of the Action Profile® framework, and a number of relevant books, publications and films can be found. The following list sets out the main source material of the field.
Publications#
Top Team Planning - A Study of the Power of Individual Motivation in Management - Pamela Ramsden 1973
In this ground breaking book Ramsden outlines how Action Profiling® provides a powerful approach to management selection, team building and individual development for teams running all types of companies. Ramsden points out that the Action Profile® patterns of powerful top executives can strongly affect the culture of an organisation. This can be highly beneficial or dangerous depending on the time and circumstances of the company. Ramsden provides many examples of how problems have been solved and innovative solutions found for companies in various stages of development.
Action Profiling : Generating Competitive Edge Through Realising Management Potential - Ramsden, Pamela and Zacharias, Jody (Gower, 1993)
This revolutionary book is still considered the reference book that founded the science of 'body language' profiling as a predictor of upper managers' success. 'Action Profiling' became so highly regarded in the field of human resources that it became required reading for the Harvard Business School MBA programme for several years.
The authors use the seminal research by Pamela Ramsden to show how a vast reservoir of hidden potential can be tapped through Action Profiling®; how individuals can optimise time and energy through a better use of their strengths; and how errors can be reduced by recognising and overcoming natural watch points.
Moments of Wholeness - How Awareness of Action Profile® Integrated Movement and Related Modes of Thinking can Enhance Action - Pamela Ramsden in The International Conference on Movement Analysis in Education, Therapy and Science, “Moving from Within” 2007
Have you ever played around with an idea in your head for a while but done nothing about it? Or did you make a few false starts, then let it go, or got stuck? In this innovative chapter Ramsden describes how mind and body work together when we turn dreams and ideas into action. She includes easy to approach methods for enhancing our own unique approaches. She also describes in detail the twelve modes of Action Thinking and Movement Polarities which form the basis of the current model of Action Profiling®
Movement and Making Decisions: The Body-Mind Connection in the Workplace - Moore, Carol-Lynne (Gower, 2005)
Noted movement specialist Carol-Lynne Moore examines the subtle relationship between movement and making decisions. She explores this relationship in the context of recounting the role of movement analysis in the field of work-study. Moore traces the evolving ideas and methods upon which this field is based, from its infancy at the turn of the twentieth century, when it was concerned with efficient patterns of physical labour, to its maturation in the context of corporate management today. As she follows this fascinating history, she shows us how the human body and mind are ever one and inseparable, and how a theory and practice of movement analysis can recapture the elusive nature of movement to reveal human character.
An Eye for Movement: Warren Lamb's career in movement analysis. - McCaw, Dick (2010)
For 50 years, businesses, government, and academia have benefitted from Warren Lamb's approach to decision making and team building. This approach, based on movement observation, is called Movement Pattern Analysis, or MPA. He has been writing about movement for more than 60 years, and in this book, told in transcripts from interviews, extracts from Lamb's diaries and published works, Dick McCaw traces his extraordinary career.
Decision Making and Movement Pattern Analysis (DVD-ROM)
This DVD-ROM, , enables viewers to follow the entire process of Lamb's MPA. Warren Lamb is seen observing the movements of the author of the book, Dick McCaw, then notating them, commenting upon them, and evaluating them
A Framework for Understanding Movement - Lamb, Warren (2012) Lamb focuses on Seven Creative Concepts
The History of Movement Pattern Analysis - Kaylo, Janet MA, CMA, RSMT, SrDMT, MPA (2007)
As Others See Us: Body Movement and the Art of Successful Communication - Goldman, Ellen (Brunner-Routledge, 2004)
As Others See Us, first published in 1994 by Gordon & Breach, is a book designed to introduce the reader to a new way of thinking about the movements, both conscious and unconscious, that we make every day and every second of our lives.
Management Behaviour - Lamb, Warren and Turner, David (1969)
The authors describe a unique method of analysing movement and decision making. The method is based upon Lamb’s unique contributions most notably his original concept of Posture-Gesture-Merger which transcends cultural specificity and is unprecedented in the study of nonverbal behaviour.
Beyond dance, Laban's legacy of movement analysis - Davies, Eden (2006)
The story of how Rudolf Laban and his movement notation system opened the way for a deep and scientific analysis of what constitutes human movement.
Making Connections, total body integration through Bartenieff fundamentals - Hackney, Peggy This remarkable book examines and guides the reader to directly experience what is truly fundamental in human movement and how movement development influences an individual's perceptions and abilities to interact in the world. This approach to movement involves patterning connections in the body according to principles of efficient movement that encourage personal expression and full psycho-physical involvement.
Beyond Words: Movement Observation and Analysis 2nd Edition and Beyond Words, instructor's manual - Moore, Carol-Lynne & Kaoru Yamamoto (2012)
Programme of movement observation & analysis intended to lend new insights into non-verbal communication and aid in the expansion of kinaesthetic awareness.
Laban for all - Newlove, Jean & John Dalby
Rudolf Laban was one of the great theorists and practitioners of movement. He laid down a system for analysing the way the human body moves in space, and ascribed values to its movements, releasing the expressive power contained in each of them. Laban for all offers a simplified version of his system which can be used by relative beginners and more experienced practitioners.
Laban Movement Analysis for User Experience Design - Lepore, Traci (2010)
Validation Studies#
Field Studies of Action Profiling Reliability. Movement Studies Vol 2. Laban/Bartenief Institute of Movement Studies New York USA - Winter, D.D (1987)
This series of studies tested the reliability of the methodology and validated the observability of the phenomena.
Body of Movement and Cognitive Style: Validation of Action Profiling - Winter, D.D (1992)
In Loman Susan and Brandt Rose – The Body-Mind connection in Human Movement Analysis.
Predicting individual differences in decision-making process from signature movement styles: an illustrative study of leaders - Connors, Brenda; Rende, Richard; and Colton, Timothy (2013)
There has been a surge of interest in examining the utility of methods for capturing individual differences in decision making style. The authors illustrate the potential offered by Movement Pattern Analysis MPA that provides predictive insight into individual differences in decision making motivations and actions.
Effort Observation in Movement Research: An Interobserver Reliability Study - McCoubrey, Catherine; Faculty of Hahnemann University Graduate School (1984)
See also: Kalish, 1976; Maletic, 1980; North, 1972; and Sossin, 1983.