Experimental Psychology Seminar

Abstract: Everybody would likely agree with John Donne’s assertion that "No man [or woman] is an island, entire of itself." However, much research within cognitive neuroscience still starts from an implicit dichotomy between the self and the setting. In this talk, I draw on the Gibsonian concept of affordances to explore how and why our environments adaptively respond to us, and how this interaction influences the development of executive control. I present findings from several studies funded by the European Research Council, the European Union, the Medical Research Council UK, and the Economic and Social Research Council UK, that used dyadic EEG recordings during free-flowing, naturalistic interpersonal exchanges in the lab, as well as multi-person wearable microphones, cameras, and physiological monitors in home settings. I focus particularly on how our environments are dynamic and adaptive, and how predictability and contingency in our early physical and social surroundings may drive the development of executive control.

Zoom: https://ucl.zoom.us/j/92338463741?pwd=VQfeGsC5d9FArd72iFh9JL5iB7zKVg.1
Meeting ID: 923 3846 3741
Passcode: 223398