Our research
Research themes
Perception
We investigate how humans process visual, touch and audio stimuli. Our themes include:
- perception of shapes and textures through sight and touch
- interpretation of colours
- identification of natural scenes
- identity recognition
- understanding visual cues to identify threats
- visually guided action
Our researchers in this field are Prof Wendy Adams, Dr Hayward Godwin, Dr Erich Graf, Dr Christoph Witzel, Prof Sarah Stevenage and Dr Guido Maiello.
Learning, memory and metacognition
We explore the ways in which people gain knowledge, keep it in their memory and assess their own thinking. Current research topics include:
- how associative learning affects everyday behaviours and helps us to predict future events
- exploring the ways we navigate our environment through spatial updating
- our understanding of our own cognitive abilities such as how learn and retain information through metacognition
Our researchers in this field are Dr Tina Seabrooke, Dr Steven Glautier, Dr Phil Higham, Dr Ed Redhead and Prof Sarah Stevenage.
Interaction of Perception and Cognition
We study the mechanisms underlying the interplay between sensory perception and higher cognition, employing a combination of behavioural and neuroimaging techniques. Our key areas of focus are:
- Attentional modulation of perception
- Reward-driven effects on perception
- Perceptual and value-based decision making
- Physiological signature of psychological functions: eye movements, pupillometry, EEG, fMRI.
Our researcher in this field is Dr Arezoo Pooresmaeili.
Reading
We record and analyse eye movements to understand the neural, cognitive and behavioural processes that are active during reading. We examine:
- how parafoveal processing affects the way we read
- reading processes in different languages with native and non-native speakers
- how different skills levels influence eye movements during reading
Our researcher in this field is Dr Denis Drieghe.