Physical and cognitive constraints in human movement planning and control.

Imagine you are sitting at a well laid breakfast table and you want to reach out and pick up the Marmite jar. This apparently simple everyday task requires, besides many other processes, to program and execute a complex reaching movement selecting a movement path that avoids collisions with other objects placed on the table.
Investigating hand-movements, as an example of skillful and complex actions, provides us with valuable insights in how humans use vision for action planning and control. While there are numerous studies investigating how the properties of the object we are interacting with (e.g., its size, shape and weight) affect our movement kinematics in distraction-free environments, little is known about how the properties of the surrounding workspace (e.g. the surface of the table top an object is placed on) and the distribution of our attentional resources (e.g., where we look or where we attend to) modify our movements. Investigating the interrelationship between vision and action and the processing limits of the sensory-motor system will shed light on behavioural and neuronal bottlenecks of perception and action and therefore contribute to a functional understanding of how humans perform actions in more complex and natural environments.
To investigate these questions we use a variety of research tools (psychophysics, high-precision motion tracking, eye-tracking). The research contributes to the interpretation and understanding of perception-action deficits in neuropsychological patients (e.g., patients suffering from visual neglect) and is also relevant for optimizing human-machine interfaces. My publications in this area can be seen here: http://www.abdn.ac.uk/psychology/people/profiles/c.hesse/?publications

Candidates must hold (or be expected to obtain) an Upper Second Class honours degree in Psychology or cognate discipline as a minimum requirement. Additional research experience would be an advantage. Applications must be made through the University of Aberdeen applicant portal: http://www.abdn.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/apply.php. Applications must include: 1) An on-line form completed through the applicant portal. 2) A project proposal, maximum 1500 words (excluding references), describing the background, aims, and suggestions for 2-3 studies to address the aims. Applicants can liaise with the supervisor when developing their proposal. 3) Two academic references – please attach the references to the application or include full referee contact details. 4) A CV outlining your academic qualifications and research experience to date. If possible, it would be useful to add an academic transcript.