The Cinderella of Psychology
Dr. David Rosenbaum, Pennsylvania State University
Monday, March 14 at 5:30 p.m., 118 Psychology
Abstract
If you come to this talk, it will be a miracle! You’ll surprise yourself by going to a talk on what sounds like the most boring topic ever: How do you control simple motor acts like reaching for objects and walking through rooms? If you come to the talk, it will be a miracle in another way as well: What you’ll do to arrive at the lecture room, make your way to your seat, take off your coat, and sit down is something that no existing robot can do and probably won’t be able to do for a long time to come. Why has the study of motor control been a kind of Cinderella in psychology? You’ll hear about this, some things my colleagues and I have discovered in our attempt to marry motor control and (cognitive) psychology, and possibly leave with a fresh appreciation of the enormous intelligence that you and others bring to bear in even the simplest of tasks.
Suggested Reading
Rosenbaum, D. A. (2005). The Cinderella of psychology: The neglect of motor control in the science of mental life and behavior. American Psychologist, 60, 308-317. [pdf]
Rosenbaum, D. A., Gong, L., & Potts, C. A. (2014). Pre-crastination: Hastening subgoal completion at the expense of extra physical effort. Psychological Science, 25, 1487- 1496. [pdf]
Rosenbaum, D. A., Herbort, O., van der Wel, R., & Weiss, D. J. (2014). What’s in a grasp? American Scientist (September-October issue), 102, 366-373. [pdf]