Understanding human action as observable cognition using combined motion-tracking, eye-tracking and EEG

使用运动跟踪、眼球跟踪和脑电图相结合，将人类行为理解为可观察的认知

• 批准号: RGPIN-2014-05248
• 负责人: Chapman, Craig
• 金额: $ 2.11万
• 依托单位: University of Alberta
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2014-01-01 至 2015-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=567042
• 关键词: Understanding; human; action; observable; cognition

It is conventional to characterize human behaviour as a serial process: first we receive external stimuli (Perception), then we select and process relevant information (Cognition) and finally we produce movements (Action). While convenient, this simple conceptualization fails to capture the rich dynamics of real neural processing and behaviour. In this proposal, I will explore one of the limitations of this conventional thinking and demonstrate how action is best understood as an observable component of cognition, rather than an isolated, last step in a serial process. This important and new idea suggests that it is not just what actions we make, but also the subtleties of how we perform them that directly reflects our thought processes. This large-scale, long term objective will be investigated in a research program divided into two smaller-scale research themes. Each theme will be investigated by a research team, led by a graduate student with collaborative contributions from other graduate and undergraduate students. In the first theme, I will establish reciprocal links between cognition observed through neuroimaging and cognition observed in action through two research questions that directly build on my previous theoretical and methodological expertise: 1) What is the time course of target selection and obstacle avoidance? and 2) How does the reward or loss value of an object affect its processing? The resulting experiments will use completely novel methods, integrating reach-tracking, eye-tracking and electroencephalography. This integration offers several key advantages: First, it will provide compelling convergent evidence for the "action as observable cognition" hypothesis. Second, it will expand graduate students’ toolkit of methods. Third, it will allow previously impossible correlations to be explored. For example, we will now have the power to see, on a trial by trial basis, how a specific neural marker correlates with where the eye is looking and how the hand is moving. In the second theme I will test the intriguing implication that inner thoughts are detectable in movements and whether these “body thoughts” are communicable to another person. I will again use two research questions: 1) Is reward information (e.g. points assigned to targets) reflected in movement? and 2) Are individual hedonic preferences reflected in movement? The resulting experiments will use a combination of reach- and eye-tracking as well as two novel methods: person perception videos (where videos of participants in one experiment become the stimuli for participants in a second experiment) and dyad studies (where two participants perform a reaching task together to see how their mutual movements affect one another). This research program is designed to provide elite training for both undergraduate and graduate students. It will be conducted in a cutting edge research laboratory with integrated methods that are unique in the world. Most importantly, these bold new research directions will be investigated in a research atmosphere based on the principles of collaboration, passion and convergent techniques. The overarching goal of this work is to directly confront problems with the conventional view of behaviour in order to open up exciting and wide ranging research avenues. For instance, it leads to better understanding of autism spectrum disorders by understanding potential problems detecting and communicating body thoughts, better human computer interfaces by harnessing new technologies to recognize human thought from action and better diagnostic information to clinicians working with patients with motor deficits.

传统上将人类行为描述为一系列过程：首先我们接受外部刺激（感知），然后我们选择和处理相关信息（认知），最后我们产生运动（行动）。虽然很方便，但这种简单的概念化无法捕捉到真实的神经处理和行为的丰富动态。在这个建议中，我将探讨这种传统思维的局限性之一，并证明如何将行动最好地理解为认知的一个可观察的组成部分，而不是一个孤立的，串行过程中的最后一步。这一重要的新观点表明，不仅我们做出了什么行动，而且我们如何执行这些行动的微妙之处也直接反映了我们的思维过程。这一大规模的长期目标将在一个分为两个较小规模的研究主题的研究计划中进行调查。每个主题将由一个研究小组进行调查，该研究小组由一名研究生领导，并由其他研究生和本科生共同贡献。 在第一个主题中，我将通过两个研究问题建立通过神经成像观察到的认知和在行动中观察到的认知之间的相互联系，这两个研究问题直接建立在我以前的理论和方法学专业知识的基础上：1）目标选择和障碍回避的时间过程是什么？（2）一个对象的奖励值或损失值如何影响它的加工过程？由此产生的实验将使用完全新颖的方法，整合达到跟踪，眼睛跟踪和脑电图。这种整合提供了几个关键优势：首先，它将为“行动作为可观察的认知”假说提供令人信服的趋同证据。其次，它将扩大研究生的方法工具包。第三，它将允许探索以前不可能的相关性。例如，我们现在将有能力看到，在一个试验的基础上，一个特定的神经标记如何与眼睛看的地方和手如何移动相关。在第二个主题中，我将测试一个有趣的暗示，即内心的想法是可以在运动中检测到的，以及这些“身体的想法”是否可以传达给另一个人。我将再次使用两个研究问题：1）奖励信息（例如分配给目标的点数）是否反映在运动中？2）运动是否反映了个体的享乐偏好？由此产生的实验将结合使用触及和眼动跟踪以及两种新方法：人感知视频（其中一个实验中参与者的视频成为第二个实验中参与者的刺激）和二元研究（其中两个参与者一起执行触及任务，以观察他们的相互运动如何影响彼此）。 这项研究计划旨在为本科生和研究生提供精英培训。它将在一个尖端的研究实验室进行，采用世界上独一无二的综合方法。最重要的是，这些大胆的新研究方向将在基于合作，激情和融合技术原则的研究氛围中进行研究。这项工作的总体目标是直接面对传统行为观的问题，以开辟令人兴奋和广泛的研究途径。例如，它通过了解检测和交流身体思想的潜在问题，更好地了解自闭症谱系障碍，通过利用新技术从行动中识别人类思想，更好地人机界面，以及为与运动缺陷患者合作的临床医生提供更好的诊断信息。