Research Overview
I study “how we perceive how to do things”, such as, how we see how to walk to a goal, and how to use a tool to reach for an object to grasp it. My research goal is to better understand the roles of perception, learning and cognition in regulating movement and action. Three interests form the main drive of my studies. I want to better understand: (1) the use of “visual strategies” in guiding and calibrating movement and action; (2) how actions are organized to enable us to achieve our goals even when we perform an action in a new way or under unfamiliar conditions; and (3) the processes involved in perceiving the spatial structure of our surroundings.
Some of my previous and current projects are listed on the right (select one of menu items).
One of my future projects is geared towards people with low vision. Low vision has a major impact on the regulation of locomotion. The notion of walking as getting from place to place—something which requires little attention when done with normal vision—-is very slow and stressful when performed with reduced vision. I plan to study how people with low vision see how to control their locomotion, and how we can improve it by increasing the salience of relevant information.