Lafayette Perception Lab
And the Lafayette Infant Perception Project
Lafayette Perception Lab |
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What we do As social animals, human beings must perceive and interpret the actions of other people and of animals. Unlike the movements of inanimate objects, the movements of people and animals can be irregular, even unpredictable, posing a challenge to the visual system. In order for the visual system to provide adequate information about human and animal movement, it must be able to extract the structure of the limb movements relative to the body as a whole as well as to track the trajectory of the body through the environment. In essence, we need to be able to distinguish between Auntie Em coming toward us with open arms and theWicked Witch coming toward us waving her broom. In the Lafayette Perception Lab, we're exploring this capacity and others related to human movement. Our research projects include interest in: • the abilities of both adults and infants to perceive and recognize the movements of people and other animals • visual attention to and memory of people and objects in a complex visual environment • our sensitivity to human movement in the visual periphery The lab is run by Jeannine Pinto, Ph.D., a faculty member in the Psychology Department at Lafayette College. The staff is drawn from outstanding undergraduate students at the College. If you're interested in learning more about our research or in participating, email or phone us.
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