Bennett Bertenthal: Cognitive Science Program: Indiana University Bloomington

Research interests

For the past 40 years, my research has focused on the perception and understanding of the spatial and temporal dynamics of social and non-social actions. Special emphasis is placed on the correspondence between the observation and execution of actions. Much of this research is concerned with identifying the mechanisms necessary for prospective control and how this control develops as the individual gains more experience with selecting and controlling the relevant response. My laboratory is well prepared to address these problems for a number of reasons including: (1) significant research experience studying the development of perception and action coupling (e.g., visual control of posture, reaching, locomotion, etc.), as well as the early representation of objects and their properties; (2) familiarity and experience with a multidisciplinary set of research methods and techniques, such as eye tracking, biomechanics, signal processing, psychophysics, electrophysiology, and chronometric approaches; (3) experience with linear and nonlinear modeling approaches to complex sets of data; and (4) a large network of collaborators who support and complement the primary mission of my laboratory.

Professional Experience

1978 79 Postdoctoral Fellow, Brain Research Institute and Department of Pediatrics, UCLA School of Medicine
1979 85 Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Virginia
1985-91 Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Virginia
1988-90 Associate Editor, Developmental Psychology
1989-96 Director, Developmental Training Program, University of Virginia
1991-99 Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Virginia
1991-94 Member, APA Committee on Scientific Awards (Chair, 1994)
1991-96 Member, Human Development and Aging Study Section (Chair, 1994-96)
1995-97 Co-Chair, Program Committee, Society for Research in Child Development
1995-98 Member-at-Large, American Psychological Association, Division 7 Executive Committee
1996-99 Assistant Director, Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences, National Science Foundation
1998-00 Member, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Steering Committee on Reinventing the Social Sciences
1998-00 Member, National Science and Technology Committee on the Future of Children
1998-00 Chair, Oakley Caucus (includes the directors and presidents of social science foundations and national research councils from Western Europe, Canada, and Australia)
1999-06 Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Chicago
1999-0 External Judge, Joint Infrastructure Fund (JIF), United Kingdom
2000-06 Professor, Committee on Computational Neuroscience, University of Chicago
2000-05 Member, Advisory Board, Center for Spatially Integrated Social Science, Santa Barbara
2000 Chair, External Review Committee for Department of Psychology, University of Maine
2001 Member, External Review Committee for Cognitive Science Institute, UCLA
2001-05 Chair, Social and Behavior Science Institutional Review Board, University of Chicago
2001-05 Member, Advisory Board, Cornell Institute for Research on Children
2003-06 Member, Steering Committee, Network for Building Translational Research in Behavioral Science
2004-07 Senior Fellow, Computation Institute, University of Chicago
2005-06 Member, Universität Bielefeld. ZIF Research Group: Embodied Communication in Humans and Machines
2006-07 Member, TeraGrid Users Advisory Committee, Office of Cyberinfrastructure, NSF
2007-10 Dean, College of Arts and Sciences, Indiana University
2007- James H. Rudy Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University
2007- Professor, Cognitive Science Program, Indiana University
2007- Professor, Neuroscience Program, Indiana University
2007-10 Member, President’s Cabinet, Indiana University
2007-10 Member, Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC), Arts & Sciences Deans
2007-10 Member, Association of American Universities (AAU), Arts & Sciences Deans
2008-10 Deputy Director, Indiana Clinical and Translational Science Institute

Awards

1985 Boyd R. McCandless Young Scientist Award
1985-90 NIH Research Career Development Award
1990 Cattell Sabbatical Award
1990 Fellow, Division 7, American Psychological Association (APA)
1991 Fellow, American Psychological Society (APS)
1997- Biography appears in Who’s Who in America
2001 Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
2002 Fellow, Division 1, American Psychological Association (APA)
2004 Max Planck Gesellschaft Scholarship, Max Planck Institute for Psychological Research, Munich Germany.

Representative publications

Origins and early development of perception, action, and representation (1996)
Bennett I Bertenthal
Annual Reviews. 47 (1), 431-459

Abstract: ▪ Abstract Research relevant to the origins and early development of two functionally dissociable perceptual systems is summarized. One system is concerned with the perceptual control and guidance of actions, the other with the perception and recognition of objects and events. Perceptually controlled actions function in real time and are modularly organized. Infants perceive where they are and what they are doing. By contrast, research on object recognition suggests that even young infants represent some of the defining features and physical constraints that specify the identity and continuity of objects. Different factors contribute to developmental changes within the two systems; it is difficult to generalize from one response system to another; and neither perception, action, nor representation qualifies as ontogenetically privileged. All three processes develop from birth as a function of intrinsic processing …

An epigenetic perspective on the development of self-produced locomotion and its consequences (1994)
Bennett I Bertenthal, Joseph J Campos and Rosanne Kermoian
Current Directions in Psychological Science, 3 (5), 140-145

Abstract: The alternative view is that infants are active participants in learning about self and environment, and they provide through their own actions at least some of the experi-ences necessary for further growth and development. In contrast to ex-ternally produced forms of stimulation, these new experiences are available to all infants regardless of their rearing environments.

Eye, head and trunk control: The foundation for manual development (1998)
Bennett Bertenthal and Claes Von Hofsten
Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 22 (4), 515-520

Abstract: Bertenthal, B. and von Hofsten, C. Eye, head, and trunk control: the foundation for manual development. NEUROSCI BIOBEHAV REV 22(4) 515–520.—Mastery of reaching and manipulation relies on adequate postural control. The trunk must be balanced relative to a base of support to allow free movements of the arms and hands. Moreover, the head must be supported flexibly by the trunk so that gaze can be directed toward the target to provide a spatial frame of reference for reaching. For fine manipulation it is also crucial to avoid retinal slips which would introduce blur. Stabilizing gaze is generally accomplished through adjustments of both eye and head position. Until gaze is stabilized, it is difficult to establish a frame of reference between the target and the self. Thus, a nested hierarchy of support involving the eyes, head, and trunk forms an important foundation for manual activity.

Perception and action (1998)
Bennett I Bertenthal and Rachel K Clifton
John Wiley & Sons Inc. 51-102

Abstract: The last chapter on motor development included in this Handbook," The Ontogenesis of Infant Behavior" by Arnold Gesell, appeared over 40 years ago (Gesell, 1954). Research interests shifted following that period and it was thought unnecessary to include a chapter on motor development in subsequent volumes. This period of benign neglect is now behind us, and traditional research on motor development has given way to new conceptions and new domains of study. While Gesell was trying to show maturational changes in behavior norms, we shall highlight the complex dynamic processes that contribute to changes in motor behavior in real and developmental time. Our major focus will be on the development of three action systems: posture, reaching, and locomotion, which are the foundation of many of the later skilled behaviors of children and adults. First, we will provide a brief historical perspective and …

Does perception of biological motion rely on specific brain regions? (2001)
Julie Grezes, Pierre Fonlupt, Bennett Bertenthal, Chantal Delon-Martin, Christoph Segebarth and Jean Decety
Neuroimage, 13 (5), 775-785

Abstract: Perceptionof biological motions plays a major adaptive role in identifying, interpreting, and predicting the actions of others. It may therefore be hypothesized that the perception of biological motions is subserved by a specific neural network. Here we used fMRI to verify this hypothesis. In a group of 10 healthy volunteers, we explored the hemodynamic responses to seven types of visual motion displays: drifting random dots, random dot cube, random dot cube with masking elements, upright point-light walker, inverted point-light walker, upright point-light walker display with masking elements, and inverted point-light walker display with masking elements. A gradient in activation was observed in the occipitotemporal junction. The responses to rigid motion were localized posteriorly to those responses elicited by nonrigid motions. Our results demonstrate that in addition to the posterior portion of superior temporal sulcus …

Haste does not always make waste: Expertise, direction of attention, and speed versus accuracy in performing sensorimotor skills (2004)
Sian L Beilock, Bennett I Bertenthal, Annette M McCoy and Thomas H Carr
Psychonomic bulletin & review, 11 (2), 373-379

Abstract: In two experiments, we examined the attentional mechanisms governing sensorimotor skill execution across levels of expertise. In Experiment 1, novice and expert golfers took a series of putts under dual-task conditions designed to distract attention from putting and under skill-focused conditions that prompted attention to step-by-stePperformance. Novices performed better under skill-focused than under dual-task conditions. Experts showed the opposite pattern. In Experiment 2, novice and expert golfers putted under instructions that emphasized either putting accuracy or speed—the latter intended to reduce the time available to monitor and explicitly adjust execution parameters. Novices putted better under accuracy instructions. Experts were more accurate under speed instructions. In agreement with theories of skill acquisition and automaticity, novice performance is enhanced by conditions that allow for …

Imitative response tendencies following observation of intransitive actions (2006)
Bennett I Bertenthal, Matthew R Longo and Adam Kosobud
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 32 (2), 210

Abstract: Clear and unequivocal evidence shows that observation of object affordances or transitive actions facilitates the activation of a compatible response. By contrast, the evidence showing response facilitation following observation of intransitive actions is less conclusive because automatic imitation and spatial compatibility have been confounded. Three experiments tested whether observation of a finger movement (ie, an intransitive action) in a choice reaction-time task facilitates the corresponding finger movement response because of imitation, a common spatial code, or some combination of both factors. The priming effects of a spatial and an imitative stimulus were tested in combination (Experiment 1), in opposition (Experiment 2), and independently (Experiment 3). Contrary to previous findings, the evidence revealed significant contributions from both automatic imitation and spatial compatibility, but the priming …

Common coding of observation and execution of action in 9-month-old infants (2006)
Matthew R Longo and Bennett I Bertenthal
Infancy, 10 (1), 43-59

Abstract: Do 9-month-old infants motorically simulate actions they perceive others perform? Two experiments tested whether action observation, like overt reaching, is sufficient to elicit the Piagetian A-not-B error. Infants recovered a toy hidden at location A or observed an experimenter recover the toy. After the toy was hidden at location B, infants in both conditions perseverated in reaching to A, demonstrating that active search by the infant is not necessary for the A-not-B error. Consistent with prior research, infants displayed an ipsilateral bias when reaching, the so-called mysterious midline barrier. A similar ipsilateral bias was also observed depending on the manner in which the experimenter reached; infants perseverated following observation of ipsi- but not contralateral reaches by the experimenter. Thus, infants perseverated only following observation of actions they themselves were able to perform, suggesting that …

Phenomenal Permanence and the Development of Predictive Tracking (2007)
Bennett I. Bertenthal, Matthew R. Longo and Sarah Kenny
Child Development, 78 (1), 350-363

Automatic imitation of biomechanically possible and impossible actions: Effects of priming movements versus goals (2008)
Matthew R Longo, Adam Kosobud and Bennett I Bertenthal
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 34 (2), 489

Abstract: Recent behavioral, neuroimaging, and neurophysiological research suggests a common representational code mediating the observation and execution of actions; yet, the nature of this representational code is not well understood. The authors address this question by investigating (a) whether this observation-execution matching system (or mirror system) codes both the constituent movements of an action as well as its goal and (b) how such sensitivity is influenced by top-down effects of instructions. The authors tested the automatic imitation of observed finger actions while manipulating whether the movements were biomechanically possible or impossible, but holding the goal constant. When no mention was made of this difference (Experiment 1), comparable automatic imitation was elicited from possible and impossible actions, suggesting that the actions had been coded at the level of the goal. When attention …

Motor Knowledge and Action Understanding: A Developmental Perspective (2008)
Bennett I. Bertenthal and Matthew R. Longo
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. 323-368

Perception and Action (2010)
Bennett I. Bertenthal
Academic Press. 369-381

Infants' Understanding of Actions Performed by Mechanical Devices (2011)
Ty W. Boyer, Jing Samantha Pan and Bennett I. Bertenthal
Cognition, 121 (1), 1-11

Is automatic imitation a specialized form of stimulus–response compatibility? Dissociating imitative and spatial compatibilities (2012)
Ty W Boyer, Matthew R Longo and Bennett I Bertenthal
Acta Psychologica, 139 (3), 440-448

Abstract: In recent years research on automatic imitation has received considerable attention because it represents an experimental platform for investigating a number of interrelated theories suggesting that the perception of action automatically activates corresponding motor programs. A key debate within this research centers on whether automatic imitation is any different than other long-term S–R associations, such as spatial stimulus–response compatibility. One approach to resolving this issue is to examine whether automatic imitation shows similar response characteristics as other classes of stimulus–response compatibility. This hypothesis was tested by comparing imitative and spatial compatibility effects with a two alternative forced-choice stimulus–response compatibility paradigm. The stimulus on each trial was a left or right hand with either the index or middle finger tapping down. Speeded responses were …

Brief Familiarization Primes Covert Imitation in 9-Month-Old Infants (2011)
Bennett I. Bertenthal and Ty W. Boyer
Proceedings of the 33rd Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society (pp. ). Austin, TX: Cognitive Science Society, 1436-1441

Dissertation Committee Service

Author	Dissertation Title	Committee
Harris, Jack	Automated Cognitive Model Evaluation: Methodologies And Uses (December 2011)	Schuetz, M. (Chair), Bertenthal, B., Busemeyer, J., Leake, D.

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Cognitive Science Program