prof. dr. H. Bekkering (Harold)
Hoogleraar - Cognitieve psychologie
Principal Investigator - Donders Centre for Cognition
Principal Investigator - Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour
Thomas van Aquinostraat 4
6525 GD NIJMEGEN
Postbus 9104
6500 HE NIJMEGEN
Our central position is that Cognition is for Action, i.e. we perceive, memorize and control events in the light of upcoming actions. Moreover, the actions initiated in the past are providing the grounding for future cognition. Following these assumption we have developed research lines in the areas of “Social Interaction”, i.e., the cognitive processes that enable coordinated interaction between different agents, “Embodied Cognition”, i.e., the impact of earlier sensorimotor experiences on language comprehension and number processing, and “Intention and Action”, i.e. how motives and conceptual knowledge about the world influences sensorimotor control.
All research lines utilize a cognitive neuroscience approach to cognition employing behavioural as well as neuroimaging tools (e.g., EEG, fMRI, TMS). Implementations of our basic research findings have been developed for Robotics, e.g., enabling social interactions in autonomous agents, and Education, e.g., advising Publishers and Government about teaching methods for Language and Math.