Current Research Grants/Projects

Gaze Signaling in Interactive and Collaborative Small- and Large-Scale Actions (GazeACT) within the DFG SPP 2481 "UGaze"

Project Description:

Research on eye movements examining perceptual and cognitive processes have primarily been studied in isolated (single observer) scenarios, even when aiming to scrutinize social interactions and/or collaborations in humans. While there is some evidenceto suggest that gaze in small-scale and large-scale human social interactions and collaborations can be highly informative to understand the intentions of others, our general understanding of gaze signaling in such scenarios is very limited. Therefore, the aim of this tandem research project is to examine the function of gaze signaling in guiding actions in small-scale hand movements and large-scale whole-body movements in dynamic, real-time interactive and collaborative tasks while measuring gaze of two individuals (i.e., two interactors/ two collaborators). Interactive tasks refer to tasks in which two individuals interact while each individual pursues their own goals (e.g., grasping and handing over an object or walking past another without colliding). In contrast, collaborative tasks refer to tasks in which two individuals perform a task together to achieve a joint goal (e.g., jointly grasping and lifting an object to fit it into a frame or carrying a table together to fit it through a gap). Studying these tasks will allow us (i) to identify, characterize, and compare gaze patterns in interactive and collaborative actions, and specifically to improve our understanding of (ii) how gaze signaling and its interpretation changes while actions unfold over time, and (iii) how gaze signaling is affected by factors of the other person (e.g., informational value of the other’s gaze) and the joint task itself (e.g., task difficulty). With this tandem (i.e., small-scale and large-scale) approach, this project aims at making a significant contribution to two key development areas of UGaze, namely (I) Gaze Expression and (II) Gaze Sharing, across a broad range of commonplace, social human interactive and collaborative daily tasks.

Funding body:

This project is funded by the German Research Foundation [DFG SPP 2481] from December 2025 until December 2028; PIs: Prof. Dr. Rouwen Cañal Bruland, Friedrich Schiller University Jena & Prof. Dr. Katja Fiehler, Justus Liebig University Giessen.

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Navigating Anticipation Research to New Frontiers (VolkswagenStiftung)

Project Description:

This project aims to broaden the scope of current approaches towards anticipation by examining anticipatory processes in dynamic, interactive real-time encounters. The project integrates interdisciplinary impulses, for instance, from the social cognitive neurosciences with the aim to truly embrace and uncover the social dynamics in real-time interactions. As previous approaches turned a blind eye on the social dynamics of anticipation, this Momentum project is aimed at establishing a new paradigm by setting up a VR laboratory. This VR set-up allows to simulate, experimentally manipulate and hence examine dynamic movement interactions between participants and virtual avatars. To realize the aims of the project the applicant seeks to build an interdisciplinary team, including two postdocs with backgrounds in social cognitive neuroscience and human movement science/biomechanics as well as a computer scientist (for more info, see hereExternal link)

Funding body:

VolkswagenStiftungExternal link (Momentum-Förderung) from June 2024 until May 2028, PI: Prof. Dr. Rouwen Cañal Bruland, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena.

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Unraveling crosstalk from lower-level motor coordination to higher-levels in the cognitive-behavioral hierarchy (DFG SPP 1772)

Project Description:

Complex commonplace tasks, such as driving a car or playing soccer, are thought to be organized hierarchically. Hierachical organisation refers to the idea that overarching higher-level decisions (e.g., deciding which route to take with the car) govern the functioning of processes coordinated at lower levels of the hierarchy (e.g., steering the car). Notably, decisions on higher-levels of the behavioral hierarchy often have to be made while simultaneously coordinating lower-level motor processes, dubbed as multitasking. Whereas cognitive models of the hierarchical control of behavior assume that processing at different levels of the hierarchy is more or less independent, research on multitasking, embodiment, and ideomotor theory suggests that not only do higher-level decisions determine lower-level processing but that crosstalk stemming from lower-level processing also affects higher-level decision making. However, this type of crosstalk is under-researched as the literature on multitasking predominantly focusses on the coordination of independent rather than hierarchically nested tasks and because models on hierarchically organized behavior typically assume independence of the involved processes.

Therefore, the aim of the proposed project is to scrutinize to what degree higher-level (cognitive) decisions are affected by the ongoing coordination of lower-level (motor) actions that are necessary to implement the higher-level decisions. To this end, we follow and combine movement scientific and psychological approaches and paradigms to examine and identify the impact of three potential different crosstalk pathways from lower to higher levels of the hierarchy. Two tasks - a real-life walking task and a computer-based tracking task - will be employed that complement each other within the proposed project. Whereas the walking task enables us to examine crosstalk in a complex, ecologically valid situations, the computerized simpler tracking tasks allows for more fine-grained scrutiny of the phenomenon. Importantly, establishing and utilizing these two paradigms in conjunction is mandatory to finally address questions concerning transfer of crosstalk across different tasks, thereby allowing to speak to issues regarding the generalizability of the studied crosstalk phenomena.

In summary, bringing together expertise and paradigms from movement science and cognitive psychology, this project allows to generate knowledge about human multitasking and crosstalk from lower-level coordination to higher-levels in the cognitive-behavioral hierarchy that is both practically relevant to and applicable in a multitude of daily human behaviors.

Funding Body:

This project is funded by the German Research Foundation [DFG SPP 1772] from January 2019 until September 2022; PIs: Prof. Dr. Rouwen Cañal Bruland, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena & PD Dr. Oliver Herbort, Julius-Maximilians-University Würzburg.

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Moving in time and space - Do (a)symmetric time-space mappings depend on modality-specific processing? (DFG)

Project Description:

Embodied cognition accounts submit that cognitive representations such as representations of time and space and movements mutually modulate each other. Yet, two conflicting theories provide alternative explanations as to how this modulation is effectuated. According to the asymmetry hypothesis movements influence spatial representations, which then influence temporal representations. Therefore, with respect to time-space mappings, the asymmetry hypothesis predicts that spatial representations have a larger impact on temporal representations than temporal representations on spatial representations. In contrast, A Theory of Magnitude (ATOM) advocates that time and space are processed by a shared magnitude system that develops through movement. Consequently, with respect to time-space mappings, the ATOM hypothesis proposes that temporal and spatial representations impact each other equally. While both theoretical approaches have received empirical support, closer inspection reveals that this may - in part - be due to the relative contribution of different modalities to finding task-appropriate solutions. It is well known that the processing of time and space is differently sensitive within the different modalities. For instance, auditory information processing is more sensitive to temporal than spatial information, whereas visual information processing is more sensitive to spatial than temporal information. It follows that a proper test of either hypothesis needs to control for relative contributions of different modalities for task-appropriate solutions. To this end, the aim of the proposed research project is to systematically manipulate the relative informational value of different modalities for tasks that require accurate temporal and spatial representations (i.e., catching a ball). The unique contribution of this research project is a critical test of the asymmetry hypothesis against ATOM from an embodied cognition perspective, thereby fundamentally increasing our understanding how interactions between movements and space-time mappings are modulated by modality-specific processing.

Funding Body:

This project is funded by the German Research Foundation [DFG] from October 2018 until December 2020; PIs: Prof. Dr. Rouwen Cañal Bruland, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena & Prof. Dr. Markus Raab, German Sports University Cologne; together with Jonna Loeffler, German Sports University Cologne.

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The groundedness of temporal and spatial representations in movement: Examining the bi-directionality and asymmetry hypotheses from an embodied cognition perspective. (DFG)

Project Description:

Embodied cognition posits that abstract conceptual knowledge such as mental representations of time and space are at least partially grounded in sensory-motor experiences. Assuming a bi-directional link, it is hypothesized that changes to the motor system (i.e., by means of movements) impact on perceptions of time and space, and changes to representations of time and space influence motor behavior. The aim of the proposed research project is to empirically and systematically examine the bi-directionality hypothesis from an embodiment perspective that is grounded in human movement. Intriguing insights into our understanding of abstract domains such as representations of time indicate that representations of time are understood by means of spatial metaphors. Interestingly, however, while spatial metaphors are paramount in shaping our understanding of time, temporal metaphors seem of lesser relevance when making spatial judgments. This asymmetry in metaphorical map-pings of time and space allows us to generate straightforward, embodiment hypotheses and to put these to close experimental scrutiny. The unique contribution of this research project is to examine the bi-directionality and the asymmetry hypotheses while measuring the impact of the qualities (i.e. kinematic characteristics) of whole-body movements on temporal and spatial representations and vice versa, that is, the impact of time- or space-oriented metaphorical instructions on the qualities of whole-body movements.

Funding Body:

This project is funded by the German Research Foundation [DFG] from 2014 until 2018; PI: Prof. Dr. Markus Raab, German Sports University Cologne; Co-PI: Prof. Dr. Rouwen Cañal Bruland, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena; for more information about the Project hereExternal link).