INFORMATION FOR
This is a list of our research with adults.
Conflicting information
There has been significant research over the past few years using search tasks to examine what available spatial information (geometric information from the shape of the environment, and/or landmark information provided by items within the environment) human adults and children as well as many different animal species use when they reorient. Reorientation is a useful tool because it allows a look at the navigation system as it resets itself, thus offering a relatively pure view of which information the system relies on most heavily. Previous work with adults indicates that although they are highly sensitive to and most likely to use landmark information in their search behavior, their reliance on, and even their ability to use landmarks at all, can be disrupted with a distracter task. The current project was designed to follow up on a previous study in the lab investigating the possible independence of landmark and geometric information in adults by looking at their reaction times to a choice task in which the availability of landmarks and geometry will be varied. Previous research indicates that geometric and landmark information are processed independently in rats, and this study will explore the possibility of that independence in humans. The current study will be a training study where participants learn to respond relative to the location of a moving landmark on one trial type and the geometric properties of the figure on the other trial type. Test trials will put the two pieces of information in conflict to see which one has a stronger pull on behavior.
Object search
Spatial navigation comprises a large number of abilities that are essential to survival. The most complex of the spatial navigation systems is called place learning. Place learning involves the use of multiple distant landmarks in the environment to uniquely specify a location. It is a powerful system that allows an animal to find its way home from novel locations and find the platform hidden in a murky pool of water. Directional learning is a less sophisticated system where the animal learns to move in a specific direction to find a desired object, but that location is more loosely specified. This proposal is to look at solutions to a popular place learning task (Morris Water Maze) under conditions that require either directional learning or place learning to see if the developmental trajectory of these two navigational systems is different. The project involves a computer-based task with an aerial view of a room depicting a round circular arena housed within a large square room. The circle represents the pool and the square room contains twelve pictures of animals that can be used for distal cues to navigate to the proper target location. In the directional and place learning trials the circular arena will be arranged eight different but overlapping places in the larger rectangular space. In the directional trials the target will move with the movements of the circular arena (thus maintaining its relative location within the pool) and for the place learning trials the absolute position of the target within the larger room will remain the same even as pool moves over trails (requiring true place learning).
Autism and the Video Deficit
This study, funded by the NJ ACE, is constructed to do determine whether children with autism have a different mode of imitating than typically developing children, and whether or not video offers children with autism an advantage over live instruction. Children will be in one of two groups: one group that will see a demonstration on how to complete a four piece abstract puzzle, and one that will not. All the children who see a demonstration will see exactly the same thing, but half of them will see it on a video screen and the other half will see an in person demonstration. Following the demonstration, the child will be given a turn to complete the puzzle and the researchers will watch to see if the child displays any imitation behaviors. We expect that the children with autism will show less imitation overall, and that they will imitate the video demonstration more frequently and more accurately, which would lend support for an increase in video intervention for young children with autism.
When searching for an object, humans utilize either the environment’s geometric information or landmark information to find the object. Previous research indicates that although adults are highly sensitive and reliant upon landmark information, this ability can be disrupted with a distractor task. This suggests that geometric information and landmark information can be processed independently in humans. This study is presented to children as a hide and seek game on a computer, where children must find where Mr.Smiley is hiding behind different geometric figures. Across several trials, children are taught that Mr.Smiley likes to hide relative to the location of a moving landmark, or relative to the geometric properties of the figure. At the end of the experiment, these two pieces of information will be put into conflict as to determine which information has a stronger pull on children's behavior.
Combining items in memory
Complex autobiographical memories are few and far between in early childhood. The mystery of why only a few memories survive could be related to how memories are stored in young children. This study aims to test young children's ability to effectively bind components of a memory by presenting cross-modal stimuli. Children will be presented with pictures of animals and their appropriate sounds, and will be retested with different pairing and new pairs throughout the course of this short experiment. How your child responds will let us detect which type of memory system dominates in children aged four and six, whether it is binding or unitization.
Emotional Expression (AMEE)
Understanding other people's emotions and their emotional expression is crucial to successful functioning in the world. We have developed a task, presented as a matching game, where children are asked to match different faces of the same emotion. By understanding how typically developing children respond to this task, we can help identify when a child is not showing an understanding of emotional expression that is typical for his or her age. If successful, this task can be made available to parents as a practical and easy alternative to the M-CHAT (modified checklist for autism in toddlers).
