Colby Pschology | Perception and Action Laboratory

Michael J. Richardson

Lab Director
Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Colby College

I am an Experimental Psychologist and I began teaching at Colby in the fall of 2006. I am originally from New Zealand and completed my undergraduate (BA) and masters degree (MS) in psychology at the University of Canterbury. I moved to the U.S. in the spring of 2001 where I completed my PhD in experimental psychology at the Center for the Ecological study of Perception and Action, at the University of Connecticut.

My research interests focus on understating how complex cognitive systems detect and process perceptual information and coordinate movements in the service of everyday activity (e.g., walking, reaching, lifting, and throwing). In addition to examining the perceptual-motor processes that support activity at the individual level, my research also focuses on the perceiving and acting processes that underlie social activity. In particular, I study how the human perceptual-motor system allows an individual to coordinate and synchronize the muscles, limbs and segments of his or her body with the muscles, limbs and segments of another individual's body (e.g., when dancing, rowing in a canoe, mimicking or imitating another person's movements, or simply walk and talk with friends).

In doing this research, I am seeking to identify the informational couplings that dynamically constrain the stable patterns of perceiving and acting and the equivalence with which such informational couplings operate to constrain the perceiving-acting cycles that exist (a) within an individual, (b) between an individual and the environment, and (c) between two or more interacting individuals. Intrinsic to these research endeavors are my uses of nonlinear dynamics and the theory of complex systems. These frameworks provide tools and methodologies by which perception, action, and cognition, can be understood as embedded and embodied phenomena that dynamically emerge as a result of self-organization.

See research page: http://www.colby.edu/psychology/labs/PercepAction/research.html

Recent Publications:

Richardson, M. J., Campbell, W. L., & Schmidt, R. C. (in press). Movement interference during action observation as emergent coordination.Neuroscience Letters.

Marsh, K. L., Johnston, L., Richardson, M. J., & Schmidt, R. C. (in press). Toward a radically embodied, embedded social psychology. European Journal of Social Psychology.

Richardson, M. J. Marsh, K. L., & Schmidt, R. C. Challenging egocentric notions of perceiving, acting, and knowing (in press). In L. F. Barrett, B. Mesquita and E. Smith. (Eds.), Mind in Context. Guilford.

Lopresti-Goodman, S., Richardson, M. J., Marsh, K. L., Carello, C., & Baron, R. M. (in press). Task constraints on affordance boundaries. Motor Control.

Richardson, M. J., Lopresti-Goodman, S., Mancini, M., Kay, B. A., & Schmidt, R. C. (2008). Comparing the attractor strength of intra- and interpersonal interlimb coordination using cross recurrence analysis. Neuroscience Letters, 438, 340-345.

Richardson, M. J., Fajen, B. R., Shockley, K., Riley, M. A., Turvey, M. T. (2008). Ecological Psychology: Six Principles for an Embodied-Embedded Approach to Behavior. In. Paco Calvo & Toni Gomila (Eds.). Handbook of Cognitive Science: An Embodied Approach. (pp.161-197). Elsevier.

Lopresti-Goodman, S., Richardson, M. J., Silva, P. L., & Schmidt, R. C. (2008). Period basin of entrainment for unintentional visual coordination. Journal of Motor Control, 40, 3-10

Schmidt, R. C., & Richardson, M. J. (2008). Dynamics of Interpersonal Coordination. In A. Fuchs & V. Jirsa (Eds.) Coordination: Neural, Behavioral and Social Dynamics. Springer.

Fowler, C. A. Richardson, M. J., Marsh, K. L., & Shockley, K. D. (2008). Language use, coordination, and the emergence of cooperative action. In A. Fuchs & V. Jirsa (Eds.) Coordination: Neural, Behavioral and Social Dynamics. Springer.

Richardson, M. J., Marsh, K. L., Isenhower, R., Goodman, J., & Schmidt, R. C. (2007). Rocking together: Dynamics of intentional and unintentional interpersonal coordination . Human Movement Science, 26, 867-891

Richardson, M. J., Marsh, K. L., & Baron, R. M. (2007). Judging and Actualizing Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Affordances. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance. 33, 845-859 .

Schmidt, R. C., Richardson, M. J., Christine A., & Galantucci, B. (2007). Visual tracking and entrainment to an environmental rhythm . Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 33, 860-870.

Shockley, K. D., Baker, A. A., Richardson, M. J., & Fowler, C. A. (2007). Articulatory constraints on interpersonal postural coordination. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 33, 201-208.

Richardson, M. J., Schmidt, R. C., & Kay, B. A. (2007). Distinguishing the noise and attractor strength of coordinated limb movements using recurrence analysis. Biological Cybernetics, 96, 59-78

Goldfield, E. C., Richardson, M. J., Lee, K. G., Margets, S. (2006). Coordination of Sucking, Swallowing, and Breathing and Oxygen Saturation During Early Infant Breast-feeding and Bottle-feeding. Pediatric Research, 60, 450-455.

Marsh, K. L., Richardson, M. J., Baron, R. M., & Schmidt, R. C. (2006). Contrasting approaches to perceiving and acting with others. Ecological Psychology, 18, 1-37.

Richardson, M. J., Marsh, K. L., & Schmidt, R. C. (2005). Effects of visual and verbal information on unintentional interpersonal coordination. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 31, 62-79.

Richardson, M. J., & Johnston, L. (2005). The kinematics of person recognition and deceptive intent. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 29, 25-44

Johnston, L., Hudson, S.M., Richardson, M. J., Gunns, R.E., & Garner, M. (2004). Changing kinematics as a means of reducing vulnerability to attack. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 34, 514 – 537.

Simpson, G., Johnston, L., & Richardson, M. J. (2003). An investigation of child road-crossing in a virtual environment. Journal of Accident Analysis and Prevention, 35, 787-796.

This research is supported, in part, by funding from the Nation Science Foundation: NSF grants BSC-0750190, BSC-0240277, BSC-0342802.

Perception & Action Lab >> Colby > Psychology > Labs > Perception & Action

	Director	Team	Research
Michael J. Richardson Lab Director Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Colby College I am an Experimental Psychologist and I began teaching at Colby in the fall of 2006. I am originally from New Zealand and completed my undergraduate (BA) and masters degree (MS) in psychology at the University of Canterbury. I moved to the U.S. in the spring of 2001 where I completed my PhD in experimental psychology at the Center for the Ecological study of Perception and Action, at the University of Connecticut. My research interests focus on understating how complex cognitive systems detect and process perceptual information and coordinate movements in the service of everyday activity (e.g., walking, reaching, lifting, and throwing). In addition to examining the perceptual-motor processes that support activity at the individual level, my research also focuses on the perceiving and acting processes that underlie social activity. In particular, I study how the human perceptual-motor system allows an individual to coordinate and synchronize the muscles, limbs and segments of his or her body with the muscles, limbs and segments of another individual's body (e.g., when dancing, rowing in a canoe, mimicking or imitating another person's movements, or simply walk and talk with friends). In doing this research, I am seeking to identify the informational couplings that dynamically constrain the stable patterns of perceiving and acting and the equivalence with which such informational couplings operate to constrain the perceiving-acting cycles that exist (a) within an individual, (b) between an individual and the environment, and (c) between two or more interacting individuals. Intrinsic to these research endeavors are my uses of nonlinear dynamics and the theory of complex systems. These frameworks provide tools and methodologies by which perception, action, and cognition, can be understood as embedded and embodied phenomena that dynamically emerge as a result of self-organization. See research page: http://www.colby.edu/psychology/labs/PercepAction/research.html Recent Publications: Richardson, M. J., Campbell, W. L., & Schmidt, R. C. (in press). Movement interference during action observation as emergent coordination.Neuroscience Letters. Marsh, K. L., Johnston, L., Richardson, M. J., & Schmidt, R. C. (in press). Toward a radically embodied, embedded social psychology. European Journal of Social Psychology. Richardson, M. J. Marsh, K. L., & Schmidt, R. C. Challenging egocentric notions of perceiving, acting, and knowing (in press). In L. F. Barrett, B. Mesquita and E. Smith. (Eds.), Mind in Context. Guilford. Lopresti-Goodman, S., Richardson, M. J., Marsh, K. L., Carello, C., & Baron, R. M. (in press). Task constraints on affordance boundaries. Motor Control. Richardson, M. J., Lopresti-Goodman, S., Mancini, M., Kay, B. A., & Schmidt, R. C. (2008). Comparing the attractor strength of intra- and interpersonal interlimb coordination using cross recurrence analysis. Neuroscience Letters, 438, 340-345. Richardson, M. J., Fajen, B. R., Shockley, K., Riley, M. A., Turvey, M. T. (2008). Ecological Psychology: Six Principles for an Embodied-Embedded Approach to Behavior. In. Paco Calvo & Toni Gomila (Eds.). Handbook of Cognitive Science: An Embodied Approach. (pp.161-197). Elsevier. Lopresti-Goodman, S., Richardson, M. J., Silva, P. L., & Schmidt, R. C. (2008). Period basin of entrainment for unintentional visual coordination. Journal of Motor Control, 40, 3-10 Schmidt, R. C., & Richardson, M. J. (2008). Dynamics of Interpersonal Coordination. In A. Fuchs & V. Jirsa (Eds.) Coordination: Neural, Behavioral and Social Dynamics. Springer. Fowler, C. A. Richardson, M. J., Marsh, K. L., & Shockley, K. D. (2008). Language use, coordination, and the emergence of cooperative action. In A. Fuchs & V. Jirsa (Eds.) Coordination: Neural, Behavioral and Social Dynamics. Springer. Richardson, M. J., Marsh, K. L., Isenhower, R., Goodman, J., & Schmidt, R. C. (2007). Rocking together: Dynamics of intentional and unintentional interpersonal coordination . Human Movement Science, 26, 867-891 Richardson, M. J., Marsh, K. L., & Baron, R. M. (2007). Judging and Actualizing Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Affordances. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance. 33, 845-859 . Schmidt, R. C., Richardson, M. J., Christine A., & Galantucci, B. (2007). Visual tracking and entrainment to an environmental rhythm . Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 33, 860-870. Shockley, K. D., Baker, A. A., Richardson, M. J., & Fowler, C. A. (2007). Articulatory constraints on interpersonal postural coordination. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 33, 201-208. Richardson, M. J., Schmidt, R. C., & Kay, B. A. (2007). Distinguishing the noise and attractor strength of coordinated limb movements using recurrence analysis. Biological Cybernetics, 96, 59-78 Goldfield, E. C., Richardson, M. J., Lee, K. G., Margets, S. (2006). Coordination of Sucking, Swallowing, and Breathing and Oxygen Saturation During Early Infant Breast-feeding and Bottle-feeding. Pediatric Research, 60, 450-455. Marsh, K. L., Richardson, M. J., Baron, R. M., & Schmidt, R. C. (2006). Contrasting approaches to perceiving and acting with others. Ecological Psychology, 18, 1-37. Richardson, M. J., Marsh, K. L., & Schmidt, R. C. (2005). Effects of visual and verbal information on unintentional interpersonal coordination. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 31, 62-79. Richardson, M. J., & Johnston, L. (2005). The kinematics of person recognition and deceptive intent. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 29, 25-44 Johnston, L., Hudson, S.M., Richardson, M. J., Gunns, R.E., & Garner, M. (2004). Changing kinematics as a means of reducing vulnerability to attack. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 34, 514 – 537. Simpson, G., Johnston, L., & Richardson, M. J. (2003). An investigation of child road-crossing in a virtual environment. Journal of Accident Analysis and Prevention, 35, 787-796. This research is supported, in part, by funding from the Nation Science Foundation: NSF grants BSC-0750190, BSC-0240277, BSC-0342802. Colby College \| Psychology Department \|\| Mayflower Hill Drive Waterville, Maine 04901-8855 phone: 207-872-3113 fax: 207-872-3096

Perception & Action Lab

Director

Team

Research

Michael J. Richardson