On Tuesday, January 21, at 5:00 PM, the RSU Anatomy Museum will host the Roberts Blumbergs Distinguished Lecture 2024/2025 in Cognitive Science, delivered by Professor Gustaf Gredebäck from Uppsala University (Sweden).

In his presentation, Gustaf Gredebäck will explore how manual actions, that is, actions performed with hands and arms, such as reaching, grasping, and manipulating objects—shape the mind. Drawing on recent empirical research, he will highlight four embodied developmental pathways that address unique challenges faced by infants and children during development: (I) co-opted motor simulation allows action anticipation, (II) interactive specialization allows executive control to emerge from reaching and grasping, (III) active exploration, and (IV) error-based learning facilitate cognition and perception. These pathways exemplify how infants utilize manual actions and the neural processes controlling actions to structure their world, develop cognitive capacities, and learn from interactions with the physical and social environment.

Prof. Gustaf Gredebäck is a developmental psychologist who has made significant and groundbreaking discoveries and development of methods in variety of areas including infant’s cognitive, social, and emotional development. A particular focus of his research is the analysis of child’s active, intentional and interactional explorations that scaffold development. Another focus in prof. Gredebäck’s work is research on children growing up in war, with parents suffering from mental health problems, or in societies in transition. Finally, development in different other cultures outside of Western, Educated, Industrial, Rich, and Developed (WEIRD) world is among the core topics of prof. Gredebäck. Prof. Gredebäck’s work has significantly shaped the research on eye tracking in infancy. Additionally, he has substantially contributed to the understanding of pupillometry (measurement and analysis of pupil diameter).

Professor G. Gredebäck is the Head of Uppsala Child and Baby Lab at Uppsala University and one of the most significant Cognitive Scientists and psychologists in Sweden and Scandinavia.

Learn more here.

Registration

The Robert Blumberg Distinguished Lecture in Cognitive Science was initiated 2018 in collaboration with the Laboratory of Perception and Cognitive Systems at the Faculty of Computing, the University of Latvia (UL), and Robert Blumberg, honorary member of UL, patron, board member of the organisation Friends of the University of Latvia, and the honorary Consul of the Republic of Latvia in the State of Illinois. The Robert Blumberg Distinguished Lecture in Cognitive Science is the only event in the Baltic region that honours the highest level significant cross-disciplinary contributions in cognitive science. Previous lectures and affiliated events have brought together the most important researchers from the fields of perception, psychology, music, mathematics, and neuroscience to mention just a few. Support for this lecture is administered by the University of Latvia Foundation.