Grounding early time perception in infant motor activity
Lead Research Organisation:
Birkbeck, University of London
Department Name: Psychological Sciences
Abstract
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People |
ORCID iD |
| Denis Mareschal (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Addyman C
(2012)
Computational modeling in cognitive science: a manifesto for change.
in Topics in cognitive science
Addyman C
(2014)
Mapping the origins of time: scalar errors in infant time estimation.
in Developmental psychology
Addyman C
(2017)
Embodiment and the origin of interval timing: kinematic and electromyographic data.
in Experimental brain research
Addyman C
(2013)
Local redundancy governs infants' spontaneous orienting to visual-temporal sequences.
in Child development
Allman MJ
(2016)
Possible evolutionary and developmental mechanisms of mental time travel (and implications for autism).
in Current opinion in behavioral sciences
Fautrelle L
(2015)
Motor activity improves temporal expectancy.
in PloS one
French R
(2014)
GAMIT - A Fading-Gaussian Activation Model of Interval-Timing: Unifying Prospective and Retrospective Time Estimation
in Timing & Time Perception Reviews
French R
(2014)
Unifying Prospective and Retrospective Interval-time Estimation: A Fading-gaussian Activation-based Model of Interval-timing
in Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences
| Description | This project combined infant behavioural testing, measurement of electrical activity in muscles, and computational modelling to investigate the origins of infant time keeping and to test the hypothesis that our ability to keep track of short time intervals is initially grounded in repetitive actions during infancy. To this end, we completed a series of studies exploring infants' use of temporal information and its relation to motor activity. In one study (Addyman & Mareschal, 2013) we found that 5-month-olds spontaneously differentiate temporally structured from unstructured sequences of visual events. This is important because it establishes that infants build up expectations about stimuli structured in time. However, these studies only assessed infants' sensitivity to temporal structure and not their ability to predict up and coming events. In a second series of studies (Addyman, Rocha & Mareschal, 2014), we developed a novel eye-tracking method for the assessing the accuracy of infant temporal expectations. In this work, we were able to assess when infants expected something to occur, rather than simply responding to something that did not occur. Here, we found that 4-, 6-, 8- and 10-month-olds not only expected events to occur at predictable times, but that their temporal prediction errors followed the same logarithmic growth as those of adults. In collaboration with our French partners, we established in adults that regular motor activity improved interval timing (Fautrelle et al., in press). This was not due to simple motor preparation but rather was symptomatic of a close coupling of the motor and interval timing systems as we had hypothesised. A series of experiments measuring behaviour and muscle activity with 4- and 8-month-olds further revealed that 8-month-olds show subthreshold anticipatory activity (anticipatory EMG potentials) in temporally predictive tasks (even when there is no overt evidence of movement) (Addyman et al., in prep a). This is true both in tasks that involve a motor response and in ones where only passive viewing of a regularly timed stimulus is required. This series of studies established anticipatory EMGs as a potential subthreshold marker of infant planning and timing. One final series of studies with 4- to 14-month-olds explored the possible association between the level of motor development and stability of motor development with individual differences in infants' timing accuracy (Addyman et al, in prep b). The hypothesis here was that infants with more regular/stable motor activity would be more accurate in their timing of tasks, even if these do not require an overt motor action. During this study, we also collected measures of short-term memory capacity and level of motor development. Finally, we explored 10- and 14-month-olds' movement entrainment to temporally predictable (rhythmic) auditory signal - "moving to the beat". Although there is some evidence of entrainment in these infants, we found that it was readily overridden by the presence of strong social cues. Finally in collaboration with the French partners, we have developed 3 computational models of infant time processing. |
| Exploitation Route | Our work on infant time perception has formed the basis of a documentary by the Canadian Discovery Channel. In this way, it improves the general public's understanding of child development. We have proposed a novel form of time keeping based on decaying memory activation traces which contrasts with the prevailing "internal clock" view. Decaying activation traces are ubiquitous in neural computational systems. This this novel timekeeping mechanism has potential to be taken up by the robotics community (both academic and commercial) in developing event-based time keeping for artificial cognitive systems. |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy Creative Economy Education Healthcare Other |
| Description | This was a basic science project exploring a new theoretical account of time perception in infancy. The key idea was that our subjective experience of time is grounded in early motor activity. We propose that there is no central timekeeping mechanism in the brain. Instead, time is related to the rate at which activation traces in the brain decay. This rate of decay is then calibrated against durations of external events to give rise to the sense of time passing. The project also consisted in developing new computational models of this process. The project was funded through the ORA international collaboration scheme. As for all basic research, it sometimes takes years for the work to filter through to non-academic end-users. The current work is beginning to have impact through public dissemination events. For example, it was picked up and made the subject of a documentary produced by the Canadian Discovery Channel Dailey Planet programme. The programme's viewership during this series peaked at 2 million viewers (http://www.bellmedia.ca/pr/press/daily-planet-ratings-release/), with that episode featuring in the programmes top 100 most popular episodes. The Polka Dot Theatre (www.polkatheatre.com/) in Wimbeldon, South London, has adopted the work on rhythm perception in infants as part of its forthcoming "Theatre for under 2s" season. They will be working closely with the former researchers on this ESRC project to develop an interactive theatrical experience for parents and infants in their forthcoming season as part of their Festival of Childhood. The project has had immediate economic impact insofar as both postdoctoral researchers employed (here and in France) have gone on to fulltime employment as faculty in academia, as has the pre-doctoral research assistant. This collaborative project involved a long-term colleague in France (Robert French) and the creation fop a new link (Elizabeth Thomas) with whom the UK lab had not previously worked. This new collaboration is continuing, and while a request for additional funding from the ESRC was not met, the team are putting together applications to other funding sources to continue this line of work. Note that the EMG apparatus funded in part by the grant was mentioned as part of the expertise and infrastructre available at the CBCD in a successful €500,000 grant from the European Commission, thereby bringing resources into the UK. The primary researcher was invited to present the team's work on sequence processing at a special international workshop in San Sebastian, Spain, and this has lead to a further invitation to submit a manuscript extending the work funded by the ESRC to a special issue of the Proceedings of the Royal Society. In sum, the impact of this project is only just beginning to emerge. Our activities are consistent with what was described in the "Pathways to Impact" part of the submission. We expect impact to continue as the work filters from the basic science world to the translational world. One area that we anticipate more impact is in the area of robotic design. This joint project should also improve chance of further funding form such sources as the European Commission to continue the international collaboration between the French and British teams. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2015 |
| Sector | Creative Economy,Education |
| Impact Types | Cultural Economic |
| Description | Marie Sklodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network: INTERLEARN |
| Amount | € 2,100,000 (EUR) |
| Funding ID | 721895 |
| Organisation | European Commission |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | European Union (EU) |
| Start | 08/2017 |
| End | 08/2021 |
| Description | Marie Sklodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network: MOTION |
| Amount | € 1,500,000 (EUR) |
| Organisation | European Commission H2020 |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | Belgium |
| Start | 01/2018 |
| End | 12/2021 |
| Description | UnLoCKE: Understanding Learning of Counterintuitive Concepts through Knowledge Interference Control in Sciences and Mathematics Education. |
| Amount | £998,443 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Education Endowment Foundation |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2016 |
| End | 12/2019 |
| Title | Contec Pulse Oximeter in Matlab |
| Description | More people use Contec Pulse Oximeters |
| Type Of Technology | Software |
| Year Produced | 2013 |
| Impact | Matlab code to collect real time data from Contec Pulse Oximeters (Heart rate monitor). dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.16277 |
| URL | https://github.com/YourBrain/Contec-Pulse-Oximeter-in-Matlab |
| Title | GAMIT Model code in Matlab |
| Description | GAMIT Model code in Matlab dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.9895 |
| Type Of Technology | Software |
| Year Produced | 2012 |
| Impact | More people are using the GAMIT model |
| URL | https://github.com/YourBrain/GAMIT |
| Description | BPS Psychology4Students event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Sparked interest in infant cognition and time keeping After the talk we received greater enquiries about the research centre |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Babylab Newsletter |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | Members of the research team wrote updates on studies for Birkbeck Babylab Newsletter which is sent to more than 4000 parents on database. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016,2018 |
| Description | Birkbeck Science Week lecture |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Sparked questions and discussion afterwards Increased inquiries for study at Birkbeck |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| Description | Dance like nobody's watching: Infants display a wider variety of rhythmic movements in the absence of a social partner. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Scientific meeting (conference/symposium etc.) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Type Of Presentation | poster presentation |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | talk sparked questions and discussion afterwards Increased awareness of our work int eh academic community |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Dance with me? An investigation of early rhythmic and synchronous behaviours in infancy'. (Poster) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Scientific meeting (conference/symposium etc.) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Type Of Presentation | poster presentation |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | talk sparked questions and discussion afterwards Increased awareness of our work int he academic community |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Dissociating voluntary and involuntary time expectancies in infancy. (Poster) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Scientific meeting (conference/symposium etc.) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Type Of Presentation | poster presentation |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | talk sparked questions and discussion afterwards Greater interest in our work form the academic community |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | EMGs reveal that infant can learn the timing of physical interactions (poster) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Scientific meeting (conference/symposium etc.) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Type Of Presentation | poster presentation |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | talk sparked questions and discussion afterwards Increased awareness of our work int eh academic community |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | GAMIT-Net: Retrospective and prospective interval timing in a single neural network |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Scientific meeting (conference/symposium etc.) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Type Of Presentation | paper presentation |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | talk sparked questions and discussion afterwards increased awareness of our work |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Getting into the Groove: An EMG study of rhythmic movement to music in infancy (poster) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Scientific meeting (conference/symposium etc.) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Type Of Presentation | poster presentation |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | talk sparked questions and discussion afterwards In creased awareness of our work in the academic community |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Infant Time Perception (documentary film) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Informed public about the impressive time keeping skills of infants We received many emails and had coverage in numerous international press |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | IntoUniversity A-level Lecture |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | The talk sparked interest in A-level students not normally represented in higher education Changing views of what University research is about |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014,2015,2016 |
| Description | Is interval timing learned, memory-based and embodied? |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Scientific meeting (conference/symposium etc.) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Type Of Presentation | paper presentation |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | talk sparked questions and discussion afterwards. Increased awareness of our work |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| Description | Is interval timing learned, memory-based and embodied? Answers from a new connectionist, developmental model |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Scientific meeting (conference/symposium etc.) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Type Of Presentation | paper presentation |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | talk sparked questions and discussion afterwards increased awareness of our research |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| Description | Learning to perceive time: A connectionist, memory- decay model of the development of interval timing in infants (talk) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Scientific meeting (conference/symposium etc.) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Type Of Presentation | paper presentation |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | talk sparked questions and discussion afterwards Increased awareness of our work in the academic community |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| Description | Learning to perceive time: A connectionist, memory-decay model of infant interval timing |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Scientific meeting (conference/symposium etc.) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Type Of Presentation | paper presentation |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | talk sparked questions and discussion afterwards Increased awareness of our research in the academic community |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| Description | Mapping the Origins of Time: Scalar Errors in Infant Time Estimation (Poster) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Scientific meeting (conference/symposium etc.) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Type Of Presentation | poster presentation |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | talk sparked questions and discussion afterwards. Increased academic interest in our work |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Polka Theatre |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The Polka Dot Theatre (www.polkatheatre.com/) in Wimbeldon, South London, adopted work on rhythm perception in infants as part of its "Theatre for under 2s" season. They worked closely with the former researchers on this ESRC project to develop an interactive theatrical experience for parents and infants in their season as part of their Festival of Childhood. Researchers used the the opportunity to run infant studies in the theatre and engaged in a panel discussion. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://www.polkatheatre.com |
| Description | Shake, Rattle & Roll: Infant's rhythmic movement in a bell ringing task (poster) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Scientific meeting (conference/symposium etc.) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Type Of Presentation | poster presentation |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | talk sparked questions and discussion afterwards. Increased awareness of our work among the academic community |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | The Secret Life of Babies ( film) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Stimulated public interest and understanding of infant cogniton We received several emails form interested parents |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Unifying prospective and retrospective interval-time estimation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Scientific meeting (conference/symposium etc.) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Type Of Presentation | paper presentation |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | talk sparked questions and discussion afterwards. increased awareness of our work |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |