Research Prof. Dr. Ing. Willem Verwey

Research of Prof. Dr. Willem Verwey

My research interest concerns the development of perceptual-motor skills, why it is that we can develop such skills, and how we can use our scientific knowledge of skill development in the design of (media-) systems and training. I believe this entanglement of basic and applied research, which has been denoted ‘back-to-back research’, benefits both types of research.

The basic question I address is why repeated execution (i.e., practice) of perceptual-motor tasks, occurring in for example car driving and piano playing, automates behavior and causes a decreasing need for attention. This ability to automate behavior is essential for human behavior. How else would we be able to show intelligent behavior if we would continuously need to think about each individual movement? How could we drive cars if we need to consciously think each time about the position of the pedals, and the required rotation of the steering wheel?

Psychological theories assert that repeated execution of a task induces the development of task specific representations in human memory. These representations involve a link between our perceptions and our movements and are expressed in spatial and motor codes. So, if you drive a car and you see a red light you will rapidly start pressing the braking pedal without first reflecting upon the meaning of a red light in this particular situation, what you might do next, and where the braking pedal is.

Figure 1 A laboratory setup to investigate how we acquire the linear and nonlinear transformations that are required for the skilled use of tools and systems (Verwey & Heuer, 2007, QJEP).

Given the contemporary techniques to look into the working brain the logical next question is how these processes are based in the various structures of the brain (like prefrontal cortex, basal ganglia, cerebellum, supplementary motor area, and motor cortex). Therefore, at our department we also carry out brain research using EEG, and in cooperation with colleagues, brain scanning methods (fMRI), and stimulation of the brain using magnetic fields (TMS). My experiments usually involve participants practicing movement sequences (such as pressing a series of keys or executing a series of aiming movements), and we then look how behavioral and brain variables change in the course of practice. For an example of a ‘discrete sequence production’ (DSP) task in EPrime 2, download a demo (Verwey, 2010, Acta Psychologica).

Figure 2 ‘Research’ into brain and behavior.

Application of the knowledge we develop with our basic research obviously is of great importance for Cognitive Ergonomics. To that end, I apply the developed scientific knowledge (a) in the design of systems so that people can use these quickly and easily, and (b) in the design of training various perceptual-motor tasks. Examples are learning to drive cars in driving simulators, and learning to perform surgical procedures in operating theatres. In practice, these simulators often appear less functional than expected, and their users do not always understand why these simulators do not work better. Our knowledge of the underlying, basic information processes help us determining the cause of poor functionality, indicate how training could be done better, what we can and what we can not practice in simulators, and when training in the simulator should stop and practice should continue in the real world. This might involve assessing mental workload during task performance and determining how workload reduces. In addition, we can apply these methods to determine which of two systems is easier to handle and why. With such ergonomical evaluations we can help selecting the best system design.

Figure 3 Human-machine miscommunication.

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<< GW Home Employees CPE Former Employees CPE Research Education Graduation Opportunities Links Contact CPE Sitemap Search	Research Prof. Dr. Ing. Willem Verwey Research of Prof. Dr. Willem Verwey My research interest concerns the development of perceptual-motor skills, why it is that we can develop such skills, and how we can use our scientific knowledge of skill development in the design of (media-) systems and training. I believe this entanglement of basic and applied research, which has been denoted ‘back-to-back research’, benefits both types of research. The basic question I address is why repeated execution (i.e., practice) of perceptual-motor tasks, occurring in for example car driving and piano playing, automates behavior and causes a decreasing need for attention. This ability to automate behavior is essential for human behavior. How else would we be able to show intelligent behavior if we would continuously need to think about each individual movement? How could we drive cars if we need to consciously think each time about the position of the pedals, and the required rotation of the steering wheel? Psychological theories assert that repeated execution of a task induces the development of task specific representations in human memory. These representations involve a link between our perceptions and our movements and are expressed in spatial and motor codes. So, if you drive a car and you see a red light you will rapidly start pressing the braking pedal without first reflecting upon the meaning of a red light in this particular situation, what you might do next, and where the braking pedal is. Figure 1 A laboratory setup to investigate how we acquire the linear and nonlinear transformations that are required for the skilled use of tools and systems (Verwey & Heuer, 2007, QJEP). Given the contemporary techniques to look into the working brain the logical next question is how these processes are based in the various structures of the brain (like prefrontal cortex, basal ganglia, cerebellum, supplementary motor area, and motor cortex). Therefore, at our department we also carry out brain research using EEG, and in cooperation with colleagues, brain scanning methods (fMRI), and stimulation of the brain using magnetic fields (TMS). My experiments usually involve participants practicing movement sequences (such as pressing a series of keys or executing a series of aiming movements), and we then look how behavioral and brain variables change in the course of practice. For an example of a ‘discrete sequence production’ (DSP) task in EPrime 2, download a demo (Verwey, 2010, Acta Psychologica). Figure 2 ‘Research’ into brain and behavior. Application of the knowledge we develop with our basic research obviously is of great importance for Cognitive Ergonomics. To that end, I apply the developed scientific knowledge (a) in the design of systems so that people can use these quickly and easily, and (b) in the design of training various perceptual-motor tasks. Examples are learning to drive cars in driving simulators, and learning to perform surgical procedures in operating theatres. In practice, these simulators often appear less functional than expected, and their users do not always understand why these simulators do not work better. Our knowledge of the underlying, basic information processes help us determining the cause of poor functionality, indicate how training could be done better, what we can and what we can not practice in simulators, and when training in the simulator should stop and practice should continue in the real world. This might involve assessing mental workload during task performance and determining how workload reduces. In addition, we can apply these methods to determine which of two systems is easier to handle and why. With such ergonomical evaluations we can help selecting the best system design. Figure 3 Human-machine miscommunication.