Michael Turvey
Encyclopedia
Michael T. Turvey is the Board of Trustees' Distinguished Professor of Experimental Psychology
at the University of Connecticut
and a Senior Scientist at Haskins Laboratories
in New Haven, Connecticut
. He is best known for his pioneering work in ecological psychology
and in applying dynamic systems approach for the study of motor behavior. He is the founder of the Center for the Ecological Study of Perception and Actionhttp://ione.psy.uconn.edu:16080/~cespaweb/. His research spans a number of areas including: dynamic touch and haptics
, interlimb coordination, visual perception
and optic flow, postural stability, visual word recognition and speech perception
. Along with William Mace http://www.trincoll.edu/depts/ecopsyc/homeokinetics/background/mace.html and Robert Shaw http://web.uconn.edu/psychology/Faculty/Shaw/Shaw.html, he has been one of the leading explicators of the ecological psychology
of J. J. Gibson. His pioneering work with J. A. Scott Kelso
and Peter N. Kugler introduced the physical language of complex systems to the understanding of perception and action. He also help to introduce the ideas of Russian motor control theorist, Nikolai Bernstein http://www.univie.ac.at/cga/history/ww2.html, and his colleagues to a larger audience. Working with Georgije Lukatela http://www.haskins.yale.edu/staff/lukatela.html and other colleagues at Haskins Laboratories
, he has exploited the dual nature of the Serbo-Croatian orthography
to help understand word recognition.
Turvey is also the winner of the IgNoble Prizehttp://www.improbable.com/ in Physics along with
Ramesh Balasubramaniam of the University of Ottawa for exploring and explaining the dynamics of hula-hooping.
(Reference: "Coordination Modes in the Multisegmental Dynamics of Hula Hooping," Ramesh Balasubramaniam and Michael T. Turvey, Biological Cybernetics, vol. 90, no. 3, March 2004, pp. 176–90.)
Experimental psychology
Experimental psychology is a methodological approach, rather than a subject, and encompasses varied fields within psychology. Experimental psychologists have traditionally conducted research, published articles, and taught classes on neuroscience, developmental psychology, sensation, perception,...
at the University of Connecticut
University of Connecticut
The admission rate to the University of Connecticut is about 50% and has been steadily decreasing, with about 28,000 prospective students applying for admission to the freshman class in recent years. Approximately 40,000 prospective students tour the main campus in Storrs annually...
and a Senior Scientist at Haskins Laboratories
Haskins Laboratories
Haskins Laboratories is an independent, international, multidisciplinary community of researchers conducting basic research on spoken and written language. Founded in 1935 and located in New Haven, Connecticut since 1970, Haskins Laboratories is a private, non-profit research institute with a...
in New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...
. He is best known for his pioneering work in ecological psychology
Ecological psychology
Ecological psychology is a term claimed by a number of schools of psychology. However, the two main ones are one on the writings of James J. Gibson, and another on the work of Roger G. Barker, Herb Wright and associates at the University of Kansas in Lawrence...
and in applying dynamic systems approach for the study of motor behavior. He is the founder of the Center for the Ecological Study of Perception and Actionhttp://ione.psy.uconn.edu:16080/~cespaweb/. His research spans a number of areas including: dynamic touch and haptics
Haptic perception
Haptic perception is the process of recognizing objects through touch. It involves a combination of somatosensory perception of patterns on the skin surface and proprioception of hand position and conformation....
, interlimb coordination, visual perception
Visual perception
Visual perception is the ability to interpret information and surroundings from the effects of visible light reaching the eye. The resulting perception is also known as eyesight, sight, or vision...
and optic flow, postural stability, visual word recognition and speech perception
Speech perception
Speech perception is the process by which the sounds of language are heard, interpreted and understood. The study of speech perception is closely linked to the fields of phonetics and phonology in linguistics and cognitive psychology and perception in psychology...
. Along with William Mace http://www.trincoll.edu/depts/ecopsyc/homeokinetics/background/mace.html and Robert Shaw http://web.uconn.edu/psychology/Faculty/Shaw/Shaw.html, he has been one of the leading explicators of the ecological psychology
Ecological psychology
Ecological psychology is a term claimed by a number of schools of psychology. However, the two main ones are one on the writings of James J. Gibson, and another on the work of Roger G. Barker, Herb Wright and associates at the University of Kansas in Lawrence...
of J. J. Gibson. His pioneering work with J. A. Scott Kelso
J. A. Scott Kelso
J. A. Scott Kelso is a neuroscientist, and Professor of Complex Systems and Brain Sciences, Professor of Psychology, Biological Sciences and Biomedical Science at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida and The University of Ulster in Derry, N...
and Peter N. Kugler introduced the physical language of complex systems to the understanding of perception and action. He also help to introduce the ideas of Russian motor control theorist, Nikolai Bernstein http://www.univie.ac.at/cga/history/ww2.html, and his colleagues to a larger audience. Working with Georgije Lukatela http://www.haskins.yale.edu/staff/lukatela.html and other colleagues at Haskins Laboratories
Haskins Laboratories
Haskins Laboratories is an independent, international, multidisciplinary community of researchers conducting basic research on spoken and written language. Founded in 1935 and located in New Haven, Connecticut since 1970, Haskins Laboratories is a private, non-profit research institute with a...
, he has exploited the dual nature of the Serbo-Croatian orthography
Orthography
The orthography of a language specifies a standardized way of using a specific writing system to write the language. Where more than one writing system is used for a language, for example Kurdish, Uyghur, Serbian or Inuktitut, there can be more than one orthography...
to help understand word recognition.
Turvey is also the winner of the IgNoble Prizehttp://www.improbable.com/ in Physics along with
Ramesh Balasubramaniam of the University of Ottawa for exploring and explaining the dynamics of hula-hooping.
(Reference: "Coordination Modes in the Multisegmental Dynamics of Hula Hooping," Ramesh Balasubramaniam and Michael T. Turvey, Biological Cybernetics, vol. 90, no. 3, March 2004, pp. 176–90.)
Representative Publications
- Turvey, M. T. (1973). On peripheral and central processes in vision: Inferences from an information-processing analysis of masking with patterned stimuli. Psychological Review, 80, 1-52.
- Turvey, M. T. (1977). Contrasting orientations to the theory of visual information processing. Psychological Review, 84, 67-88.
- Kugler, N. P., Kelso, J. A. S., & Turvey, M. T. (1980). On the concept of coordinative structures as dissipative structures: I. Theoretical lines of convergence. Tutorials in Motor Behavior, G. E. Stelmach and J. Requin, eds., North-Holland Publishing Company.
- Fowler, C. A.Carol FowlerCarol A. Fowler is an American experimental psychologist. She was a former President and Director of Research at Haskins Laboratories in New Haven, Connecticut from 1992 to 2008. She is also a Professor of Psychology at the University of Connecticut and an Adjunct Professor of Linguistics and...
, Rubin, P. E.Philip RubinPhilip E. Rubin is an American cognitive scientist and technologist who since 2003 has been the Chief Executive Officer and a Senior Scientist at Haskins Laboratories in New Haven, Connecticut...
, Remez, R. E.Robert RemezRobert Remez is an American experimental psychologist, cognitive scientist, theoretician and teacher. He is currently a Professor of Psychology at Barnard College, Columbia University and Chair of the Columbia University Seminar on Language & Cognition . His teaching focuses on the relationships...
, & Turvey, M. T. (1980). Implications for speech production of a general theory of action. In B. Butterworth (Ed.), Language Production, Vol. I: Speech and Talk (pp. 373–420). New York: Academic Press. - Turvey, M. T., & Carello, C. (1985). The equation of information and meaning from the perspectives of situation semantics and Gibson's ecological realism. Linguistics and Philosophy, 8, 81-90.
- Turvey, M. T. (1991). Coordination. American Psychologist, 45(8), 938-953.
- Turvey, M. T., Shockley, K., & Carello, C. (1999). Affordance, proper function, and the physical basis of perceived heaviness. Cognition, 17, B17-B26.
- Kunkler-Peck, A., & Turvey, M. T. (2000). Hearing shape. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 26, 279-294.
- Lukatela, G., & Turvey, M. T. (2000). An evaluation of the two-cycles model of phonology assembly. Journal of Memory and Language, 42, 183-207.
- Kim, N-G., Fajen, B., & Turvey, M. T. (2000). Perceiving circular heading in noncanonical flow fields. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 26, 31-56.
- Goodman, L., Riley, M., Mitra, S., & Turvey, M. T. (2000). Advantages of rhythmic movements at resonance: Minimal active degrees of freedom, minimal noise, and maximal predictability. Journal of Motor Behavior, 32, 3-8.
- Turvey, M. T., & Fonseca, S. (2009). Nature of motor control: perspectives and issues. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, 629, 93-123.
See also
- Cognitive scienceCognitive scienceCognitive science is the interdisciplinary scientific study of mind and its processes. It examines what cognition is, what it does and how it works. It includes research on how information is processed , represented, and transformed in behaviour, nervous system or machine...
- Embodied cognitive scienceEmbodied cognitive scienceEmbodied Cognitive Science is an interdisciplinary field of research, the aim of which is to explain the mechanisms underlying intelligent behavior...
- Experimental psychologyExperimental psychologyExperimental psychology is a methodological approach, rather than a subject, and encompasses varied fields within psychology. Experimental psychologists have traditionally conducted research, published articles, and taught classes on neuroscience, developmental psychology, sensation, perception,...
- Haptic perceptionHaptic perceptionHaptic perception is the process of recognizing objects through touch. It involves a combination of somatosensory perception of patterns on the skin surface and proprioception of hand position and conformation....
- Ecological psychologyEcological psychologyEcological psychology is a term claimed by a number of schools of psychology. However, the two main ones are one on the writings of James J. Gibson, and another on the work of Roger G. Barker, Herb Wright and associates at the University of Kansas in Lawrence...
- Dynamic systems
- Haskins LaboratoriesHaskins LaboratoriesHaskins Laboratories is an independent, international, multidisciplinary community of researchers conducting basic research on spoken and written language. Founded in 1935 and located in New Haven, Connecticut since 1970, Haskins Laboratories is a private, non-profit research institute with a...
- James J. Gibson
- PerceptionPerceptionPerception is the process of attaining awareness or understanding of the environment by organizing and interpreting sensory information. All perception involves signals in the nervous system, which in turn result from physical stimulation of the sense organs...
- PsychologyPsychologyPsychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
- University of ConnecticutUniversity of ConnecticutThe admission rate to the University of Connecticut is about 50% and has been steadily decreasing, with about 28,000 prospective students applying for admission to the freshman class in recent years. Approximately 40,000 prospective students tour the main campus in Storrs annually...