7 September 2011
Can culture influence eye movements? - Carnegie Centenary Lecture, Tuesday Sept 13th
Whether or not a person’s cultural background influences the way they move their eyes will be examined at a public lecture at the University of Dundee next week.
The issue of whether cultural or cognitive processes determine eye movements is a controversial one within the field of psychology. Professor Keith Rayner will explore the subject when he delivers the Carnegie Centenary Lecture at the Dalhousie Building on Tuesday, 13th September.
Professor Rayner is Atkinson Professor of Experimental Psychology at the University of California, San Diego, and has been one of the world’s foremost researchers in cognitive psychology for over 30 years.
His work has had a major impact on educationalists and vision scientists and he has received numerous prestigious awards and acted on the editorial board of a large number of important international journals. He has spent the past three months in Dundee as Carnegie Centenary Professor, an award that enables some of the world’s leading academics to spend time working in Scotland as a visiting professor.
In the lecture, Professor Rayner will discuss how cognitive processes and culture may influence where we look and how long we look for and consider research on eye movements and language processing of Chinese readers compared to readers of English before moving on to talk about face processing and arguing that cognition, rather than culture, influences how we see a scene.
The lecture is hosted by the University’s School of Psychology, who have hosted Professor Rayner while he has been in Scotland. Dr Wayne Murray said he and his colleagues in the School are delighted to have had the opportunity to work alongside Professor Rayner.
'Keith Rayner is probably the world’s leading researcher in this field, and it has been a pleasure and an honour to have him here at Dundee,' he said.
'He will give great insight into the controversies that rage over this subject and is especially well known for his work on language processing and the control of eye movements during reading and whilst performing a range of cognitive tasks.
'As his time in Dundee comes to an end, he will deliver this major public lecture, which will be fascinating for anyone with an interest in cognitive psychology and related disciplines. It has been a tremendous boost for work in this area to have hosted the tenure of such a renowned academic.
To mark its centenary, the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland established a scheme of visiting professorships. Only one award is normally offered each year across all disciplines in all Scottish universities.
Scotland’s already strong reputation in cognitive psychology, vision science and education has been boosted by Professor Rayner’s visit this year, both in terms of new collaborative research with members of Scottish departments and interactions at meetings both in Scotland and, recently, at a meeting of the world’s foremost experts on eye movement research in Marseille in August.
Professor Rayner said, 'I have found my time in Scotland extremely enjoyable and productive. I look forward to continuing to collaborate with many colleagues in Dundee and across the Scottish universities.'
The lecture, entitled 'Words, Faces and Places: Cultural and Cognitive Influences on Eye Movements' takes place at the University of Dundee's Dalhousie Building at 6pm on Tuesday, 13th September.
Free tickets for this event are available from the University's Online Store.
For further information please contact cassoffice@dundee.ac.uk or call 01382 384185.
A drinks reception will follow the event.
For media enquiries contact:
Roddy Isles
Head, Press Office
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384910
E-MAIL: r.isles@dundee.ac.uk
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