Research Project
Neuronal signatures of contextual embedding in action observation
When we witness an action, we usually see a person acting step by step in a goal-directed fashion. We easily link the steps together and recognize an overarching goal, even if the action is interrupted or performed by more than one person. There are different possible ways of linking action steps together and forming an episode, e.g. an overarching goal or a common agent. Further, the probability of two action steps being performed in a row or their closeness (in time and space) can modulate the perceived relatedness.
My research interest focuses on the neural structures of linking action steps together and the influence of these different factors.
Promotion Committee
Prof. Dr. Ricarda Schubotz
Prof. Dr. Markus Lappe
PD Dr. Christian Dobel
Publications
Hampel, P., Brunnberg, A., Krohn-Grimberghe, B., Mantel, F., Thomsen, M., Hoischen, A., Hrkać, M., Tlach, L., Morfeld, M & Mohr, B. (2009). Schmerzchronifizierung, Geschlecht und Rehabilitationserfolg bei chronischem Rückenschmerz: Eine Pilotstudie. Der Orthopäde, 38, 742-751.
Conference Contributions
Hrkać, M., Wurm, M., Morikawa, Y., Schubotz, R. (2011). Merging acts to episodes: What are the neural correlates of episodic embedding of observed actions?
Poster Presentation at the Donders Discussions, Nijmegen, Netherlands.
Hrkać, M., Wurm, M., Morikawa, Y., Schubotz, R. (2011). Merging acts to episodes: what is more important, consistency of the actor or the presence of overarching goals? Poster Presentation at the 18th Annual Cognitive Neuroscience Society Meeting, San Francisco, USA.
Hrkać, M., Wurm, M.F., Morikawa, Y., Schubotz, R. I. (2011). Was ist wichtiger für das Verstehen einer Episode, Kohärenz der Person oder Handlungsziel? Neuronale Korrelate der Kohärenzbildung bei Handlungsbeobachtung. Poster Presentation at the 53. Tagung experimentell arbeitender Psychologen, Halle, Germany.
Stefanowitsch, A., Goschler, J., Hrkać, M. (2010).TIME is not SPACE: Differences in the interpretation of directional terms in spatial and temporal tasks. Poster Presentation at the Fourth International Conference of the German Cognitive Linguistics Association, Bremen, Germany.
CV
| *1985 | Bremen, Germany |
| 2004–2010 | studies in Psychology at the University of Bremen |
| 2006-2007 | studies in Psychology at the University of Salamanca, Spain |
| 2010 | Beginning of the PhD research project, Max Planck Institute for neurological research, Köln |
| since 2011 | Institute of Psychology, University of Münster |