Blink if you're thinking In search of a biological signal for the moment of insight MIC Research Showcase 2013

Embodiment Kirsh & Maglio (1994) “Epistemic actions” Yu et al (2009) Arms and attention Damasio (1994) Somatic markers

The caricature: function-specific modules Modular processing and output?...but things are a little messier than that Embodiment suggests processing expressed holistically Leaky cognition

Chermahini & Hommel (2010) Stephen & Dixon (2009) Leone et al (2012)

Participants Apparatus Materials Convenience sample Shelf End Read Age Mile Sand Sore Shoulder Sweat 45

Procedure Results t(39) = 0.86 p = 0.40 Falling Actor Dust Please type your response... Correct

Discussion Blink rate appears resilient Blink signal more subtle than analysis? Cognition not everywhere after all?

References Acknowledgements Maren Graser Mary O'Brien MIC Seed Funding Chermahini, S. A., & Hommel, B. (2010). The (b)link between creativity and dopamine: Spontaneous eye blink rates predict and dissociate divergent and convergent thinking. Cognition, 115(3), 458–465. Damasio, A. R. (1994). Descartes’ Error. New York: Papermac. Kirsh, D., & Maglio, P. (1994). On distinguishing epistemic from pragmatic action. Cognitive science, 18(4), 513–549. Leone, M. J., Petroni, A., Slezak, D. F., & Sigman, M. (2012). The tell-tale heart: heart rate fluctuations index objective and subjective events during a game of chess. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 6, 273. doi: /fnhum Stephen, D. G., Dixon, J. A., & Isenhower, R. W. (2009). Dynamics of representational change: Entropy, action, and cognition. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 35(6), 1811–1832. doi: /a Yu, C., Smith, L. B., Shen, H., Pereira, A. F., & Smith, T. (2009). Active information selection: Visual attention through the hands. Autonomous Mental Development, IEEE Transactions on, 1(2), 141–151.

Thanks for listening