Human Action Control

Dr. Bernhard Hommel holds the chair of “General Psychology” at Leiden University since 1999, after having worked as senior researcher at the Max-Planck Institute for Psychological Research (PhD at the University of Bielefeld in 1990; Habilitation at the Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich). He is a co-founder and board member of the Leiden Institute for Brain & Cognition (LIBC), secretary of the International Association for Attention and Performance, and member of the German National Academy of Sciences. His research focuses on cognitive, computational, developmental, neural, and neurochemical mechanisms of human attention and action control, and the role of consciousness therein. Recent work also addresses the role of emotion, creativity, and religion in human cognition. He is chief editor of two journals and has (co-) authored more than 300 articles in international journals and more than 60 chapters in readers and psychological textbooks, (co-)edited three books on action control and the relationship between perception and action, and (co-)edited several special issues on attention and action control.Dr. Stephen B.R.E. Brown studied developmental and cognitive psychology at the University of Amsterdam. After obtaining his Master’s degree there, he moved to Leiden University to obtain a Ph.D. under supervision of Professors Sander Nieuwenhuis and Bernhard Hommel. His dissertation focused on the locus coeruleus, a brainstem nucleus that provides the entire brain with the neuromodulator noradrenaline, which is released whenever we experience arousal.  Currently, Dr. Brown works as a postdoctoral researcher at Leiden University, and studies heart rate variability as a predictor of psychosocial stress in collaboration with Professor Jos Brosschot. He is also employed as an instructor at the University of Amsterdam, where he coordinates and teaches a course on Cognition for interdisciplinary students.

Chapter 1. Introduction and Overview.- Chapter 2. Neurobiological Foundations of Action Planning and Execution.- Chapter 3. Intentions and Action Goals.- Chapter 4. Perception and Action.- Chapter 5. Action Selection.- Chapter 6. Action Planning.- Chapter 7. Sequential-Action Planning.- Chapter 8. Controlling and Coordinating Multiple Actions.- Chapter 9. Action Monitoring.