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SESSIONS Cognitive Processes in Reading Labanotation. Do skilled readers automatically transform notation into representations of body posture? by Corinne Jola, Switzerland, and Patrick Haggard, UK Paper Naming the colour in which a word is written leads to longer reaction times and higher error rates if the colour is not corresponding with the word like red written in blue although the word itself has to be ignored (Stroop, 1935). This "Stroop effect" is a sign of an automatic reading process. Steward, Walsh and Frith (2004) tested automatic processing of music notation by skilled readers vs. non-readers with a musical version of the Stroop. As movement notation is often compared to music notation, we conducted a similar experiment with the Labanotation to test whether skilled readers transform the signs automatically into the corresponding body motions. In a previous study we tested the reading level of several students of Labanotation. A position of the classical balled was displayed in Labanotation with a position name in written letters (e.g., first) underneath. The position written in Labanotation was either congruent or incongruent with the written letters. The subjects had to ignore the Labanotation and to indicate the written position by pressing a corresponding button as quickly as possible. If the notation is automatically processed by skilled readers, then incongruent position-number pairs would lead to longer reaction times than congruent position-number pairs. Skilled readers would have more difficulty to press the corresponding button when the notated position is incongruent with the position to be named. No effect of congruence is predicted in a control group who do not read Labanotation. The results of the study will be presented and compared with previous studies of automatic word and music notation. Further studies concerning the cognitive processes involved in reading Labanotation will be discussed. Acknowledgement. This research was supported by Swiss National Science Foundation with an individual Fellowship support to C. Jola, No. PBZH1-106258, and a Leverhulme Trust Research Grant to the P. Haggard. References. Stewart, L., Walsh, V. & Frith, U. (2004). Reading music modifies spatial mapping in pianists. Perception & Psychophysics, 66, 183-195. Stroop, J.R. (1935). Studies of interference in serial verbal reactions. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 12, 643-662. Corinne Jola (Ms Psychology) is a PhD Student in cognitive neuroscience at the University of Zurich Switzerland. She is presently studying the cognitive processes in reading Labanotation and the human brains processes in observing dance as a visiting researcher at the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience & Dept. Psychology, University College London and as an independent student at the Laban Center London. After her Study in Psychology she received a dance teaching diploma at the IWANSON Contemporary Dance School in Munich and recently finished her postgraduate study in Dance Culture at the University of Berne. She presented her work on several cognitive as well as dance related congresses and she has some forthcoming peer-reviewed publications in both fields as well. She is also fascinated in choreographing works on her insights from the cognitive aspects of dancing bodies (e.g., "egogogo", "Brainstorm"). Patrick Haggard trained in Natural Sciences (Experimental Psychology) at Cambridge University, where he also obtained his PhD in 1991. He worked as a postdoctoral researcher in Neurophysiology at Oxford University, before joining University College London Psychology Department in 1995. When UCL opened its new Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience in 1998, he was invited to lead a research group in sensory and motor processes. He was made Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience in 2004. His active research interests focus on the relations between conscious experience and brain activity. Currently, these are studied in three different topic areas: voluntary action, bodily sensation, and observing the actions of others. He has published over 70 papers on these topics in a range of scientific journals including Science and Nature. His research is funded by UK research councils, the EU, the Wellcome Trust, and the Leverhulme Trust.
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