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The Body in the Mind: Bodily and conceptual aspects of self-representation and how they interact

When: —
Venue: Birkbeck Main Building, Malet Street

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Dr Lara Maister, Birkbeck


The Body in the Mind: Bodily and conceptual aspects of self-representation and how they interact.

Abstract: The Self is a complex construct, containing many different types of information. One basic distinction can be made between the 'bodily' self, containing primarily perceptual information regarding the appearance and ownership of the body, and the 'conceptual' self, containing more abstract, semantic and affective information regarding one's beliefs, psychological characteristics and feelings. My research focuses on the interaction between these two types of self-representation, and how they influence social cognition. We can use body illusions, such as the rubber hand or enfacement illusions, to experimentally alter the bodily self. I will discuss research demonstrating that the effects of illusions such as these are not restricted to the self-representation, but they also fundamentally alter how we perceive other people, leading to changes in social cognition. In a second part of the talk, I will present new data exploring our perceptual body representations and how they are biased by beliefs and feelings we hold about ourselves. How accurate is our 'mental picture' of our physical appearance, and does this picture deviate from reality in psychologically and socially meaningful ways?

Bio: Lara completed a PhD in Experimental Psychology at the University of Cambridge where she investigated episodic memory retrieval in children with autism. In 2011, she began her postdoctoral research career where she developed her current research focus on body representation and embodied social cognition. She joined the Department of Psychological Sciences at Birkbeck as a Lecturer in January 2017, where she is affiliated with the Body Representation Laboratory of Professor Matt Longo. She uses a range of neuroscientific, psychophysiological and behavioural techniques to investigate self-perception in both adults and infants.

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