Wolfgang Prinz
Encyclopedia
Wolfgang Prinz is director of the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences
in Leipzig
, Germany, and an internationally recognized expert in experimental psychology
, cognitive psychology
and philosophy of mind
. He is the founder of the common coding theory
between perception and action that has a significant impact in cognitive neuroscience and social cognition.
, Philosophy
and Zoology
at the University of Münster
(Germany) from 1962–1966, and was awarded a Ph.D. from the Ruhr University in Bochum, Germany, in 1970. Prinz was a director of the Max Planck Institute for Psychological Research Munich, Germany, from 1990 to 2004. Since 2004 he has been a director at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.
Advisory Board of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research (ZiF), University of Bielefeld, Germany; Advisory
Board of the Dean, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Jacobs University Bremen, Germany; Honorary
Member of the European Society of Psychology (ESCoP); Psychonomic Society; German Society of
Psychology (DGPs).
. This theory claims parity between perception
and action. Its core assumption is that actions are coded in terms of the perceivable effects (i.e., the distal perceptual events) they should generate Performing a movement leaves behind a bidirectional association between the motor pattern it has generated by and the sensory effects that it produces. Such an association can then be used backwards to retrieve a movement by anticipating its effects. These perception/action codes are also accessible during action observation (for an historical account of the ideo-motor principle, see Observation of an action should activate action representations to the degree that the perceived and the represented action are similar. Such a claim suggests that we represent observed, executed and imagined actions in a commensurate manner and makes specific predictions regarding the nature of action and perceptual representations. First, representations for observed and executed actions should rely on a shared neural substrate. Second, a common cognitive system predicts interference effects when action and perception attempt to access shared representations simultaneously. Third, such a system predicts facilitation of action based on directly prior perception and vice versa.
The common coding theory has received strong support from a variety of empirical studies in developmental psychology
, cognitive neuroscience
, cognitive science
and neurophysiology
. This theory is at the core of what has been called Motor cognition
.
In neuroscience, evidence for the common coding theory ranges from electrophysiological recordings in monkeys in which mirror neurons in the ventral premotor and posterior parietal cortices fire both during goal-directed actions and observation of the same actions performed by another individual, to functional neuroimaging experiments in humans which indicate that the neural circuits involved in action execution partly overlap with those activated when actions are observed.
Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences
The Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences is located Leipzig, Germany. The institute was founded in 2004 by a merger between the former Max Planck Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience in Leipzig and the Max Planck Institute for Psychological Research in Munich...
in Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
, Germany, and an internationally recognized expert in experimental psychology
Experimental psychology
Experimental psychology is a methodological approach, rather than a subject, and encompasses varied fields within psychology. Experimental psychologists have traditionally conducted research, published articles, and taught classes on neuroscience, developmental psychology, sensation, perception,...
, cognitive psychology
Cognitive psychology
Cognitive psychology is a subdiscipline of psychology exploring internal mental processes.It is the study of how people perceive, remember, think, speak, and solve problems.Cognitive psychology differs from previous psychological approaches in two key ways....
and philosophy of mind
Philosophy of mind
Philosophy of mind is a branch of philosophy that studies the nature of the mind, mental events, mental functions, mental properties, consciousness and their relationship to the physical body, particularly the brain. The mind-body problem, i.e...
. He is the founder of the common coding theory
Common coding theory
Common coding theory is a cognitive psychology theory describing how perceptual representations and motor representations are linked. The theory claims that there is a shared representation for both perception and action...
between perception and action that has a significant impact in cognitive neuroscience and social cognition.
Background
Wolfgang Prinz studied PsychologyPsychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
, Philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
and Zoology
Zoology
Zoology |zoölogy]]), is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct...
at the University of Münster
University of Münster
The University of Münster is a public university located in the city of Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. The WWU is part of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, a society of Germany's leading research universities...
(Germany) from 1962–1966, and was awarded a Ph.D. from the Ruhr University in Bochum, Germany, in 1970. Prinz was a director of the Max Planck Institute for Psychological Research Munich, Germany, from 1990 to 2004. Since 2004 he has been a director at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.
Memberships in Research Councils and Societies
Academia Europea; German Academy of Natural Scientist Leopoldina, Halle (Saale), Germany; ScientificAdvisory Board of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research (ZiF), University of Bielefeld, Germany; Advisory
Board of the Dean, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Jacobs University Bremen, Germany; Honorary
Member of the European Society of Psychology (ESCoP); Psychonomic Society; German Society of
Psychology (DGPs).
Academic achievements
Prinz is the father of the common coding theoryCommon coding theory
Common coding theory is a cognitive psychology theory describing how perceptual representations and motor representations are linked. The theory claims that there is a shared representation for both perception and action...
. This theory claims parity between perception
Perception
Perception is the process of attaining awareness or understanding of the environment by organizing and interpreting sensory information. All perception involves signals in the nervous system, which in turn result from physical stimulation of the sense organs...
and action. Its core assumption is that actions are coded in terms of the perceivable effects (i.e., the distal perceptual events) they should generate Performing a movement leaves behind a bidirectional association between the motor pattern it has generated by and the sensory effects that it produces. Such an association can then be used backwards to retrieve a movement by anticipating its effects. These perception/action codes are also accessible during action observation (for an historical account of the ideo-motor principle, see Observation of an action should activate action representations to the degree that the perceived and the represented action are similar. Such a claim suggests that we represent observed, executed and imagined actions in a commensurate manner and makes specific predictions regarding the nature of action and perceptual representations. First, representations for observed and executed actions should rely on a shared neural substrate. Second, a common cognitive system predicts interference effects when action and perception attempt to access shared representations simultaneously. Third, such a system predicts facilitation of action based on directly prior perception and vice versa.
The common coding theory has received strong support from a variety of empirical studies in developmental psychology
Developmental psychology
Developmental psychology, also known as human development, is the scientific study of systematic psychological changes, emotional changes, and perception changes that occur in human beings over the course of their life span. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has expanded to...
, cognitive neuroscience
Cognitive neuroscience
Cognitive neuroscience is an academic field concerned with the scientific study of biological substrates underlying cognition, with a specific focus on the neural substrates of mental processes. It addresses the questions of how psychological/cognitive functions are produced by the brain...
, cognitive science
Cognitive science
Cognitive science is the interdisciplinary scientific study of mind and its processes. It examines what cognition is, what it does and how it works. It includes research on how information is processed , represented, and transformed in behaviour, nervous system or machine...
and neurophysiology
Neurophysiology
Neurophysiology is a part of physiology. Neurophysiology is the study of nervous system function...
. This theory is at the core of what has been called Motor cognition
Motor cognition
The concept of motor cognition grasps the notion that cognition is embodied in action, and that the motor system participates in what is usually considered as mental processing, including those involved in social interaction...
.
In neuroscience, evidence for the common coding theory ranges from electrophysiological recordings in monkeys in which mirror neurons in the ventral premotor and posterior parietal cortices fire both during goal-directed actions and observation of the same actions performed by another individual, to functional neuroimaging experiments in humans which indicate that the neural circuits involved in action execution partly overlap with those activated when actions are observed.
Selected works
- Meltzoff, A. & Prinz, W. (2002). "The Imitative Mind: Development, Evolution and Brain Bases." Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Schütz-Bosbach, S., & Prinz, W. (2007). "Perceptual resonance: Action-induced modulation of perception." Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 11(8), 349-355.
- Prinz, W. (2006). "Free will as a social institution." In S. Pockett, W. P. Banks, & S. Gallagher (Eds.), Does consciousness cause behavior? (pp. 257–276). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
- Bosbach, S., Cole, J., Prinz, W., & Knoblich, G. (2005). "Inferring another's expectation from action: The role of peripheral sensation." Nature Neuroscience, 8(10), 1295-1297.
- Drost, U. C., Rieger, M., Brass, M., Gunter, T. C., & Prinz, W. (2005). "When hearing turns into playing: Movement induction by auditory stimuli in pianists." The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, Section A: Human Experimental Psychology, 58A(8), 1376-1389.
See also
- Experimental psychologyExperimental psychologyExperimental psychology is a methodological approach, rather than a subject, and encompasses varied fields within psychology. Experimental psychologists have traditionally conducted research, published articles, and taught classes on neuroscience, developmental psychology, sensation, perception,...
- Social cognitionSocial cognitionSocial cognition is the encoding, storage, retrieval, and processing, in the brain, of information relating to conspecifics, or members of the same species. At one time social cognition referred specifically to an approach to social psychology in which these processes were studied according to the...
- Motor cognitionMotor cognitionThe concept of motor cognition grasps the notion that cognition is embodied in action, and that the motor system participates in what is usually considered as mental processing, including those involved in social interaction...
- Sense of agencySense of agencyThe "sense of agency" refers to the subjective awareness that one is initiating, executing, and controlling one's own volitional actions in the world. It is the pre-reflective awareness or implicit sense that it is me who is presently executing bodily movement or thinking thoughts...
- ImitationImitationImitation is an advanced behavior whereby an individual observes and replicates another's. The word can be applied in many contexts, ranging from animal training to international politics.-Anthropology and social sciences:...
- PhilosophyPhilosophyPhilosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
External links
- Max-Plank Institute http://www.mpg.de/
- Wolfgang Prinz web page http://www.cbs.mpg.de/staff/prinz-10359