Abstract
What is in a baby’s mind? How much do babies know about the world? Do they know anything about math and physics? and what about socializing with others? In this talk we will learn how new methods and tools from developmental psychology and cognitive neuroscience are used to learn about the mind of the very young. Right from birth or even earlier the brain of babies starts forging the connections that will support the most extraordinary process of all: becoming a conscious, thoughtful and unique human being.
Biography
M. Rosario (Charo) Rueda is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Granada (Spain). She got her degree in Psychology from the University of Granada and her PhD on experimental psychology and behavioural neurosciences at the same institution. Her postdoctoral research started at the University of Oregon (USA) and continued in the Sackler Institute for Developmental Psychobiology (New York, USA) until 2004. Then, she returned to Granada as a research associate and became a Professor in 2010. She is now the Head of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, which is hosted at the Mind, Brain and Behavior Research Centre (CIMCYC) of the UGR.
Her research is focused on the development of attention and self-regulation during childhood and the factors that influence such development, including constitutional and environmental factors, the brain networks, and the impact of training on behaviour and neural plasticity. She has published over 60 scientific papers and book chapters on those topics, and is the author of a recently published book about “Educating attention with the brain” (Educar la atención con cerebro. Madrid: Alianza Editorial).
She served for several years in the Council of the European Association of Developmental Psychology, and she is currently the president-elect of the Spanish Society of Experimental Psychology. She is co-founder of the UGR’s spin-off “Neuromindset”, a company that focuses on creating a bridge between the knowledge obtained from research in neuroscience and the general public such as parents or teachers. In that way, she aims to promote the highest cognitive and social development of children.
She is actively involved in science outreach too. She has given many scientific talks to general audiences, including a TEDx talk on the key role of attention for intelligent and strategic behaviour, as well as other public lectures on “The Brain of Homo Sapiens: Attention, Will and Strategy”. In a world where we are all overstimulated, she highlights the importance of being focused to select the relevant information, especially when our actions conflict with routine activities.
X INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM SRUK/CERU 