Welcome to the Action in Complex Environments Labratory (ACELab). Led by Dr. Craig Chapman, the ACELab is in the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation at the University of Alberta, and is affiliated with the Neuroscience and Mental Health Institute. In the ACELab, we use motion tracking, eye tracking and electroencephalography (EEG) to explore how we negotiate, and think about, the complexity of our world – seamlessly selecting and performing actions on behaviorally relevant objects, ignoring irrelevant objects and avoiding objects that get in our way.
As an example of how moving in a complex environment reveals how we think, imagine sitting at a poker table as cards are being dealt out. The dealer has to precisely shape their hand to pull one card off the deck at a time and apply just the right force to slide a card to each player. Someone folding their cards shows disgust as they toss them into the middle, while another player takes only a peek at one card while pulling in the other. Finally, as you peel up your two cards and see pocket aces, you immediately reach for chips – but has your excited movement already given away the strength of your hand?!