John Stins

I am an assistant professor at the Department of Human Movement Sciences, VU University Amsterdam. My research focuses on the interface of experimental psychology and motor control, and falls under the Institute of Brain and Behavior Amsterdam. I am involved in teaching and supervision of students at undergraduate and graduate level.

In my research I focus on seemingly simple postural motor tasks, such as quiet standing, and initiating a small step in a given direction. These tasks already give rise to rich and complex spatio-temporal trajectories, especially in its center of pressure (COP). In the past, such postural activities were considered 'automatic' and controlled by reflexes. However, we now know that they are influenced by cognitive states, such as attentional involvement, emotion, conscious thought processes, etc, as evidenced by the variations in the COP dynamics. Moreover, there is evidence that postural activities in turn can have an influence on psychological processes. In my work I try to unravel how motor activities are coordinated with cognitive activities, using behavioral experiments combined with movement registration techniques.

John is sitting in room 104 and is available at  j.f.stins@vu.nl or in phone ext 3665.