Graduate School Project:
Breanna Studenka received her undergraduate degree (Bachelor of Arts) in Health and Kinesiology from the University of Northern Colorado in 2001, and her Master of Science and Ph.D. in the field of Motor Control at Purdue University in 2003 and 2008 respectively.
For the past six years her research interest has been human motor timing. Specifically, the difference between timing that is cognitively controlled (event timing) and timing that is self-organized (emergent). Tasks that exhibit event timing are thought to utilize an internal temporal representation whereas tasks exhibiting emergent timing are thought to produce timed movements indirectly, as a result of movement control, but without the use of an internal timekeeper.
Her dissertation, entitled: Synchronization Timing Behavior of Tapping and Circle Drawing was aimed at uncovering why some tasks (most often described as discrete-like) appear to use event timing while others (often described as smooth or cyclical) appear to be emergently timed. The thesis is that event-related feedback with respect to a timing goal or target determines the type of timing process a subject can or will use. This relevant and available event-related feedback, rather than the "smoothness" of movement, may be the critical distinction between event and emergent timing. Breanna is currently a member of NASPSPA (The North American Society of Sport and Exercise Psychology).
