Bert Timmermans
Cognitive Science Research Unit
Université Libre de Bruxelles CP 191
Av FD Roosevelt 50
B1050 Brussels
BELGIUM
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tel +32 (0)2 650 26 33 2008-09 conferences - autumn - * may/will attend attended 2007-08 conferences BAPS May 26 Leuven attended 2006-07 conferences EPS/BAPS
April 10-12 Cardiff other work stuff read
the abstract of the article other personal stuff the
late & great Douglas Adams mottos the best lack all conviction, while the time flies like an arrow; fruit flies this is not a dainty world to set the older I get, the better I used to be space is merely a device to prevent everything from
being in the same as a child the optimist unwraps |
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2008-10-17 © bert timmermans |
vita | research | publications
| Vita |
born October 1974
PhD in Psychology (Social Cognition)
Vrije Universiteit Brussel, 2006Masters Degree in Cognitive Science / DEA en Sciences Cognitives
Université Libre de Bruxelles, 1999MS in Psychology / Licentiaat in de Psychologie (Clinical/Experimental)
Vrije Universiteit Brussel, 1998full cv on request
Consciousness
I'm currently working as a postdoc in collaboration with Axel Cleeremans (ULB) on the EU NEST program MindBridge (full title Measuring Consciousness: Bridging the Mind-Brain Gap), coordinated by Morten Overgaard (HNRU Denmark).
The general aim of the project is to bridge the gap between the inner subjective (first-person) experience of consciousness, and the objective (third-person) observation of neural phenomena. Specifically, the aim of my work will be to develop experimental methodologies that allow for correlating of subjective and objective measures of awareness. In other words, the idea is to design tasks in which relative contributions of conscious and unconscious processing can be distinguished, so that once we have people do these tasks in an fMRI scanner, the observed neural activity may tell us something about the differences or similarities between conscious and unconscious processing. MindBridge is a collaboration between HNRU, ULB, UKE Germany (Andreas Engel), UCL UK (Geraint Rees), ULg Belgium (Steven Laureys), and PUC Germany (Kai Vogeley). Specifically, I'm working with Morten Overgaard on a comparison of subjective measures of perceptual awareness, and plan a collaboration with Kai Vogeley on neural correlates of change detection in patients with autism.
Other current collaborations with regard to consciousness and implicit learning are underway with Sid Kouider (LSCP, ENS Paris), and Kai Vogeley (PUC, Cologne).
For my Master in Cognitive Science ('99-'00), I worked with Axel on implicit learning of biconditional artificial grammars. Here are two related papers: COGSCI22 / NCPW6.
Social cognition
My PhD topic (under supervision of Frank Van Overwalle, VUB) was situated within the domain of social cognition, i.e. the study of the processes underlying social judgments, especially implicit or unconscious processing (also in collaboration with Marijke Van Duynslaeger). Currently I'm still pursuing my research on the mechanisms underlying subliminal manipulation of self-esteem and esteem of significant others; for more details on this and previous research, visit my VUB site.
| Publications |
Published/in press [e-version if available - for conference abstracts, see cv]
- Overgaard, M., & Timmermans, B. (in press). Introspection and subliminal perception. To appear in S. Gallagher & D. Schmicking (Eds.), Handbook of Phenomenology and Cognitive Science. London: Springer.
- Cleeremans, A., Timmermans, B., & Pasquali, A. (2007). Consciousness and metarepresentation: A computational sketch. Neural Networks, 20, 1032-1039. [07-NN]
- Schmitt, D. P., ... , Timmermans, B., et al. (2007). The geographic distribution of Big Five personality traits: Patterns and profiles of human self-description across 56 nations. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 38, 173-212.
- Van Overwalle, F., & Timmermans, B. (2005). Discounting and the Role of the Relationship between Causes. European Journal of Social Psychology, 35, 199-224. [PUBINT]
- Timmermans, B., & Van Overwalle, F. (2004). How do people make social judgements based on summarised information? Australian Journal of Psychology, 56, 95.
- Schmitt, D. P., ... , Timmermans, B., et al. (2004). Patterns and universals of adult romantic attachment across 62 cultural regions: Are models of Self and Other pancultural constructs? Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 35, 367-402.
- Schmitt, D. P., ... , Timmermans, B., et al. (2004). Patterns and universals of mate poaching across 53 nations: The effects of sex, culture, and personality on romantically attracting another person's partner. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 86, 560-584.
- Schmitt, D. P., ... , Timmermans, B., et al. (2003). Are men universally more dismissing than women? Gender differences in romantic attachment across 62 cultural regions. Personal Relationships, 10, 307-332.
- Schmitt, D. P., ... , Timmermans, B., et al. (2003). Universal sex differences in the desire for sexual variety: Tests from 52 nations, 6 continents, and 13 islands. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 85-104.
- Verstraeten, E., Van Overwalle, F., Vanhoomissen, T., Cluydts, R., & Timmermans, B. (eds.) (2003). Psychology and Sleep Research in Belgium. Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Belgian Psychological Society (BPS) including the Special Symposium 'The Cognitive Neuroscience of Sleep and Dreaming' jointly organised by the BPS and the Belgian Association for the Study of Sleep (BASS). Universal Press, NL.
- Van Overwalle, F., & Timmermans, B. (2001). Learning about an absent cause: Discounting and augmentation of positively and independently related causes. In R.M. French & J.P. Sougné (Eds.) Connectionist Models of Learning, Development and Evolution (pp. 219-228). London: Springer. [NCPW6b]
- Timmermans, B., & Cleeremans, A. (2001). Rules versus statistics in implicit learning of biconditional grammars. In R.M. French & J.P. Sougné (Eds.) Connectionist Models of Learning, Development and Evolution (pp. 185-196). London: Springer. [NCPW6a]
- Timmermans, B., & Cleeremans, A. (2000). Rules versus statistics in biconditional grammar learning: A simulation based on Shanks et al. (1997). Proceedings of the 22nd Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, 947-952. NJ: Erlbaum. [COGSCI]
- Van Mulders, I., Timmermans, B., & Boelaert, J. (1998). Verslag van het symposium 'Persoonlijkheidsstoornissen'. Tijdschrift Klinische Psychologie, 28, 145-49.
- Gelan, P., & Timmermans, B. (1998). Persoonlijkheidsstoornissen: Een stand van zaken. De Agenda Psychiatrie, 8, 8-9.
Submitted/under revision [pre-prints if available]
- Pasquali, A., Timmermans, B., & Cleeremans, A. Know thyself: Metacognitive networks and consciousness (simulations of Persaud et al., 2007). Manuscript submitted for publication.
- Timmermans, B., Van Duynslaeger, M., Vandewaerde, N., & Van Overwalle, F. Your hidden smile or scowl affects me: Subliminally manipulating self-esteem using facial expressions and traits. Manuscript submitted for publication.
- Timmermans, B. , Van Duynslaeger, M., & Van Overwalle, F. Processing summary information through activation of implicit exemplars. Manuscript submitted for publication.
- Van Duynslaeger, M., Timmermans, B., & Van Overwalle, F. Automatic goal inferences: Are direct and hidden goals alike? Manuscript under revision.
In preparation
- Timmermans, B., Overgaard, M., & Cleeremans, A. Implicit learning influences awareness of learned stimuli.
- Sandberg, K., Timmermans, B., Cleeremans, A., & Overgaard, M. Dichotomous awareness is an artefact of dichotomous awareness measures.
- Timmermans, B., Sandberg, K., Cleeremans, A., & Overgaard, M. Comparing different continuous subjective measures of perceptual awareness.
- Timmermans, B., Kouider, S., & Cleeremans, A. Subliminal implicit sequence learning .
Unpublished
- Timmermans, B. (2006) To judge and be judged: Spontaneous and intentional judgments of one's self and one's social environment. Unpublished doctoral thesis.
- Timmermans, B. (1999) Rules vs. statistics in implicit learning: The case of biconditional grammars. Unpublished masters thesis.
- Timmermans, B. (1999) The void behind my behaviour? Self-consciousness and phenomenal personality. Unpublished manuscript.
- Timmermans, B. (1999) Cats & dogs: A neural network model of categorisation after Mareschal & French (1996). Unpublished manuscript.
- Timmermans, B. (1998) How relationships between individuals influence the judgement of their conjoint behaviour: A connectionist approach. Unpublished masters thesis.
