People

Dr Loes Van Dam

Honorary Senior Lecturer
Department of Psychology
Dr Loes Van Dam

Profile

Biography

Dr Loes van Dam obtained her MSc degree in Physics at Utrecht University, the Netherlands (2002) and continued to obtain her PhD there in the lab of Prof Erkelens (2006). After working at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tübingen, Germany and Bielefeld University, Germany she joined the department in 2016.

Qualifications

  • PhD Utrecht University, (2006)

  • MSc/Drs Experimental Physics Utrecht University, (2002)

Appointments

University of Essex

  • Lecturer, Psychology, University of Essex (11/1/2016 - present)

Research and professional activities

Research interests

My main research areas are visual perception, visuomotor performance and multi-sensory perception and action. In other words, I am interested in how the human brain transforms the sensory information it receives into adequate perceptual interpretations and goal-oriented behavior. I use psychophysical and behavioral methods in addition to ideal-observer modelling to investigate these topics.

Current research

perceptual ambiguity in vision (e.g. bistable perception)

the dynamics of sensory processing

the interaction between exploration and perception

the influence of task goals and task-switching in visuomotor behaviour

associative learning processes in visuomotor behaviour

Teaching and supervision

Previous supervision

Rebecca Elizabeth Ranson
Rebecca Elizabeth Ranson
Thesis title: Depth Cue Contributions in Complex Natural Scenes
Degree subject: Psychology
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 5/12/2023
Rebecca Louise Hornsey
Rebecca Louise Hornsey
Thesis title: 3D Perception of Complex Naturalistic Scenes in Consumer Virtual Reality
Degree subject: Psychology
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 4/7/2022
Francesca Fotia
Francesca Fotia
Thesis title: “Disturbances of Multisensory Processing in Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders: A Behavioural and Neurophysiological Account”
Degree subject: Neuropsychology
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 23/7/2021
Jordi Miriam Asher
Jordi Miriam Asher
Thesis title: Confidence and Feedback in Visual Perceptual Learning
Degree subject: Psychology
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 12/8/2019

Publications

Journal articles (25)

Webb, A., Hibbard, P., Dawson, J., Van Dam, L., Asher, J. and Kellgren-Parker, L., (2024). Immersive-360° theatre: user experience in the virtual auditorium and platform efficacy for current and underserved audiences. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts

Glowania, C., Ernst, M., Hanke, S. and van Dam, L., (2024). Visual influence on bimanual haptic slant adaptation. Journal of Vision. 24 (1), 8-8

Fotia, F., Van Dam, L., Sykes, JJ., Ambrosini, E., Costantini, M. and Ferri, F., (2022). Body structural representation in schizotypy. Schizophrenia Research. 239, 1-10

Fotia, F., Cooke, J., Van Dam, L., Ferri, F. and Romei, V., (2021). The temporal sensitivity to the tactile-induced Double Flash Illusion mediates the impact of beta oscillations on schizotypal personality traits.. Consciousness and Cognition. 91, 103121-103121

Glowania, C., Plaisier, MA., Ernst, MO. and Van Dam, LCJ., (2020). No need to touch this: Bimanual haptic slant adaptation does not require touch. PLoS One. 15 (7), e0236824-e0236824

Van Dam, LCJ. and Stephens, JR., (2018). Effects of prolonged exposure to feedback delay on the qualitative subjective experience of virtual reality. PLoS ONE. 13 (10), e0205145-e0205145

Glowania, C., van Dam, LCJ., Brenner, E. and Plaisier, MA., (2017). Smooth at one end and rough at the other: influence of object texture on grasping behaviour. Experimental Brain Research. 235 (9), 2821-2827

van Dam, LCJ., Plaisier, MA., Glowania, C. and Ernst, MO., (2016). Haptic adaptation to slant: No transfer between exploration modes. Scientific Reports. 6 (1), 34412-

Rohde, M., van Dam, LCJ. and Ernst, MO., (2016). Statistically Optimal Multisensory Cue Integration: A Practical Tutorial. Multisensory Research. 29 (4-5), 279-317

van Dam, LCJ. and Ernst, MO., (2015). Mapping Shape to Visuomotor Mapping: Learning and Generalisation of Sensorimotor Behaviour Based on Contextual Information. PLOS Computational Biology. 11 (3), e1004172-e1004172

van Dam, LCJ. and Ernst, MO., (2015). Relative errors can cue absolute visuomotor mappings. Experimental Brain Research. 233 (12), 3367-3377

Rohde, M., Van Dam, LCJ. and Ernst, MO., (2014). Predictability is necessary for closed-loop visual feedback delay adaptation.. Journal of Vision. 14 (4), 4-4

van Dam, LCJ., (2014). Visual target distance, but not visual cursor path length produces shifts in motor behavior: a multisensory integration perspective.. Frontiers in Psychology. 5 (JUN), 650-650

Plaisier, MA., van Dam, LCJ., Glowania, C. and Ernst, MO., (2014). Exploration mode affects visuohaptic integration of surface orientation.. Journal of Vision. 14 (22), 22-22

Wallraven, C., Bülthoff, HH., Waterkamp, S., van Dam, L. and Gaißert, N., (2014). The eyes grasp, the hands see: Metric category knowledge transfers between vision and touch. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review. 21 (4), 976-985

van Dam, LCJ., Hawellek, DJ. and Ernst, MO., (2013). Switching between visuomotor mappings: Learning absolute mappings or relative shifts. Journal of Vision. 13 (2), 26-26

van Dam, LCJ. and Ernst, MO., (2013). Knowing each random error of our ways, but hardly correcting for it: an instance of optimal performance.. PloS One. 8 (10), e78757-e78757

van Dam, LCJ. and Ernst, MO., (2010). Preexposure disrupts learning of location-contingent perceptual biases for ambiguous stimuli.. Journal of Vision. 10 (8), 1-17

van Dam, LCJ. and van Ee, R., (2006). The role of saccades in exerting voluntary control in perceptual and binocular rivalry. Vision Research. 46 (6-7), 787-799

van Dam, LCJ. and van Ee, R., (2006). Retinal image shifts, but not eye movements per se, cause alternations in awareness during binocular rivalry.. Journal of vision. 6 (11), 1172-1179

van Ee, R., van Dam, LCJ. and Brouwer, GJ., (2005). Voluntary control and the dynamics of perceptual bi-stability. Vision Research. 45 (1), 41-55

van Dam, LCJ. and van Ee, R., (2005). The role of (micro)saccades and blinks in perceptual bi-stability from slant rivalry. Vision Research. 45 (18), 2417-2435

van Dam, LCJ. and van Ee, R., (2004). Stereoscopic Matching and the Aperture Problem. Perception. 33 (7), 769-787

van Ee, R. and van Dam, LCJ., (2003). The influence of cyclovergence on unconstrained stereoscopic matching. Vision Research. 43 (3), 307-319

van Ee, R., van Dam, LCJ. and Erkelens, CJ., (2002). Bi-stability in perceived slant when binocular disparity and monocular perspective specify different slants.. Journal of Vision. 2 (9), 597-607

Book chapters (2)

Bennett, DJ., Trommersh�user, J. and van Dam, LCJ., (2014). Bayesian Modeling of Perceiving: A Guide to Basic Principles. In: Sensory Integration and the Unity of Consciousness. Editors: Bennett, DJ. and Hill, CS., . MIT Press. 3- 14. 9780262027786

van Dam, LCJ., Parise, CV. and Ernst, MO., (2014). Modeling Multisensory Integration. In: Sensory Integration and the Unity of Consciousness. Editors: Bennett, DJ. and Hill, CS., . MIT Press. 209- 229. 9780262027786

Conferences (41)

Stasica, M., Streiling, K., Honekamp, C., Schneider, A., Exarchos, A., Henschke, S., Pirincoglu, S., Polat, M., Scholz, N., Stähler, C., Syring, E., Van Dam, L. and Seyfahrt, A., (2024). Walking on virtual surface patterns changes muscular activity

Stephens, JR., Hibbard, PB. and van Dam, LCJ., (2022). Computer cursor appearance in pointing tasks: the effect of cursor size

Stephens, JR., Hibbard, PB. and van Dam, LCJ., (2021). Computer cursor orientation affects both pointing behaviour and the sense of agency in a target pointing task

Webb, A., Hibbard, PB. and van Dam, LCJ., (2021). Presence in an immersive-360 theatre auditorium: the influence of immersion, emotional arousal, and overall experience enjoyment

van Dam, LCJ., Nilsen, IBR. and Stephens, JR., (2021). Prolonged exposure to feedback delay in Virtual Reality: subjective ownership and agency ratings rely on general task performance rather than genuine temporal adaptation

Van Dam, LCJ., Webb, ALM., Jarvis, L., Linley, M. and Hibbard, PB., (2020). "The Mystery of the Raddlesham Mumps": A case study for combined storytelling in a theatre play and Virtual Reality

Hibbard, P., Van Dam, L. and Scarfe, P., (2020). The Implications of Interpupillary Distance Variability for Virtual Reality

Nilsen, I. and Van Dam, L., (2019). Target-tracking: exploring the effects of prolonged exposure to feedback delay in virtual reality

Van Dam, L., (2019). The motion induced position shift in a target tracking task

Hibbard, P., Webb, A., Linley, M. and Van Dam, L., (2019). Combining Virtual Reality and Traditional Story Telling in “The Mystery of the Raddlesham Mumps”: A case study.

Hughes, R., Scarfe, P., Hibbard, P. and Van Dam, L., (2018). Perception of Object Movement in Virtual Reality

Van Dam, L. and Stephens, J., (2018). The effect of prolonged exposure to feedback delay on body ownership, agency and presence in virtual reality

Glowania, C., Van Dam, LCJ., Brenner, E. and Plaisier, MA., (2017). Influence of object texture on grasping behaviour

Van Dam, LCJ. and Ferri, F., (2017). The Trump effect: The effect of visual hand-size on movement behavior

van Dam, L., (2017). Signal Detection Theory in Visual Illusions and Multisensory Integration

Glowania, C., van Dam, L., Hanke, S. and Ernst, M., (2016). Haptic shape adaptation is not object dependent

Van Dam, LCJ., Li, D. and Ernst, MO., (2016). Different usage of visual information for cursor and target in a target-tracking task

Van Dam, LCJ., Plaisier, MA., Glowania, C. and Ernst, M., (2015). Adaptation of haptic surface orientation: No transfer between different unimanual exploration modes

Glowania, C., Van Dam, LCJ., Plaisier, MA. and Ersnt, MO., (2015). Adaptation to haptic surface orientation: Combining information across exploration modes

Rohde, M., Van Dam, LCJ. and Ernst, MO., (2014). Adaptation to visual feedback delays in predictable manual tracking recalibrates perceived simultaneity

Van Dam, LCJ. and Ernst, MO., (2014). What determines the adaptation rate in the visual motion aftereffect?

Ernst, MO. and Van Dam, LCJ., (2014). We know our own movement errors, but we hardly correct for then: An instance of optimal behavior

van Dam, LC. and Ernst, M., (2013). Determinants of adaptation rate in the visual motion aftereffect

Plaisier, M., van Dam, LC., Glowania, C. and Ernst, M., (2013). The effect of exploration mode on visuo-haptic slant perception

Van Dam, L., Li, D. and Ernst, M., (2012). Visuomotor tracking: Minimizing visual error does not rely on visual error alone

Gaissert, N., Waterkamp, S., Van Dam, L. and Buelthoff, I., (2011). Cross-modal transfer in visual and haptic object categorization

Van Dam, L. and Ernst, M., (2011). Knowing the error of our ways yet being unable to correct for it

Gaissert, N., Van Dam, LCJ., Waterkamp, S., Bülthoff, HHB. and Wallraven, C., (2011). Efficient cross-modal transfer of shape information in visual and haptic object categorization

Rohde, M., van Dam, LCJ. and Ernst, MO., (2010). Seeing ahead: adaptation to delays in visual feedback recalibrates vasomotor simultaneity perception

Van Dam, LCJ., Ernst, MO. and Backus, BT., (2010). Pre-exposure interferes with perceptual learning for ambiguous stimuli

Ernst, MO. and Van Dam, LCJ., (2010). Mapping shape to visuomotor mapping: generalization to novel shapes

Van Dam, LCJ., Pape, A-A. and Ernst, MO., (2010). We know our errors that result from noise

Narain, D., Van Dam, LCJ. and Ernst, MO., (2009). Learning times do not alter adaptation rates in rapid reaching tasks

Fuller, S., Backus, B., Van Dam, LCJ. and Ernst, MO., (2009). Short-term dynamics of perceptual bias for bistable stimuli

Van Dam, LCJ., Mulder, R., Noest, A., Brascamp, JW., van den Berg, B. and van Ee, R., (2007). Sequential dependency in percept durations for binocular rivalry

van Dam, LCJ. and van Ee, R., (2006). Saccadic retinal shifts correlate with perceptual alternations in binocular rivalry

van Dam, LCJ. and van Ee, R., (2005). The role of version and vergence in visual bistabillity

van Dam, LCJ. and van Ee, R., (2005). The role of eye movements in bistability from perceptual and binocular rivalry and the role of voluntary control

van Ee, R., van Dam, LCJ., Brouwer, GJ. and Korsten, NJH., (2003). Bistable stereoscopic 3D percepts: Will-power, flip frequency, eye movements and blinks

Van Dam, LCJ. and van Ee, R., (2003). Bistability in stereoscopically perceived slant about a horizontal axis

van Dam, LCJ. and van Ee, R., (2002). Stereoscopic matching and the aperture problem

Grants and funding

2019

The effects of dynamic facial information on sensitivity to facial expressions.

Economic and Social Research Council

2016

Integrating the senses in virtual reality

Oculus VR LLC

Contact

lvandam@essex.ac.uk
+44 (0) 1206 874723

Location:

3.713, Colchester Campus