Irene Sperandio

EDUCATION

2014    Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education Practice, University of East Anglia (UK)

2009    PhD in Psychological and Psychiatric Sciences – Department of Neurological and Vision Sciences – Section of      Physiology, University of Verona. Doctoral Thesis title: Reaction time approach to Visual Illusions and Size Constancy. Supervisors: Dr. Silvia Savazzi and Prof. Carlo Alberto Marzi. 

2006    Certification for Professional Psychologist, University of Padova (Italy)

2004    M.Sc.; Laurea cum laude in Clinical/Community Psychology – Psychobiology - University of Padova. Thesis title: Redundant signal effect and orientation: a study with simple RT, go/no-go and choice RT paradigms. Supervisors: Prof. Patrizia Bisiacchi (University of Padua), Prof. Carlo Alberto Marzi and Dr. Silvia Savazzi (University of Verona).

WORK EXPERIENCES

04/2023 - PRESENT Associate Professor,  Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento, Rovereto (TN), Italy 

04/2020 - 03/2023 Assistant Professor (Ricercatore Tipo B), Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento, Rovereto (TN), Italy 

12/2012 – 03/2020 (Tenured) Lecturer, Department of Psychology, University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom 

07/2009 - 10/2012 Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Psychology, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada, Supervisor: Dr. Melvyn A. Goodale

01/2006 - 06/2009 PhD Student, Department of Neurological and Vision Sciences, University of Verona, Supervisors: Prof. Carlo A. Marzi and Prof. Silvia Savazzi 

Behavioural and neural correlates of size and distance perception.

Behavioural and neural correlates of visual illusions.

Dissociation between perception and action.

Mechanisms underlying the formation of an afterimage.

Individual differences in visual processing.

My major research interests concern how the central nervous system computes and represents visuo-spatial information and how this information is translated into responses, such as perceptual reports or goal-directed actions. I am interested in these questions from an empirical, neural, and clinical point of view. Accordingly, I carry out my research using a multi-modal approach that combines behavioural, electrophysiological, and neuroimaging methods on both healthy and neurological participants.

Active grants:

01/11/2020-31/07/2022: BIAL foundation, Project 67/18 ''Electrophysiological correlates of size-distance integration''. (Principal investigator: Irene Sperandio; Co-applicant: Louis Renoult).

Memberships:

• Vision Science Society (VSS)

Guest Associate Editor:

• Frontiers in Human Neuroscience

Reviewer Editor:

• Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience

2016 Travel grant, Guarantors of Brain.

2015 UEA Transforming Teaching Awards - Most Inspiring Teaching. Faculty of Social Sciences

2014 Travel grant, Guarantors of Brain.

2010 Best poster award (1st place) J. Allyn Taylor International Prize in Medicine Symposium imaging of the aging brain, Robarts Research Institutes.  

2008 Franco Purghè prize, Italian Association for Psychology.

2008 ECVP travel support award.

2006 Young researchers prize, Italian Association for Psychology.

1. Yildiz, G.Y., Sperandio, I., Skarbez, R. & Chouinard, P.A. (2021, August). The effects of linear perspective cues and textures on perceptual rescaling of stimuli inside a corridor: A virtual reality (VR) study. Poster presentation, Virtual European conference on Visual Perception.
2. Yildiz, G. Y., Sperandio, I., & Chouinard, P.A. (2021, June). The Interocular Transference of the Effect of Linear Perspective Cues and Texture Gradients in Perceptual Rescaling Mechanisms. Poster presentation, Virtual European Society for Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience (ESCAN).
3. Sperandio, I., Chouinard, P.A. Paice, E., King, D.J. & Hodgekins, J. (2021, May). How do individuals who report psychotic-like experiences process visual illusions? Poster presentation, Virtual Vision Science Society.
4. Millard, A.S., Sperandio, I., & Chouinard, P.A. (2020, June). A Comparison Between the Use of Afterimages and Physical Stimuli in the Examination of Size Constancy. Poster presentation, Virtual Vision Science Society
5. Yildiz, G., Sperandio, I., Kettle, C., & Chouinard, P.A. (2019, November). The Contribution of Spatial Frequencies in Perceptual Rescaling Mechanisms. Poster presentation, Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society Conference, Launceston, Australia.
6. Grove, C., Cardinali, L. & Sperandio, I. (2019, August). Does tool-use modulate the perceived size of an afterimage during the Taylor Illusion? Poster presentation, European Conference on Visual Perception, Leuven, Belgium.
7. Chouinard, P.A., Peel, H.J., Sherman, J.A., Sperandio I, & Laycock, R. (2019, June). Perceptual size discrimination requires awareness and late visual areas: A continuous flash suppression and interocular transfer study. Poster presentation, Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness, London, Ontario, Canada.
8. Peel, H.J., Sherman, J.A., Sperandio I, Laycock, R. & Chouinard, P.A. (2018, November). The mechanisms of size perception inferred by continuous flash suppression and interocular transfer. Poster presentation, Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society Conference, Melbourne, Australia.
9. Yildiz, G., Sperandio, I., Kettle, C., & Chouinard, P.A. (2018, November). The contribution of monocular depth cues to size constancy in the context of the Ponzo illusion. Poster presentation, Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society Conference, Melbourne, Australia.
10. Millard, A.S., Sperandio, I., & Chouinard, P.A. (2018, November). Afterimages appear longer, but not brighter, under reduced viewing conditions. Poster presentation, Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society Conference, Melbourne, Australia.
11. Groove, C., Cardinali, L. Bayliss, A., & Sperandio, I. (2018, June). Does tool-use modulate perceived size during the Taylor illusion? Poster presentation, Body Representation Network Workshop, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
12. Peel, H.J., Royals, K.A., Sperandio, I., Laycock, R., & Chouinard, P.A. (2018, April). Unconscious Word Repetition Priming. Poster presentation, Experimental Psychology Conference, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
13. Millard, A.S., Sperandio, I., & Chouinard, P.A. (2018, April). The Contribution of Depth Cues in Emmert’s Law. Poster presentation, Experimental Psychology Conference, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
14. Landry, O., Royals, K.A., Sperandio, I., Crewther, S.G., & Chouinard, P.A. (2018, May) Illusion strength and associated eye movements in children with autism spectrum disorder while viewing Shepard and Ebbinghaus illusion displays. Poster presentation, International Society for Autism Research, Rotterdam, Netherlands.
15. Cox, E., Sperandio, I., Laycock, R., & Chouinard, P. (2017, November). Subliminal visual processing of aversive stimuli during visual masking and continuous flash suppression. Poster presentation, Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society Conference, Adelaide, Australia.
16. Millard, A.S., Sperandio, I., & Chouinard, P. (2017, November). The Contribution of Binocular Depth Cues in Emmert’s Law. Poster presentation, Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society Conference, Adelaide, Australia.
17. Royals, K.A., Landry, O., Millard, A.S., Sperandio, I., Crewther, S.G., & Chouinard, P.A. (2017, November). An eye-tracking tracking examination of the Shepard and Ebbinghaus illusions in children with autism spectrum disorder. Poster presentation, Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society Conference, Adelaide, Australia.
18. Chouinard, P., Royals, K., Landry, O., Crewther, S., & Sperandio, I. (August, 2017). The Developmental Trajectory of Susceptibility to Optical Illusions. Poster presentation, 8: 40-41.
19. Chouinard, P., Royals, K., Landry, O., Crewther, S., & Sperandio, I. (2017, July). The developmental trajectory of susceptibility to optical illusions. Oral presentation, European conference on Visual Perception, Berlin, Germany.
20. Chen, J., Sperandio, I. & Goodale, M.A. (2017, June). The influence of crowding on grip scaling during grasping. Oral presentation, Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness, Beijing, China.
21. Sperandio, I., Bond, N., & Binda, P. (2017, May). Modulatory effects of conscious vision on pupillary light responses. Poster presentation, Workshop on Concepts, Actions and Objects, Rovereto, Italy.
22. Chen, J., Rinas, R., Sperandio, I., & Goodale, M.A. (2017, May). Size constancy in grasping. Poster presentation, Canadian Association for Neuroscience, Montreal, QC, Canada.
23. Chen, J., Sperandio, I., Goodale, M.A. (2017, May). Proprioception calibrates object size constancy for grasping but not perception in limited viewing conditions. Oral presentation, Vision Science Society, St. Pete Beach, Florida, USA.
24. Royals, K.A., Landry, O., Millard, A.S., Sperandio, I., Crewther, S.G., & Chouinard, P.A. (2017, May). Susceptibility to Optical Illusions in Autism Spectrum Disorder Depends on Illusion Characteristics. Poster presentation, International Society for Autism Research, San Francisco, CA.
25. Royals, K.A., Landry, O., Millard, A.S., Sperandio, I., Crewther, S.G., & Chouinard, P.A. (2016, December). Susceptibility to Optical Illusions in Autism Spectrum Disorder Depends on Illusion Characteristics. Poster presentation, Annual Meeting of the Australasian Society for Autism Research, Perth, WA, Australia.
26. Chouinard, P.A., Unwin, K.L., Landry, O., & Sperandio, I. (2016, December). Afterimage duration but not size constancy changes in typical individuals with higher degrees of autistic traits. Poster presentation, Annual Meeting of the Australasian Society for Autism Research, Perth, WA, Australia.
27. Chen, J., Rinas, R., Sperandio, I., & Goodale, M.A. (2016, November). Size constancy in grasping. Poster presentation, Society for Neuroscience, San Diego, CA.
28. Sperandio, I., Bond, N., & Binda, P. (2016, August). Pupillary responses to perceived brightness require visual awareness. Poster presentation, European Conference on Visual Perception, Barcelona, Spain.
29. Fisher, C., & Sperandio, I. (2016, August). Simple reaction times as an implicit measure of the development of size constancy. Poster presentation, European Conference on Visual Perception, Barcelona, Spain.
30. Chen, J., Goodale, M.A., Sperandio, I. (2016, May). Size constancy is not accomplished in the early stages of visual processing. Poster presentation, Vision Science Society, St. Pete Beach, Florida, USA.
31. Landry, O., Sperandio, I., Crewther, S.G., & Chouinard, P.A. (2016, May). A profile of visual illusion susceptibility in ASD. Poster presentation, International Society for Autism Research, Baltimore, USA.
32. Chouinard, P.A., Royals, K., Sperandio, I., & Landry, O. (2016, March). The developmental trajectory of susceptibility to the Shepard’s tabletops illusion. Experimental Psychology Conference, Melbourne, Australia.
33. Sherman, J., Laycock, R., Sperandio, I., & Chouinard P.A. (2015, November). The effects of conscious awareness on object size perception during brief and prolonged presentation durations: A continuous flash suppression study. Poster presentation, Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society Conference. Auckland, New Zealand.
34. Fisher, C., & Sperandio, I. (2015, August). “The influence of familiar size on simple reaction times”. Poster presentation, European Conference on Visual Perception, Liverpool, UK.
35. Goodale, M.A., Whitwell, R.L., & Sperandio, I. (2015, July). “Grip constancy without perceptual size constancy in a patient with large bilateral lesions of occipito-temporal cortex”. Oral presentation, Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness, Paris, France.
36. Whitwell, R.L., Sperandio, I., Buckingham, G., Chouinard, P.A. & Goodale, M.A. (2015, May). “Evidence for a functional and anatomical dissociation in the use of size constancy for perceptual report and goal-directed grasping”. Oral presentation, Vision Science Society, St. Pete Beach, Florida, USA.
37. Chouinard, P.A., Unwin, K., Landry, O., & Sperandio, I. (2015, April) Susceptibility to optical illusions as a function of autistic traits in the general population. Poster presentation, Australasian Experimental Psychology Conference, Sidney, Australia.
38. Goodale, M.A., Whitwell, R.L., & Sperandio, I. (2015, February). “Grip constancy without perceptual size constancy in a patient with large bilateral lesions of occipito-temporal cortex”. Oral presentation, Canadian Spring Conference on Behaviour and Brain, Fernie, Canada.
39. Sperandio, I., Chen J & Goodale MA (2014, May). Electrophysiological correlates of size constancy. Poster presentation, Vision Science Society, St. Pete Beach, Florida, USA.
40. Sperandio, I., Whitwell, R., Chouinard, P. & Goodale, M.A. (2013, August). "Dissociation between size constancy for perception and action in a patient with bilateral occipital lesions". Oral presentation, European Conference on Visual Perception, Bremen, Germany.
41. Sperandio, I. & Goodale, M.A. (2013, May). 'Conscious' and 'unconscious' modulation of perceived size. Poster presentation, Workshop on Concepts, Actions and Objects, Rovereto, Italy.
42. Chouinard, P.A., McLean, A.A., Sperandio, I., Viviano, J., Schneider, K.A. & Goodale, M.A. (2013, May). Magnocellular and parvocellular fMRI activation in separate subdivisions of the human lateral geniculate nucleus. Poster presentation, Canadian Neuroscience Meeting, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
43. Chen, J., Sperandio, I. & Goodale, M.A. (2013, May). The influence of crowding on grip scaling during grasping. Poster presentation, Canadian Neuroscience Meeting, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
44. Chen, J., Sperandio, I. & Goodale, M.A. (2013, May). The influence of crowding on grip scaling during grasping. Poster presentation, Vision Science Society, Naples, Florida, USA.
45. Kaderali, S., Sperandio, I., Chouinard, P., Frey, J. & Goodale, M.A. (2012, October) Taylor illusion: proprioceptive effects of hand movement on positive after-images in the dark. Poster presentation, Vision Health Research Network Meeting, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
46. Sperandio, I., Kalderali, S., Chouinard, P., Frey, J. & Goodale, M.A. (2012, June) The role of vergence and proprioception in the Taylor illusion. Poster presentation, Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour and Cognitive Science, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
47. Whitwell, R.L., Sperandio, I., Garach, M. & Goodale, M.A. (2012, June). Grasping the Ebbinghaus Illusion: Perception and action dissociate but overt attention does not. Poster presentation, Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour and Cognitive Science, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
48. Chouinard, P.A., Striemer, C.L., Ryu, W.H.A., Sperandio, I., Goodale, M.A., Nicolle, D.A., Rotenberg, B., & Duggal, N. (2012, June) Retinotopic organization of the visual cortex before and after decompression of the optic chiasm in a patient with pituitary macroadenoma. Oral presentation, 75th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Ophthalmologic Society, Toronto, ON, Canada.
49. Sperandio, I., Whitwell, R., Chouinard, P. & Goodale, M.A. (2012, May). Preservation of size constancy for action, but not perception, in a patient with bilateral occipital lesions. Poster presentation, Vision Science Society, Naples, Florida, USA.
50. Sperandio, I., Chouinard, P.A., & Goodale, M.A. (2011, November) Size-distance scaling in human primary visual cortex: evidence from neuroimaging. Oral presentation, Society for Neuroscience, Washington, DC.
51. Sperandio, I., Chouinard, P.A., & Goodale, M.A. (2011, May) Size-distance scaling in human primary visual cortex: evidence from neuroimaging. Poster presentation, Workshop on Concepts, Actions and Objects, Rovereto, Italy.
52. Sperandio, I., Chouinard, P.A., Strother, L. & Goodale, M.A. (2010, November) Does Emmert’s law operate in primary visual cortex? Poster presentation, Society for Neuroscience, San Diego, CA.
53. Rossit, S., Sperandio, I., Savazzi, S., Fraser, A. & Goodale, M.A. (2010, November) Implicit redundant target effect across the vertical meridian, but not horizontal, in a stroke patient with an inferior left quadrantanopia. Poster presentation, Society for Neuroscience, San Diego, CA.
54. Sperandio, I., Chouinard, P.A. & Goodale, M.A. (2010, November). Does V1 obey Emmert’s Law? An fMRI study on size constancy. Poster presentation, J. Allyn Taylor International Prize in Medicine Symposium, London, Ontario, Canada.
55. Sperandio, I. & Goodale, M.A. (2010, June). The effect of familiar size on simple reaction times. Poster presentation, Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness, Toronto, Canada.
56. Sperandio, I. & Goodale, M.A (2009, October). The effect of knowledge on reaction times. Oral presentation, GAP/CAPnet Retreat, Ingersoll, Canada.
57. Sperandio, I., Savazzi, S., Marzi, C.A. & Gregory, R. (2008, September). Grandezza percepita o grandezza retinica: cosa misurano i tempi di reazione? Poster presentation, Congresso Nazionale AIP - Sezione di psicologia sperimentale, Padova, Italy.
58. Sperandio, I., Savazzi, S., Marzi, C.A. & Gregory, R. (2008, August). Does reaction time depend upon perceived or retinal stimulus size? Poster presentation, European Conference on Visual Perception, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
59. Sperandio, I., Savazzi, S. & Marzi, C.A. (2006, September). Effetto degli stimoli ridondanti e orientamento: uno studio con paradigma di tempo di reazione semplice. Poster presentation, Congresso Nazionale AIP - Sezione di psicologia sperimentale, Rovereto, Italy.

SERVICE

• Faculty member of the PhD course in Cognitive Science (11/2021-present)
• Committee member for thesis defence of the master's degree in Neuroscience (March 2022)
• Committee member for final oral examination for the bachelor's degree in Science and Techniques of Cognitive Psychology (2021-present)
• Admission Team Member (2014-present)
• Erasmus academic responsible (2021-present)
• Member of the selection panel for students’ admission in ‘Collegio Clesio’
• Chair of Ethics Committee (09/2017-03/2020)
• Athena Swan Member (Equality & Diversity; 2016-03/2020)
• Panel member for recruitment of personnel (Marie Curie Early Stage Researchers, PGR students, Experimental Officers) (2013-03/2020)
• Member of the PSY Research Committee (2014-03/2020)
• External examiner for PhD viva (2021: x1 UCL)
• Reviewer of PhD thesis (2018: x1 La Trobe University; x1 CIMeC; 2021: x1 La Trobe University)
• Deputy Chair of Psychology Ethics Committee (2013-08/2017)
• Participant Paid Panel Administrator (2013-2015)
• Library Officer (2013-2015)
• Organizer of UEA workshop on Perception and Action (2014)
• Research Staff Coordinator for Psychology (2013)
• Advisory Committee Member for PhD projects (2013; 2014; 2015)
• Committee member to judge and mark oral presentations for End-of-Year Research Project Presentations in the context of the University of Western Ontario's Science Program
• Volunteer Judge for Annual Western Research Forum (2011)
• Advisory Committee Member for Biology Honours Research Thesis (2010/2011)
• Organizer of Journal club and workshops on visual perception

INVITED TALKS

Sperandio I. “Dissociations between perception and action in size-distance scaling” (2021, November). New approaches to 3D vision - Royal Society, London UK (Online).

Sperandio I. “Behavioural and neural correlates of size constancy” (2020, November). International Research Training Group (IRTG) “The Brain in Action” (Online).

Sperandio I. “Pupillometry: A window into the mind’s eye’’ (2019, May). Pint of Science, Norwich, UK.

Sperandio I. “How does the human brain represent size?” (2017, May). University of Glasgow, UK.

Sperandio I. “Size constancy mechanisms in typical individuals with varying degrees of autistic-like traits” (2015, June). Workshop: Psychological Perspectives on Autism, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK.

Sperandio I. “Why do things look as they do? The neural substrates of size constancy” (2015, February). UCL, UK. 

Sperandio I. "Why do things look as they do? The contribution of primary visual cortex to size perception" (2013, November). Durham University, UK.

Sperandio I. “Retinotopic activity in V1 reflects the perceived not the retinal size of an afterimage” (2013, October). Symposium at the Italian Society of Neuroscience (SINS), Rome, Italy.

Sperandio I. "Why do things look as they do? The contribution of primary visual cortex to size perception" (2013, March). University of Verona, Italy.

Sperandio I. "Perceived size matters: from behaviour to neural activity" (2012, June). University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK.

Sperandio I. "Perceived size matters: from behaviour to neural activity" (2012, June). Queen's University, Belfast, UK.

Sperandio I. “The role of primary visual cortex in size constancy: evidence from neuroimaging and a neurological patient” (2012, June). CIMeC, Rovereto, Italy.

Sperandio I. “Retinotopic activity in V1 reflects the perceived not the retinal size of an after-image” (2011, May). Dipl.-Psych INM 3 - Kognitive Neurologie Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany.

Sperandio I. “Does reaction time depend upon perceived or retinal stimulus size?” (2008, December). University of Western Ontario, London, Canada.

Sperandio I. “Tecniche di visualizzazione del cervello in vivo” (2006, May). Incontro culturale sul tema: Introduzione alla Psicobiologia. Viaggio attraverso la neuroanatomia: le principali malattie degenerative e le tecniche di bioimaging. Campedello, Vicenza, Italy.