Email: m.cebrecos@bbk.ac.uk
Supervisors
Prof Denis Mareschal (Birkbeck, University of London)
Dr Ori Ossmy (Birkbeck, University of London)
Research Interests
I am interested in understanding how the abilities to collaborate and compete with others develop, and how these two modes of social cognition can be inferred from motor behaviour. Movements offer a window into the mind, providing insights into cognitive processes that might otherwise remain hidden. My interest is grounded in theories of embodied cognition, which highlight the link between cognitive and motor processes.
In my PhD research, I investigate the emergence of motor markers associated with collaborative and competitive behaviour in children, and how these markers relate to the development of social, cognitive, and motor skills. We use motion capture technology to analyse children's kinematics during collaborative and competitive interactions, looking for unique patterns in their movements that may reveal their underlying social-cognitive state. Moreover, once we have identified the motor markers for collaboration and competition, we aim to determine the age at which they first emerge and how they relate to children's broader developmental trajectories in social, cognitive, and motor areas.
Education
PhD Psychology, Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck, University of London (2021 – present)
MSc Educational Neuroscience, UCL IoE and Birkbeck, University of London (2020 – 2021)
Post Graduate Certificate in Education International (PGCEi), University of Nottingham (2018 – 2019)
BSc Biological Sciences, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia (2012 – 2017)
Teaching Positions
Associate Tutor, Birkbeck, University of London (2023 – present)
Modules: Academic Skills for Psychology (BSc)
Demonstrator, Birkbeck, University of London (2021 – present)
Modules: Introduction to Research Methods (BSc), Research Methods I (BSc), Research Methods II (BSc), Statistics for Psychology (MSc), Principles of Experimental Psychology (MSc)
1:1 SEN Learning Support, Devonshire House Prep School, London (2021)
Science Teacher, Markham College (Upper School), Lima-Peru (2018 – 2021)
Modules: IGCSE Physics, Chemistry and Biology; and Research Skills (year 11)
Presentations and Publications
Cebrecos, M.P., Motion Capture in Developmental Cognitive Research. Demo talk for the In2ScienceUK week at the Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, London, July 2025.
Cebrecos, M.P., Motion Capture in Developmental Cognitive Research. Demo talk for the In2STEM week at the Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, London, July 2024.
Cebrecos, M.P., Ossmy, O., Mareschal, D. Social Embodiment: Investigating the Emergence of Collaborative and Competitive Behaviours in Children. Presented as a talk at the UK Sensorimotor 2024, University of Cambridge, June 2024.
Cebrecos, M.P., Ossmy, O., Mareschal, D. Social Embodiment: Investigating the Emergence of Collaborative and Competitive Behaviours in Children. Presented as a poster at the Jean Piaget Society Annual Conference, Toronto, Canda, May 2024.
Cebrecos, M.P., Ossmy, O., Mareschal, D. The Emergence of Collaborative and Competitive Behaviour: Insights from Kinematics. Presented as a poster at Budapest CEU Conference on Cognitive Development, Hungary, January 2024.
Cebrecos, M.P., Ossmy, O., Mareschal, D. The Emergence of Collaborative and Competitive Behaviour: Insights from Kinematics. Presented as a talk at the Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience (DCN) lab, Columbia University, NY, USA, November 2023.
Cebrecos, M.P., Ossmy, O., Mareschal, D. The Emergence of Collaborative and Competitive Behaviour: Insights from Kinematics. Presented as a talk at the British Psychological Society Cognitive and Developmental Sections Annual conference 2023, University of Bristol, UK, September 2023.
Cebrecos, M.P., Ossmy, O., Mareschal, D. The Emergence of Collaborative Behaviour: Insights from Kinematics. Presented as a poster at the Budapest CEU Conference on Cognitive Development, Hungary, January 2023.
Cebrecos, M.P., Mareschal, D. Children’s Multi-step Action Planning in Home Environments. Presented as a poster at the online Development in Motion Conference, University of Lancaster, June 2021.
Awards and Funding
COST Machine Learning for Early Environments Workshop (2024): full scholarship and EUR 200 for travel expenses
Pete Puffal award granted to the two highest-ranking proposals from Emerging Scholars at the Jean Piaget Society Conference (2024): fee waiver and USD 550 price
Guarantors of Brain (2024): GBP 1000 funding towards international conference
BCCCD24 fee waiver award (2024): EUR 200 towards registration fee for the Cognitive Development Centre 14th annual meeting at CEU
British Psychological Society Cognitive and Developmental Section travel award (2024): GBP 500 towards registration fee and travel expenses
Best Lecturer/Seminar Teacher nomination in the SU Awards 2023 at Birkbeck, University of London, 2024
CBCD-NECD workshop (2022): full scholarship
Birkbeck Postgraduate Bursary (2021): GBP 1000 Towards post-graduate taught course expenses
Birkbeck International Scholarship (2020): GBP 1500 towards tuition fee for post-graduate taught course.
Markham College funding (2018): Full funding towards the PGCEi post-graduate course at the University of Nottingham