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Research - Forschungsaktivitäten der Abt. Allgemeine Psychologie

See also: Entry of the Unit in the Research Database of the University

*Student Research Assistants and Research Interns Wanted!*
(click here for more information: English / German)
 

 

Current Projects:

 

Research Topics:

  • Cognitive Affective Maps
  • Multitasking
  • Unconscious cognition
  • Action control
  • Perception of time in the context of action
  • A Systematic Breakdown of Stimulus-Response Associations
  • Cognition, Emotion, Language, and Culture
  • Environmental Psychology, Sustainability

(see also: Research Database of the University)
 

Methods:

  • Behavioral assessments:
    In our behavioral labs, we use PCs and button boxes to collect measures of task performance, such as accuracy with which and speed at which people plan and execute their actions in response to presented stimulation. Here we study for instance how well people are able to multitask by looking at participants’ reaction times and error rates when they have to switch back and forth between different tasks.
     
  • EEG:
    The electroencephalography (EEG) is a method well known for its high temporal resolution, which allows for the continuous record of electrical activity along the scalp produced by the brain activity. Certain functional states of the brain can thereby be assigned to characteristic patterns of the EEG, by either looking at so called event-related potentials (ERPs) or at oscillatory patterns of neural activity detected by EEG. Both ERPs and oscillations can be used to study brain activity to better understand how our brain processes information in certain conditions. In our lab, we use the EEG to try to specify how human brain organizes itself when challenged with different cognitive tasks.
     
  • Eye-tracker:
    An eye-tracker is a device that uses infrared light in order to determine the position of the eye. This method is helpful to investigate where a person is fixating his or her gaze at (fixations) or where a person’s eyes move to (saccades). Fixations and saccades can for instance be used as a measure for attentional processes. Furthermore, eye-tracking can be used to assess pupil dilation, a measure assumed to indicate for instance surprise, cognitive load, or arousal. In our lab, we are currently investigating anticipatory processes during goal-directed action via eye movement measures.
     
  • Online-surveys:
    Online-surveys are tools for the fast and efficient retrieval of data. In online-surveys, answers can be given independent of space and time, allowing for the collection of big national and international data sets. Moreover, in contrast to paper-pencil surveys, online data collection can be monitored continually. Accordingly, data are transferred into statistical programs automatically, thereby reducing input errors. Online-surveys can be used for public opinion analysis on a variety of questions. In our lab, we use online-surveys to investigate purchase intentions of decentralized sustainable energy systems such as photovoltaic modules and electricity storage facilities or to analyze the perception of different future energy supply scenarios. As a  complement to classical questionnaire-based survey methods, we develop and use Cognitive-Affective Mapping (CAM), a new, more qualitative data acquisition method  e.g. to to predict psychological acceptance of novel research fields and potentially resulting technologie.

 

Our lab is constantly looking for participants, for which we can pay you 7-8 Euro per hour. If you are interested in participating you can sign up here.

 

Publications / Thesis / Abschlussarbeiten:

See: Research Database of the University

 

 
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