MSc Psychology - Masterarbeitsthemen

(nach Lehrstühlen gruppiert)

→ Cognition, Action, and Sustainability (Prof. Dr. Andrea Kiesel)

→ Cognitive Neuropsychology (Prof. Dr. Monika Schönauer)

→ Diagnostics and Assessment (Prof. Dr. Joseph Krummenacher)

→ Higher Cognition and Research Methods (Prof. Dr. Karl Christoph Klauer)

→ Learning and Instruction (PD Dr. Sophie Nolden)

→ Work and Organisational Psychology (Prof. Dr. Markus Langer)

Cognition, Action, and Sustainability (Prof. Dr. Andrea Kiesel)

siehe auch auf Abteilungsseite

• Cognitive-motor interference and aging
  
  This video might appear in your Reels, showing pedestrians making phone calls while briskly walking and grabbing any random items handed to them. Cognitive-motor interference occurs when a person engages in both a cognitive and a motor task simultaneously (dual-tasking), leading to poorer performance in one or both tasks compared to when they are performed separately (Plummer et al., 2013). For older adults, cognitive-motor dual-tasking can be particularly challenging due to the loss in cognitive and motor integrities associated with aging (Bernard-Demanze et al., 2009; Brustio et al., 2018; López-Otín et al., 2013).
  
  Current work program: retrospective study on risk factors of older adults’ fall.
  
  The Basel Mobility Center in Switzerland applied Basel Cognitive-Motor Dual-Task Paradigm (Theill et al., 2011) on patients as support for diagnosis. With clinic and socio-demographical information integrated, a large-scale database with more than ten thousand samples and six hundred parameters was developed. For this project, it is preferred to focus on one of the following five aspects and investigate their relationship with fall history. These are only a broad overview, you are strongly encouraged to develop ideas together on the parameters in the given database: 1) socio-demographical factors, e.g., living status and physical exercises; 2) clinical factors, e.g., cognitive status measurements (like MMSE) and medication usage; 3) physical factors, e.g., sensory and walking aids usage, and muscle extremity assessment; 4) gait factors, e.g., velocity and body sway; 5) cognitive workload - dual-task cost.
  
  Note: Based on your interest, statistical modeling on fall risk is also possible, especially for a master's thesis. It is also possible to conduct your own experiments in the lab or online. For example, one can conduct experiments to retest the characteristics of cognitive-motor interference on younger adults for comparison.
  
  Literatur:
  Bernard-Demanze, L., Dumitrescu, M., Jimeno, P., Borel, L., & Lacour, M. (2009). Age-related changes in posture control are differentially affected by postural and cognitive task complexity. Current aging science, 2(2), 135-149. 
  Brustio, P. R., Rabaglietti, E., Formica, S., & Liubicich, M. E. (2018). Dual-task training in older adults: The effect of additional motor tasks on mobility performance. Archives of gerontology and geriatrics, 75, 119-124.
  López-Otín, C., Blasco, M. A., Partridge, L., Serrano, M., & Kroemer, G. (2013). The hallmarks of aging. Cell, 153(6), 1194-1217.
  Plummer, P., Eskes, G., Wallace, S., Giuffrida, C., Fraas, M., Campbell, G., ... & Skidmore, E. R. (2013). Cognitive-motor interference during functional mobility after stroke: state of the science and implications for future research. Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation, 94(12), 2565-2574.
  Theill, N., Martin, M., Schumacher, V., Bridenbaugh, S. A., & Kressig, R. W. (2011). Simultaneously measuring gait and cognitive performance in cognitively healthy and cognitively impaired older adults: The Basel motor–cognition dual‐task paradigm. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 59(6), 1012-1018.
  Kontakt:Tian Zhou, MSc. and Prof. Dr. Andrea Kiesel
  
  
• What mechanisms do different sequence effects in cognitive tasks share? 
  
  We are quicker at finding the same object in two different searches than we are at finding two different objects (for example, when playing Dobble). We are also faster when performing the same task twice in a row compared to when we switch tasks. What do these phenomena have in common? Are they somehow related, or do they just occur coincidentally? Sequence effects are evident in various areas of cognitive psychology, such as visual search (Found & Müller, 1996), two-choice tasks (Soetens et al., 1985), interference tasks (Gratton et al., 1992), or task switching (Jersild, 1927). Although these quite different paradigms induce the same behavioural effects—namely faster reaction times and fewer errors when repeating a task compared to switching—it remains largely unexplored which mechanisms these paradigms actually share. Are there common mechanisms that ensure sequence effects occur across all paradigms? You can contribute part of the answer to this question with your master's thesis.
  
  Literatur:
  Found, A., & Müller, H. J. (1996). Searching for unknown feature targets on more than one dimension: Investigating a “dimension-weighting” account. Perception & Psychophysics, 58(1), 88–101. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03205479
  Gratton, G., Coles, M. G. H., & Donchin, E. (1992). Optimizing the use of information: Strategic control of activation of responses. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 121(4), 480–506. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.121.4.480
  Jersild, A. T. (1927). Mental set and shift. Archives of Psychology, Whole No. 89. https://archive.org/details/mentalsetshift00jers/page/16/mode/2up?ref=ol&view=theater
  Soetens, E., Boer, L. C., & Hueting, J. E. (1985). Expectancy or automatic facilitation? Separating sequential effects in two-choice reaction time. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 11(5), 598–616. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-1523.11.5.598
  Kontakt: Dr. Anne Voormann and Prof. Dr. Andrea Kiesel
  
  
• Do experienced hand-arm vibrations affect our cognitive performance?
  
  When using many power tools (e.g., rotary hammers, angle grinders, etc.), users are exposed to hand-arm vibrations that require increased motor force. These vibrations vary in frequency and intensity, thereby affecting perceived vibration comfort and discomfort (Hägele, 2023). At the same time, such situations demand high cognitive requirements, such as attention, to avoid both material damage and injury. Although vibration discomfort is often studied and mitigated in the technical field, for example, by adapting tool handles, the impact of experienced hand-arm vibrations on cognitive performance has been scarcely investigated (see Rahmani et al. 2021 for an initial study on bus drivers). Therefore, the aim of this project is to provide a closer examination of the influences that experienced hand-arm vibrations have on our cognition (attention, cognitive control).
  
  Literatur: 
  Rahmani, R., Aliabadi, M., Golmohammadi, R., Babamiri, M., & Farhadian, M. (2021). Evaluation of Cognitive Performance of City Bus Drivers with Respect to Noise and Vibration Exposure. Acoustics Australia, 49(3), 529–539. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40857-021-00248-z
  Hägele, D. (2023). Vibrations(dis)komfort von Power-Tools - der Einfluss von Personenvariablen und Studienumgebung [nicht publizierte Masterarbeit]. Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg.
  Kontakt: Dr. Anne Voormann and Prof. Dr. Andrea Kiesel
• Acceptance of Novel Technologies, Especially Material Systems: Innovative Empirical Research
  
  The introduction and acceptance of novel technologies is a complex process that encompasses cognitive, affective, and ethical aspects. Common models such as the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM; Venkatesh & Bala, 2008), which is based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB; Ajzen 2020), primarily focus on cognitive factors, like the perception of usefulness and ease of use. However, in many contexts, affective dimensions such as emotional reactions and normative considerations, such as ethical acceptance, also play a central role (Huijts et al., 2012).
  
  Empirical Ethics as a Basis for Investigating Acceptance
  Empirical ethics provides a promising approach to combining empirical data and normative principles in order to gain well-founded insights into social practices. By linking descriptive and normative approaches, it enables a comprehensive analysis of the acceptance of new technologies. This allows not only for capturing existing opinions and emotions but also for formulating ethical guidelines for the development and introduction of these technologies. This perspective facilitates the development of recommendations for an ethically reflected and socially accepted implementation of new technologies. To this end, we have developed the Ethics Scale for Technology Assessment (ESTA; Fenn et al., in prep.). This standardised scale is based on various normative theories and allows for the systematic and multidimensional evaluation of technologies from an ethical perspective.
  
  Use of “Cognitive-Affective Maps” (CAMs)
  Cognitive-Affective Maps (CAMs) are visual tools that systematically represent both cognitive beliefs and emotional evaluations of concepts. In a CAM, central concepts (e.g., "sustainability," "innovation costs") are visualised as nodes connected by links. The colours and line widths of the nodes indicate the affective evaluation—positive, negative, neutral, or ambivalent. This method allows for capturing cognitive and emotional aspects of technology acceptance in an intuitive, easily interpretable form. This enables a detailed understanding of the mental models and emotional attitudes of societal groups, going beyond purely cognitive approaches. For this purpose, we have developed the so-called CAM Tools (Fenn et al., 2024), which enable the collection and analysis of CAM data (see also: https://drawyourminds.de/).
  
  Potential for Empirical and Normative Insights
  The combined application of CAMs and ESTA, together with an empirically-ethical approach, could answer crucial questions:
  -What cognitive and affective factors influence the acceptance of new technologies?
  - What ethical concerns do various societal groups express, and how could these be overcome?
  
  This approach not only creates a deeper understanding of the perception and evaluation of novel technologies but also makes a valuable contribution to the ethical design and successful introduction of these technologies. This allows for gaining insights that enable a sustainable, socially accepted implementation. 
  
  For Germany to meet its climate targets, a drastic reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in the transport sector is required. Various studies show that shifting mobility from cars to public transport is of great importance (e.g., Blanck & Zimmer, 2016; Hentschel et al., 2020; Rudolph et al., 2017). It is important to consider the attitudes and norms that guide people’s choice of transport mode. In a previous study, using Cognitive Affective Maps (CAMs, Kreil, 2018; Thagard, 2010, 2015), data on cognitive and affective aspects of 137 drivers’ decisions to use cars or public transport was captured in the form of mind map-like networks (Sendtner, 2021). This data is now to be compiled using new software (Fenn et al., 2022) and evaluated using quantitative and qualitative methods.
  
  Literatur: 
  Ajzen, I. (2020). The theory of planned behavior: Frequently asked questions. Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies, 2(4), 314–324. https://doi.org/10.1002/hbe2.195
  Fenn, J., Gouret, F., Gorki, M., Reuter, L., Gros, W., Hüttner, P., & Kiesel, A. (2024). Cognitive-Affective Maps extended logic: Proposing Tools to Collect and Analyze Attitudes and Belief Systems. https://drawyourminds.de/
  Fenn, J., Höfele, P., Sölder, P., Reuter, L., & Kiesel, A. (in prep.). Development and Validation of an Empirical Ethics Scale for Technology Assessment—Challenges and Perspectives for a Real Time Ethics for Emerging Technologies.
  Huijts, N. M. A., Molin, E. J. E., & Steg, L. (2012). Psychological factors influencing sustainable energy technology acceptance: A review-based comprehensive framework. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 16(1), 525–531. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2011.08.018
  Venkatesh, V., & Bala, H. (2008). Technology Acceptance Model 3 and a Research Agenda on Interventions. Decision Sciences, 39(2), 273–315. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5915.2008.00192.x
  Kontakt: Dr. Julius Fenn and Prof. Dr. Andrea Kiesel
• Relationships Between Balance Ability and Cognitive Tasks
  
  Why do some people stop walking when they want to tell a story? Motor and cognitive functions share limited resources, which can lead to a decline in performance when a motor and a cognitive task are performed simultaneously. However, studies show that a higher level of physical activity is associated with improved executive functions (e.g., improved information processing speed, selective attention, and working memory function).
  
  We are interested in whether balance ability requirements are associated with changes in cognitive processes. To investigate this, we test how participants, standing in various body positions on a measurement plate for analysing postural control ability, perform in cognitive tasks. There are also various theories about the impact of emotions on balance. We test the balance of participants under the influence of emotional stimuli.
  
  Literatur: 
  Andersson, G., Hagman, J., Talianzadeh, R., Svedberg, A., & Larsen, H. C. (2002). Effect of cognitive load on postural control. Brain Research Bulletin, 58(1), 135–139. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0361-9230(02)00770-0
  Azevedo, T. M., Volchan, E., Imbiriba, L. A., Rodrigues, E. C., Oliveira, J. M., Oliveira, L. F., Lutterbach, L. G., & Vargas, C. D. (2005). A freezing‐like posture to pictures of mutilation. Psychophysiology, 42(3), 255–260.
  Woollacott, M., & Shumway-Cook, A. (2002). Attention and the control of posture and gait: A review of an emerging area of research. Gait & Posture, 16(1), 1–14.
  Kontakt: Dr. Elisa Straub and Prof. Dr. Andrea Kiesel  
• Language Models in Psychological Research: Interaction Studies, Analysis of Cognitive-Affective Maps (CAMs)
  
  Interaction Study with Language Models – Perception of Trustworthiness and Usefulness
  This work investigates how people assess the trustworthiness and usefulness of responses generated by Large Language Models (LLMs). The focus is on comparing LLMs that use only specified expert sources with those having unrestricted internet access. In the context of interactive tasks (e.g., exam preparation or information evaluation), participants rate the quality and trustworthiness of the responses. The aim is to identify factors that influence the acceptance and perception of LLMs in educational and informational contexts.
  Prerequisites:
  - Programming skills in Python, especially for working with language model interfaces (e.g., OpenAI API; Hugging Face).
  - deally, prior experience with language models and prompt engineering.
  Objectives:
  - Analyse the perceived trustworthiness and usefulness of LLM responses.
  - Develop recommendations for optimising interaction with LLMs in specific application scenarios
  
  Automated Text Generation for Cognitive-Affective Maps (CAMs)
  This project investigates the automatic creation of text descriptions for Cognitive-Affective Maps (CAMs). CAMs visualise cognitive and affective relationships between concepts. The goal is to use language models like GPT to generate structured, precise, and interpretable text summaries of CAMs. This enables scalable and standardised interpretation of CAM data and facilitates applications in psychology and decision research. 
  Whether a new technology is accepted or what accompanying measures may be required for a broad introduction is often investigated using various versions of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM; Venkatesh & Bala, 2008) or the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT; Venkatesh, Thong & Xu, 2012). These models were primarily developed for IT applications and focus mainly on cognitive factors; however, affective components also play an important role in many areas. With Cognitive Affective Maps (CAM; Thagard, 2010; Kreil, 2018), cognitive and affective attributes and relationships can be captured equally in the form of visual representations. This relatively new method will be applied in a small pilot study to provide initial insights into the development and acceptance of novel material systems.
  
  Prerequisites:
  - Programming skills in Python, especially for working with language model interfaces (e.g., OpenAI API; Hugging Face).
  - Ideally, prior experience with language models and prompt engineering.
  Objectives:
  - Develop a pipeline that translates CAM data into visual and textual representations.
  - Create and optimise prompts for generating precise text descriptions of CAM structures.
  - Evaluate the results through expert feedback and comparison of different language models. 
  Extension possibilities:
  Compare different file formats (e.g., PNG vs. SVG) for text generation. Integrate raw data (e.g., adjacency matrices) directly into the text generation pipeline.
  
  These projects offer the opportunity to leverage advanced language models and innovative methods like CAMs to gain new insights into technology acceptance, visual data representations, and automated text generation.
  Kontakt: Dr. Julius Fenn and Prof. Dr. Andrea Kiesel
   
• Zusammenhang impliziter Gewichtsbias und BMI
  In dieser Abschlussarbeit soll untersucht werden, wie sich ein möglicher impliziter Gewichtsbias (weight bias) in Abhängigkeit vom eigenen Body-Mass-Index (BMI) verhält. Gewichtsbias bezeichnet unbewusste negative Einstellungen gegenüber übergewichtigen Personen (weight bias), die häufig automatisch und ohne reflektierte Kontrolle ablaufen. 
  In einer ersten Studie mit einem normalgewichtigen Sample konnten wir einen Gewichtsbias in den Reaktionszeiten eines Affektiven Priming Paradigmas finden. Diesen Bias konnten wir in einer zweiten Studie mit überwiegend übergewichtigen Teilnehmenden jedoch nicht replizieren. Auf dieser Grundlage steht nun die Analyse eines neuen Datensatzes mit Teilnehmenden unterschiedlicher BMI-Gruppen im Fokus. Ziel ist es, systematisch zu untersuchen, ob und wie sich der Bias in Abhängigkeit vom eigenen BMI manifestiert. 
  Die Analyse kann auf Reaktionszeitdaten basieren; optional ist auch der Einsatz kognitiver Modellierung möglich. 
  
  Literatur: 
  Pollak, K. M., Wachten, H., Fenn, J., Hartmann, R., Meyer-Grant, C. G., Strahler, J., & Kiesel, A. (submitted). Assessing underlying processes of implicit weight bias: A diffusion model analysis. 
  Marini, M., Sriram, N., Schnabel, K., Maliszewski, N., Devos, T., Ekehammar, B., Wiers, R., HuaJian, C., Somogyi, M., Shiomura, K., Schnall, S., Neto, F., Bar-Anan, Y., Vianello, M., Ayala, A., Dorantes, G., Park, J., Kesebir, S., Pereira, A., . . . Nosek, B. A. (2013). Overweight people have low levels of implicit weight bias, but overweight nations have high levels of implicit weight bias. PloS One, 8(12), e83543. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0083543 
  Elran-Barak, R., & Bar-Anan, Y. (2018). Implicit and explicit anti-fat bias: The role of weight-related attitudes and beliefs. Social Science & Medicine, 204, 117–124. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.03.018
  Kontakt: Katja Pollak, MSc. 
• Training für eine Reduktion vonn implizitem Gewichtsbias
  In dieser Abschlussarbeit soll ein neuartiger Trainingsansatz zur Reduktion von implizitem Gewichtsbias weiterentwickelt und empirisch überprüft werden. Gewichtsbias bezeichnet unbewusste negative Einstellungen gegenüber übergewichtigen Personen (weight bias), die häufig automatisch und ohne reflektierte Kontrolle ablaufen. 
  Der Trainingsansatz basiert auf unseren eigenen Vorarbeiten, in denen wir mithilfe kognitiver Modellierung zentrale kognitive Prozesse identifizieren konnten, die maßgeblich zur Entstehung des Bias beitragen. Erste Trainingskonzepte, die gezielt an diesen Prozessen ansetzen, wurden bereits entwickelt. Im Rahmen der Abschlussarbeit sollen diese weiter verfeinert, methodisch angepasst und im Rahmen einer empirischen Studie getestet werden.
  
  Literatur: 
  Pollak, K. M., Wachten, H., Fenn, J., Hartmann, R., Meyer-Grant, C. G., Strahler, J., & Kiesel, A. (submitted). Assessing underlying processes of implicit weight bias: A diffusion model analysis. 
  Jayawickrama, R. S., Hill, B., O'Connor, M., Flint, S. W., Hemmingsson, E., Ellis, L. R., Du, Y., & Lawrence, B. J. (2024). Efficacy of interventions aimed at reducing explicit and implicit weight bias in healthcare students: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Obesity Reviews, e13847. https://doi.org/10.1111/obr.13847 
  Schneider, J., Tinoco, A., Scott, B., Witcomb, G. L., Matheson, E. L., & Diedrichs, P. C. (2024). A Systematic Review of Interventions That Aim to Reduce Implicit and Explicit Weight Biases among Fitness Professionals. Recreational Sports Journal, 48(2), 197–215. https://doi.org/10.1177/15588661241280200 
  Moore, C. H., Oliver, T. L., Randolph, J., & Dowdell, E. B. (2022). Interventions for reducing weight bias in healthcare providers: An interprofessional systematic review and meta-analysis. Clinical Obesity, 12(6), e12545. https://doi.org/10.1111/cob.12545 
  Kontakt:Katja Pollak, MSc.
  
  
• Analyse von Assoziationen zu übergewichtigen Personen mithilfe von Large Language Models
  In dieser Abschlussarbeit geht es um die Analyse von Assoziationen, die mit übergewichtigen Personen verbunden werden. Dazu bearbeiten Teilnehmende einen Word Association Task, in dem sie spontan Begriffe nennen, die ihnen zu bestimmten Personengruppen – beispielsweise übergewichtigen Personen – einfallen. 
  Ziel ist es, die auf diese Weise erhobenen Assoziationen systematisch auszuwerten, um Einblicke in verbreitete Stereotype zu gewinnen. Zum Einsatz sollen dabei Large Language Models (LLMs) kommen, die helfen, inhaltliche Muster, thematische Schwerpunkte und semantische Strukturen in den Assoziationen zu erkennen und zu interpretieren. Ähnliches wurde bspw. bereits zum Begriff „Risiko“ durchgeführt (Wulff & Mata, 2022).
  
  Literatur: 
  Jovančević, A., & Jović, M. (2022). The Relation Between Anti-Fat Stereotypes and Anti-Fat Prejudices: The Role of Gender as a Moderator. Psychological Reports, 125(3), 1687–1713. https://doi.org/10.1177/00332941211005123 
  Aeschbach, S., Mata, R., & Wulff, D. U. (2025). Mapping Mental Representations With Free Associations: A Tutorial Using the R Package associatoR. Journal of Cognition, 8(1), 3. https://doi.org/10.5334/joc.407 
  Wulff, D. U., & Mata, R. (2022). On the semantic representation of risk. Science Advances, 8(27), eabm1883. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abm1883
  Kontakt: Katja Pollak, MSc. and Dr. Julius Fenn
• Optimizing Executive Functions Across All Ages: A Meta-Analytic Evaluation of Cognitive Training Programs with Multi-Component Quality Corrections
  
  This project focuses on a rigorous meta-analysis of cognitive training interventions designed to enhance executive functioning performance in healthy people of all ages. A central feature of our methodology is the application of a multi-component quality correction approach, allowing us to account for possible sources of statistical variability in a nuanced and statistically robust way.
  This is an excellent opportunity to gain in-depth, hands-on experience with innovative methods in data analysis — skills highly valued in academic research, data science, and applied psychology. 
  Your Responsibilities
  - You will be actively involved in several key phases of the project, including:
  - Full-text screening and coding of research articles using defined inclusion/exclusion criteria 
  - Extracting and organizing key data from eligible studies
  - Participating in regular team meetings and methodological discussions
  - Contributing to the development and refinement of quality correction methods    - Correcting R code for statistical analysis of gathered data 
  Requirements
  - Strong interest in cognitive psychology, neuroscience, or a related field
  - Excellent attention to detail, sense of responsibility, and ability to work independently  - - Proficiency in English (for reading academic literature)
  - Familiarity with R programming is a plus 
  To apply send 
  - a short self-presentation and statement of interest (e.g., your study program, areas of interest, and motivation for joining the project)
  - Your availability (earliest start date, thesis deadlines, and any concurrent obligations such as exams)
  - Your CV 
  Kontakt: Anastasiia Perevoznikova MSc.

Cognitive Neuropsychology (Prof. Dr. Monika Schönauer)

- Themen folgen
 

Diagnostics and Assessment (Prof. Dr. Joseph Krummenacher)

  - Themen folgen
 

Higher Cognition and Research Methods (Prof. Dr. Karl Christoph Klauer)

• Reduzieren oder kompensieren? Psychologische und gesellschaftliche Hürden bei der CO₂-Kompensation
  Trotz breiter öffentlicher Diskussionen über Klimawandel und individuelle Verantwortung bleibt die tatsächliche CO₂-Kompensation durch Privatpersonen gering. Die Masterarbeit untersucht, welche psychologischen, sozialen und ökonomischen Faktoren eine Rolle spielen, wenn Menschen sich gegen CO₂-Kompensation entscheiden – obwohl sie grundsätzlich umweltbewusst sind. Welche Rolle spielen Vertrauen, Wirksamkeitserwartung, moralische Überzeugungen (z. B. "moderner Ablasshandel") und staatliche Rahmenbedingungen (z. B. CO₂-Steuer)? In einer Online-Befragung sollen Einstellungen, Handlungsbereitschaft und die Akzeptanz verschiedener Maßnahmen (Reduktion vs. Kompensation vs. Kombination) erfasst und analysiert werden.
  Ansprechpartner: Rainer Leonhart

• Klimawandel zwischen Fakten und Fiktion – Welche Fake News zur Klimakrise glauben wir und warum?
  Falschinformationen zur Klimakrise verbreiten sich schnell und beeinflussen Meinungen und Verhaltensweisen. Diese Masterarbeit analysiert, auf welche Arten von Fake News Menschen besonders anfällig reagieren – etwa bei emotionalen, ideologisch gefärbten oder scheinbar wissenschaftlichen Inhalten. In einer experimentellen Online-Vignettenstudie werden unterschiedliche Arten von klimabezogenen Falschinformationen präsentiert, um herauszufinden, welche Merkmale und individuelle Faktoren (z. B. Weltanschauung, Vorwissen, politische Einstellung) die Glaubwürdigkeitseinschätzung beeinflussen. Ziel ist es, Muster der Anfälligkeit aufzudecken und mögliche Präventionsstrategien abzuleiten.
  Ansprechpartner: Rainer Leonhart
   
• Hängen Effekte der logischen Möglichkeit einer Schlussfolgerung von deren semantischer Glaubhaftigkeit ab?
  Eine Schlussfolgerung ist dann (und nur dann) logisch valide, wenn sie eine notwendige Konsequenz der zuvor aufgestellten Prämissen ist. Urteile über die logische Validität von Schlussfolgerungen weichen allerdings häufig in systematischer Weise von der normativ korrekten Antwort ab. Zu den Faktoren, die zu solchen Abweichungen führen, gehören beispielsweise semantische Charakteristika, wie etwa die Glaubhaftigkeit der Aussage, aber auch, ob eine formal unzulässige Schlussfolgerung unter Gültigkeit der Prämissen logisch möglich oder unmöglich ist. In einer Masterarbeit wollen wir uns mit dem Zusammenspiel dieser beider Faktoren auseinandersetzen.
  Ansprechpartner: Annika Stump, Constantin Meyer-Grant
   
• Statistik in der Psychologie: Zwischen Qualitätsmerkmal und Ritual
  Welche Art von statistischer Inferenz wenden PsychologInnen in der Forschung an? Die übliche, populationsbasierte Inferenz setzt Zufallsstichproben aus einer klar definierten Population voraus. In der Regel definieren Forschende aber weder die Population, noch ziehen sie Zufallsstichproben. Das Problem könnte durch die Anwendung anderer Inferenzarten umgangen werden. Fraglich ist aber, ob solche Inferenzarten überhaupt zum Einsatz kommen. Letztlich stellt sich die Frage, wie ernst PsychologInnen die statistischen Voraussetzungen ihrer Methoden nehmen. Diese Problematik kann anhand der veröffentlichten Literatur untersucht werden. Eine solche Untersuchung ist sowohl eine empirische, als auch eine Literaturarbeit. Die Beobachtungseinheiten sind nicht direkt Forschende, sondern deren Veröffentlichungen in der psychologischen Literatur. Abhängig von der konkreten Fragestellung können sowohl qualitative als auch quantitative Methoden zum Einsatz kommen. Weiterhin kann die Fragestellung auf alle Forschungsbereiche der Psychologie angewandt werden. Studierende können über eine entsprechende Abschlussarbeit einen tieferen Einblick in die Qualität der Forschung in ihrem Interessensbereich gewinnen.
  Ansprechpartner: André Aßfalg
   
• Moral Psychology
  Much of moral psychology is concerning with contrasting utilitarianism and deontology through moral dilemma. In Gawronski et al. (2017), a process-dissociation model of moral judgments is presented, which is called the CNI model. Via moral dilemma, the CNI model estimates parameters for responses due to a consequence-driven response, a norm-based response, and an inaction bias. Four conditions that factorially combine action and inaction according to deontological and utilitaristic norms in congruent and incongruent conditions enable the estimation of these parameters via multinomial processing tree framework.
  In Skovgaard-Olsen and Klauer (2023, ms), two model extensions of the CNI model were proposed, which either reject an invariance assumption in the CNI model or build in the possibility of conflicting response tendencies. Since these models introduce further parameters, experiments that systematically target one of these new parameters are possible as topics of MSc theses.
  MSc theses can be written in English or German.
  Ansprechpartner: Niels Skovgaard-Olsen
   
• Psychology of Causality
  In psychology, the theory of causal Bayes nets (Pearl, 2009) makes up one of the primary normative frameworks for understanding human causal reasoning (Sloman, 2004; Waldmann, 2017). As one of its fundamental assumptions, causal Bayes nets assume the Markov assumption requiring that each variable Xi is independent of all its nondescendents, given its parents PAi in a given causal diagram. This assumption is in turn paramount on a practical level in reducing the complexity of the inference problem that we are faced with when making causal inferences in complex causal structures. What the Markov assumption allows us to do is to ignore information about the states of most of the variables in a causal network and focus our attention on the parent nodes, or the direct proxy causes, of a given variable. Empirically, there has thus been a strong interest in probing whether participants are then able to reason based on the Markov assumption in psychological experiments (Rehder, 2014; Mayrhofer & Waldmann, 2015; Rehder & Waldmann, 2017). However, according to a body of literature reviewed in Rottman & Hastie (2014), participants persistently violate the Markov assumption in psychological experiments. It has been suggested that postulating unobserved variables, and a hidden mechanism in the causal nets of the participants, may account for this behaviour. The goal of the MSc thesis is to conduct experiments testing this assumption.
  MSc theses can be written in English or German.
  Ansprechpartner: Niels Skovgaard-Olsen
   

Learning and Instruction (PD Dr. Sophie Nolden)

• Multitasking und episodisches Gedächtnis
  In unserem Alltag sind wir manchmal damit konfrontiert, mehrere Aufgaben gleichzeitig auszuführen oder schnell zwischen ihnen zu wechseln. Diese Art der Aufgabenausführung nennt man Multitasking. Aus der bisherigen Forschung wissen wir, dass die Aufgabenleistung in der Regel durch Multitasking reduziert ist. Multitasking gilt als herausfordernd und bedarf erhöhter kognitiver Kontrolle. Was jedoch weniger bekannt ist, sind die Effekte von Multitasking auf episodisches Gedächtnis. Die Idee der vorgeschlagenen Arbeit ist es, zu überprüfen, inwieweit Multitasking das Wiedererkennen von Bildern beeinflusst und inwieweit sich die Qualität von Erinnerungen in Abhängigkeit von verschiedenen Multitasking-Settings verändert. Ansprechpartnerin: Sophie Nolden
   
• Emotionales Design in Videos
  Ihr kennt vielleicht das Internetphänomen der Sketched Explanation Videos – diese Videos, die mit Zeichnungen arbeiten und in denen immer wieder Hände zu sehen sind. Oft sind in den Videos kleine Rahmengeschichten integriert, die zeigen wie man das zu lernende Wissen nutzen kann. Wir haben dieses Format als emotionale Design-Möglichkeit genutzt um beim Betrachter Interesse zu induzieren, aufrechtzuerhalten und somit das Lernen über längere Zeit oder unter widrigen Umständen zu fördern. Die Idee für weitere Studien wäre, emotionales Design besser zu verstehen und näher zu beleuchten wie eine effektive Rahmengeschichte aussehen kann.
  Ansprechpartner: Tino Endres, Charlotte Vössing
  Für wen: Design-Affine (kein Muss, mögliches Material besteht schon), Interesse an emotionalen Prozessen & Interesse als lernrelevanten Faktoren
   
•  Emotional Design bei Klinischen Fragestellungen
   Emotional Design klingt gut aber du interessierst dich zusätzlich für Klinische Themen? Wir haben schon Hinweise gefunden, dass Emotionales Design Lernende interessieren und so die Selbstregulation beim Lernen erleichtern kann. Durch Symptome von Aufmerksamkeitsstörungen, wie zum Beispiel die dysfunktionale Regulierung der Anstrengungsbereitschaft, sind Aufgaben mit höheren Anforderungen an die Selbstregulation für Betroffene besonders schwierig zu meistern. Eine mögliche Studie wäre hier zu untersuchen, ob Lernmaterial das interessensförderlich gestaltet ist, ein passendes instruktionales Instrument sein könnte, um Kinder mit Aufmerksamkeitsstörungen direkt in der Lernsituation zu unterstützen.
  Ansprechpartner:  Tino Endres, Charlotte Vössing
  Für wen: Design Affine, Interesse an der Kombination von pädagogischen und klinischen Themen, Interesse und Engagement für wissenschaftliches Arbeiten
   
• Emotional Design im Text
  Keine Lust auf Videos? Emotional Design kann nicht nur in Videos umgesetzt werden.  Emotionales Design entfaltet seine lernförderliche Wirkung über Interesse, das unter anderem durch emotionale Gestaltungselemente im Lernmaterial getriggert werden kann. Die Wirkung von Emotional Design kann auf Lerntexte übertragbar sein, indem emotionale Gestaltungselemente in deren Typographie eingebettet werden.  Ideen für Studien wären also Emotional Design im Format Text besser zu verstehen und mögliche Wirkfaktoren zu identifizieren.
  Ansprechpartner:  Tino Endres, Charlotte Vössing
  Für wen: Design-Affine (kein Muss, mögliches Material besteht schon), Interesse an emotionalen Prozessen & Interesse als lernrelevanten Faktoren
   

Work and Organisational Psychology (Prof. Dr. Markus Langer)

 - Themen folgen