Research at the Institute of Psychology

Research on developmental psychology centers around understanding cultural heterogeneity in modern societies with a special focus on  ethnic diversity among youth. Adolescents are simultaneously confronted with changes due to age-specific developmental and migration-related tasks . A major research objective is therefore to better understand how developmental and acculturation-related change co-occur and interact in shaping adolescents’ development. Research topics include parent-child interactions, social relationships, and the development of a cultural identity. Contextual variations are also considered, for example by including socialization contexts or cross-cultural comparisons. Professor Peter F. Titzmann is heading this research unit.

Based on cognitive psychology theories, the Educational Psychology working group is primarily concerned with issues relating to the beneficial design of teaching and learning processes using digital media. Research focuses on learning with different visualisation formats (e.g. animations), interventions aimed at focused and in-depth learning of content, the design of digital teaching formats and the didactically meaningful use of digital educational technologies in the teaching context, the influence of affective-motivational factors in multimedia learning, as well as the consideration of individual learning requirements (e.g. ADHD) for successful learning with digital media. To this end, both laboratory studies (e.g. also using eye tracking) and applied studies in school and university contexts are used in the predominantly quantitative-empirical research work. Conceptually, the chair pursues a combination of basic and application-orientated research. Professor Tim Kühl is heading this research area. 

On the one hand, human intellectual abilities are limited. One reason is that information is processed via a capacity-limited working memory system. On the other hand, humans are good decision makers, that can adaptively exploit the structures of the environment. Research in the Cognitive Psychology Unit aims to understand the processes taking place and the strategies people use to cope with their limited cognitive abilities and how they exploit their abilities to behave adaptively in changing environments. The focus is on studying the interaction of perceptual attention and attention to information currently held active in working memory, and on the influence of memory on decision-making processes. The methods range from conducting behavioral experiments with eye-tracking and mathematical modelling of cognitive processes. Professor Agnes Rosner is heading this research unit.