Abschlussarbeiten
Vielen Dank für Ihr Interesse an einer Abschlussarbeit in der Kognitionspsychologie!
Wir bieten fortlaufend Themen für Bachelor- und Masterarbeiten in den Forschungsfeldern unseres Arbeitsbereichs an.
Abschlussarbeiten werden bei uns typischerweise im Rahmen größerer Forschungsprojekte geschrieben, wobei jede/r einzelne Studierende eine eigene (Sub-)Fragestellung bearbeitet. Die Datenerhebungen finden oft im Team statt. Datenauswertung und Berichtlegung sind jedoch als unabhängige Einzelleistungen zu erbringen. Es werden nur empirische Arbeiten bei uns im Arbeitsbereich betreut.
Im Rahmen der unten aufgelisteten Forschungsprojekte werden zahlreiche Daten erhoben, z.B. zum chronischen Stresserleben, zu Ängstlichkeit oder depressiver Verstimmung. Es ist daher auch möglich, im Rahmen dieser Forschungsprojekte Subfragestellungen zu bearbeiten, die von der Hauptfragestellung des Projekts unabhängig sind. Kommen Sie gern auf uns zu. Wir können sowohl die inhaltliche als auch die zeitliche Ausgestaltung der Abschlussarbeit gern individuell mit Ihnen abstimmen.
Aktuelle Forschungsprojekte:
How Stress Affects the Ability to Update Our Beliefs
Stress plays a significant role in mental health, often disrupting cognitive processes by directing attention toward stress-related information. Its impact on cognition depends on how relevant a task is to the stressor, potentially reducing the ability to adapt to new or changing situations.
This study explores how acute, task-unrelated stress affects dynamic belief updating—the ability to adjust beliefs in response to uncertainty and environmental change. Under stress, people may rely on more rigid learning strategies, leading to reduced cognitive flexibility and a shift in control from the hippocampus to the dorsal striatum.
Study Design
Participants will complete a clinical screening and cognitive tasks, including a belief updating task across three phases:
Block 1: Baseline assessment
Block 2: Introduction of a stress or control procedure
Block 3: Post-treatment assessment
In the stress condition, participants will undergo the socially evaluated cold pressor task (SECPT) during Block 2, while physiological and subjective stress measures will be collected throughout the experiment.
What Will Be Measured?
The study will analyze various factors related to belief updating and cognitive flexibility, including:
- Stress levels
- Depression & Anxiety symptoms
- Chronic stress
- MRI data
- Eye-tracking data
- Skin Conductance Response
- Physiological markers (Blood pressure, Heart rate, Respiratory rate)
- Mood
Why is This Important?
Understanding how stress influences belief updating can provide insights into stress-related cognitive impairments and help develop strategies for managing their effects in both clinical and everyday settings.
Contact: hendrik.heinbockel"AT"uni-hamburg.de
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Can’t Look Away: Why We Learn What We Don’t Want To
Acute stress has a profound impact on memory, particularly by prioritizing emotionally charged information. This study explores how stress affects encoding suppression—the ability to intentionally inhibit memory formation for specific information.
Emotional stimuli are typically remembered better than neutral ones because they are more attention-grabbing and relevant. Stress amplifies this effect by enhancing salience-driven processing, making negative experiences even more persistent over time. Stress hormones like cortisol strengthen emotional memory consolidation, which may reduce our ability to forget unwanted information.
Study Design
To investigate this, participants will complete a memory task under either stress or control conditions while undergoing:
- Eye-tracking (to measure attentional focus)
- EEG (to assess post-encoding neural reinstatements)
- Electrodermal activity recordings (to estimate arousal)
- Peripheral physiological measurements (blood pressure, cortisol) to confirm stress induction
What Will Be Measured?
The study will analyze the following factors related to encoding suppression and cognitive control:
- Acute stress levels
- Depression & Anxiety symptoms
- Chronic stress
- EEG data
- Eye-tracking data
- Skin Conductance Response
- Physiological markers (Blood pressure, Heart rate)
- Mood
Why is This Important?
By revealing how stress influences memory and cognitive control, this study aims to uncover mechanisms behind stress-related memory distortions. The findings could help explain why stressful experiences are difficult to forget and contribute to a better understanding of memory-related mental health conditions.
Contact: hendrik.heinbockel"AT"uni-hamburg.de
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Depth of processing and memory consolidation
How does the way we process new information influence how well we remember it in the long run? This project investigates how different types of mental processing during learning affect the stability of memories over time. The study builds on the well-known "levels of processing" framework (Craik & Lockhart, 1972), which suggests that deeper, more meaningful encoding generates stronger and more persistent memory traces. Here, we focus on whether these encoding strategies shape how memories are gradually reorganized across the brain as time passes (Squire et al., 2015; Moscovitch et al., 2016).
In this project, participants complete memory tasks in the MRI scanner combined with physiological and behavioral measures, including gaze and pupil responses, electrodermal activity, pulse, and recognition accuracy with confidence ratings. Additional assessments of cognitive function and individual differences (questionnaires) in stress, emotional well-being, and social factors will provide a broader picture of influences on memory.
This project offers Bachelor’s and Master’s students the opportunity to work on one of the central questions in cognitive psychology: which aspects of learning make memories more durable and accessible? Students will gain hands-on experience in data collection (neuroimaging, behavioral, eye-tracking, physiological), and pursue their own focused analysis within the broader framework of memory consolidation research.
Potential research questions:
Do individual differences in working memory capacity or affective states (anxiety, depressive mood) moderate the benefits of deeper learning for later memory?
Do deeper learning strategies lead to higher recognition accuracy and confidence compared to more superficial strategies, and are these advantages reflected in faster responses?
Contact: ivana.marijanovic"AT"uni-hamburg.de
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The role of repetition in systems consolidation and memory transformation
Repetition is well known to strengthen memory - but does it also change how memories are represented in the brain and mind? Theories of memory consolidation propose that over time, memories shift from detailed, context-rich episodes to more generalized, gist-like knowledge (Squire & Alvarez, 1995; Moscovitch et al., 2016). Recent research suggests that repeated learning may accelerate this process (Brodt et al., 2016, 2018; Yu et al., 2024). However, it remains unresolved whether repetition merely stabilizes memories or also alters their quality in fundamental ways.
This project combines memory tests with neuroimaging (fMRI), physiological and behavioral measures, such as recognition accuracy, subjective ratings (confidence, vividness), gaze and pupil dynamics, skin conductance, and pulse. Participants are also characterized with respect to individual differences such as stress, mood, early life experiences, and social factors.
For students, the project provides insight into an important research question: does repetition shape not only how strong, but also how flexible or detailed our memories become? Bachelor’s and Master’s theses can address specific psychological or behavioral aspects of the data while also contributing to a broader research project.
Potential research questions:
Does repetition increase recognition accuracy and subjective vividness, and is any benefit accompanied by changes in response speed?
How do electrodermal and pulse responses during recognition differ between repeated and non-repeated material, and do they predict successful remembering?
Contact: ivana.marijanovic"AT"uni-hamburg.de
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Decoding the Brain’s Confidence in Predictions
Every moment your brain forecasts what’s coming—whether you dread stepping on that stray LEGO underfoot, eagerly await the PayPal “cha-ching,” or simply guess when the toast will pop. But does it use the same neural “signature” across these wildly different scenarios? In this study, we will investigate brain waves with EEG to uncover a domain-general neural signature of subjective certainty, no matter what’s at stake.
Participants will …
* Be fitted with a 64-channel EEG cap and seated in a quiet lab room
* Complete multiple trials in a classical conditioning task where a visual cue (CS) signals different outcomes (UCS), e.g. mild electric shocks, monetary reward etc.
* Rate how confident they are that the outcome will occur
What will be measured?
* EEG activity
* Trial-by-trial prediction ratings and reaction times
* Potential other physiological arousal markers include pupil size, skin conductance, heart rate
* Option to add several questionnaires, e.g. state/trait anxiety, mood etc.
What will we analyze?
* Neural responses using EEG data
* Train AI classifiers to distinguish “high confidence” vs. “low confidence” states from EEG
* Correlate classifier accuracy with questionnaire scores to link neural confidence markers to individual traits
What is the goal?
Uncovering a shared neural code for how sure we feel—regardless of whether you’re bracing for pain, counting on a cash bonus, or expecting something entirely ordinary—advances our understanding of predictive coding in the human brain. These insights may explain why confidence goes awry in conditions like anxiety, addiction, or obsessive–compulsive disorder, and pave the way for targeted, brain-based interventions that strengthen core prediction mechanisms.
Contact: leon.lange"AT"uni-hamburg.de
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Prioritising what to remember: Prediction Error effects on memory
In the face of an abundance of input at almost all times, how do our brains prioritise what we need to remember? Prior research established that events that are emotionally relevant are better remembered than those who are not, hinting towards what might influence what we select for consolidation (e.g. Shohamy & Adcock, 2010).
Recently, this has been connected to Prediction Errors, showing a memory enhancement for outcomes that deviate from what was expected (Rouhani et al., 2023).
We aim to look in more details at this prediction-error related memory enhancement, with a specific focus on replay (spontaneous sequential neural reactivation of predictive events).
Study Design
In the first behavioural design, participants will perform a two-day fear learning & memory task where we manipulate prediction error strength and frequency in the context of fear conditioning and look at subsequent memory performance.
This data will be used to inform a following MRI & EEG study.
The data we aim to acquire will include
- behavioural data
- electrodermal activity
- potentially Eye-Tracking
Options for Students
This project is currently in the piloting stage. Students will have the opportunity to engage with the process of experimental design, data acquisition for fear conditioning, and preliminary data analysis.
Students have the possibility to include questionnaires / measures of own interest (e.g. on Anxiety symptoms, OCD symptoms, chronic stress, ...).
Why does it matter?
This project aims to understand better how our brains select what will be consolidated and what influences this prioritisation. This has implications for understanding memory biases in areas such as education, false testimonials and also carries relevance for mental health disorders that relate to memory and learning.
Contact: neele.elbersgerd"AT"uni-hamburg.de
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Top-Down Modulation of Memory Under Stress
Background
This study explores how attention influences memory under stress. Specifically, we aim to identify attention as a key cognitive mechanism in memory processes and examine its role in neural reinstatement—the reactivation of neural patterns that were present during initial encoding.
Study Design
The experiment consists of three parts:
- Day 1 (Online Session): Participants complete a set of psychological questionnaires.
- Day 2 (Lab Session): Participants undergo either a stress condition (Trier Social Stress Test, TSST) or a
control condition (non-stressful alternative).
- Top-down attention manipulation: Participants are instructed to memorize either images of fruits
or office equipment.
- Inhibition of top-down attention: Some participants will receive transcranial magnetic stimulation
(TMS) to disrupt top-down attention, while others receive sham stimulation as a control.
- EEG recordings will be taken throughout the session to measure brain activity.
- Day 3 (Recognition Task): Participants complete a memory test, identifying previously seen images
from Day 2 among an equal number of distractor images.
Main Measures
To assess the effects of stress on memory and attention, we will measure:
- Subjective stress levels
- Pupil diameter (eye-tracking)
- Skin conductance responses (electrodermal activity)
- Blood pressure & pulse (physiological stress indicators)
- Salivary cortisol
(Note: These samples will be collected but cannot be analyzed as part of your thesis.)
Contact: fabian.dorok"AT"uni-hamburg.de
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Memory and Threat Processing
Humans and animals constantly navigate ever-changing environments, yet they must make accurate predictions about potential threats to avoid harm. While classical (Pavlovian) conditioning plays a role in threat memory, it’s likely that other forms of learning and memory also contribute to how we predict and respond to threats (Baczkowski et al., 2023). This project aims to explore how conceptual knowledge influences the prediction of threats and the selection of appropriate defensive behaviors.
In this computer-based experiment, participants will first learn conceptual information about various threats. Then, in a second phase, they will guide an avatar through a virtual environment, choosing defensive behaviors to avoid these threats. The project will involve measuring several outcomes, including the timing of defensive actions, movement patterns, and physiological responses (e.g., skin conductance).
This project is an excellent opportunity for Bachelor’s or Master’s students, offering hands-on experience with developing research questions, collecting data, and analyzing results.
Potential research questions for this project include:
- Does individual trait anxiety affect how people infer the most appropriate defensive behavior?
- How does prior experience influence the movement trajectory in subsequent trials?
Reference
Baczkowski, B. M., Haaker, J., & Schwabe, L. (2023). Inferring danger with minimal aversive experience. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 27(5), 456–467. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2023.02.005
Contact: sarah.koch"AT"uni-hamburg.de
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Cognitive and Neural Mechanisms of Complex Habits
What exactly is a habit? Traditionally, this question has been explored through dual-system theories, which suggest that human behavior is controlled either by a goal-directed system (focused on achieving specific goals) or by a habitual system (Balleine & Dickinson, 1998). This project aims to test and expand upon an alternative, integrative theory of complex habits (Du et al., 2022), with a particular focus on how habits contribute to motor skill learning.
In this computer-based experiment, we will investigate whether different types of associations (e.g., between a goal and a stimulus, or between a goal and a response) can become habitual independently of one another. During the learning phase, participants will form these associations by responding to various stimuli, with correct responses being reinforced. In the test phase, we will examine how these associations influence behavior. Alongside behavioral measurements, EEG data will be collected to explore the neural mechanisms underlying these habits.
This project is ideal for Bachelor’s or Master’s students, offering the opportunity to develop an individual research question, gather data, and analyze results.
References
Balleine, B. W., & Dickinson, A. (1998). Goal-directed instrumental action: Contingency and incentive learning and their cortical substrates. Neuropharmacology, 37(4–5), 407–419. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0028-3908(98)00033-1
Du, Y., Krakauer, J. W., & Haith, A. M. (2022). The relationship between habits and motor skills in humans. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 26(5), 371–387. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2022.02.002
Contact: sarah.koch"AT"uni-hamburg.de