Research:
| Truth and untruth |
Anomalous experiences |
Other research areas |
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Research area "Truth and untruth":
Aims:
- basic research in physiology and neurophysiology of truth and untruth
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- neurophysiological correlates of lying
- mental sub-processes in a Guilty Knowledge Test
- physiological mechanisms associated with autonomous responses
- differentiating between "intended lying" and other kinds of untruth (e.g. illusions, hallucinations, false memories)
- research on new measurement variables in order to improve detection
- research on mechanisms of mental countermeasures in lie detection
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- Central nervous mechanisms of effective countermeasures
- Question of experimental control of countermeasures
- Effects of interfering tasks
Methods:
- multi-channel registration including measurement of skin conductance, respiration, phasic heart rate and finger pulse waveform
- EEG
- mock-crime scenario; Guilty Knowledge Test
- development of paradigms derived from the Guilty Knowledge Test
- recording of additional behavioral indicators in the parallel task paradigm
Cooperation:
- Department of Biologische und Differentielle Psychologie, University of Freiburg (Experimental Courses)
- Bender Institute of Neuroimaging (BION), Giessen
- Department of Klinische und Physiologische Psychologie, University of Giessen
Research area "Anomalous experiences":
Psychophysiology in persons reporting anomalous experiences (AE)Aims:
- description of AE-associated personality variables on the level of psychophysiology, behaviour and test psychology
- psychophysiological description of qualitative connections and qualitative differences between AE and symptoms of mental disorders (differential diagnosis)
- psychological and physiological description of AE (symptomatology and diagnosis of AE)
Methods:
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- experimental EEG attention studies with classic paradigms (e.g. novelty oddball, startle reflex, CNV)
- experimental studies on Gestalt perception (e.g. Mooney Faces)
- neuropsychological and psychological test procedures
- single case reports and group statistical evaluations
- ongoing development of new research paradigms for
understanding and description of psychophysiological and
behaviorally relevant characteristics of persons reporting AE
Subjects:
- clients of the Counseling Department of IGPP: Persons with AE
- population sample with increased frequency of AE as an
inclusion criterion for studies
- control subjects without report of AE
Cooperation:
- IGPP: Department of Information and Counseling
Perspectives:
The aim of
Psychophysiological Research, in collaboration with the Information and
Councselling Department of IGPP, concerning the main topic "Anomalous
Experiences" is to develop more differenciating biopsychological models
and personality constructs for subjects reporting the different kinds
of AE. The gained findings and understandings shall be made usable for
optimizing psychohygienic measures and are to be spread by public
relations and by further training and education for psychotherapists.
Other research areas:
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"EEG correlations between spatially separated subjects"
Aims:
- research on possible ways of communication which are unexplainable on a conventional basis
- particular replication attempt of previous studies in this field
Methods:
- spatial separation of pairs of subjects, optical stimulation of one of both subjects, analysis of the EEG of the non-stimulated subject
- complex data analysis driven by the question of the non-stimulated subject's EEG reveals a different overall activity during stimulation of the other subject
Cooperation:
- Department of Empirical and Analytical Psychophysics of the IGPP
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"Psychophysiology of gains and losses"
Aims:
- psychophysiology and behavioral aspects of complex decision processes and of gains and losses
Leading questions:
- How does the brain execute complex cognitive performance? How does it select stimuli, integrate informations and produce task-adequate answers ?
- How are the cognitively and emotionally relevant gain- and loss- feedbacks following the separate decisions being processed ?
- How and how good can the subject's behaviour be described as determined by the information previously presented to the subject ?
- How can these processes be described on the neurophysiological and on the behavioral level simultaneously ?
- Is there any evidence of systematic correlations between internal brain states or brain processes and external physical processes without an explanation on the conventional physical basis ?
Methods:
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- laboratory experiments with simultaneous registration of EEG and behaviour in subjects carrying out complex cognitive tasks (in computer simulation)