Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin - Faculty of Life Sciences - Department of Psychology

Dipl.-Psych. Kati Nowack


 

Doctoral candidate (Ph.D. student) in the department of cognitive psychology (dissertation adviser: Prof. Dr. Elke van der Meer)

 




Curriculum Vitae


Date of birth:     18th July 1974
Place of birth: Cottbus, Germany

Degrees & Professional Experience


Since 2010    Doctoral candidate (Ph.D. student) – funded by Elsa Neumann grant of
                   the State of Berlin; Dissertation project: “Temporal orientation and
                   cognitive abilities”

2008 – 2009  Student Research Assistant in the department of cognitive psychology,
                   project „Retrieval and Processing of familiar event sequences: analysis of
                   behavioral data and pupil dilation“

2006 – 2009  Psychology degree (Diplom), Humboldt University Berlin (equivalent to
                  M.Sc.); Diploma Thesis: Today versus Tomorrow: Time Perspective and
                  Cognitive Arrow of Time.

2002 – 2005  Psychology degree (Bachelor of Science), The Open University, Milton
                   Keynes, United Kingdom

1995 – 2002  commercial apprenticeship (travel management assistant) and professional
                  experience in tourism in Germany and the UK

 
Research interests


- Individuals’ temporal orientation: time perspective (past versus present versus future)
  and chronotype (morning versus evening types) – and its impact on cognitive abilities
- Event knowledge: retrieval and processing of temporal information
- The use of the pupil in psychology.

 

Dissertation Project
Temporal Orientation and cognitive abilities


From the moment we know how to use the clock, time influences our behaviors, daily routines and sense of life. This dissertation project aims to investigate individuals‘ temporal orientation on two different levels: on the level of chronotype (morning versus evening type) and on the level of time perspective (past versus present versus future).
First, possible relations between chronotype and time perspective will be investigated. Secondly, the impact of chronotype and time perspective on crystallized and fluid intelligence will be explored using various paradigms (geometric and semantic analogy tasks, temporal judgment task) and measurements (data from questionnaires, reaction times, error rates, eye movement and pupil dilation).