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).