Hi, I’m Max and I work at the University of Twente (NL) in the section of Psychology of Conflict, Risk and Safety. After getting my PhD from Trier University (GER) I worked at the Human-Computer-Interaction Lab at the University of Saskatchewan (CAN), the Max-Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences (GER) in the Cognition & Plasticity Group, as well as the School of Psychology at University College Dublin (IRE). Over the last years I’ve collaborated with researchers around the globe on a multitude of projects ranging from fundamental research on the neurophysiological underpinnings of cognitive control to investigating how motivation can shape performance and how games can shape motivation or experiences. I am open to chat about pretty much anything; I am an easily excitable and enthusiastic guy.
Project Title
Control in Action: Understanding and Enhancing Human Responses and Experiences to Stimuli in Context
Systemic or Behavioral change(s) addressed
Changing behaviour of an individual is problematic and difficult enough; changing a society is a tall order even for a government. Regardless of what or who needs to be changed, we required a fundamental understanding of the people involved: what are the reasons for their actions? How do the actions come to be? What emotional, motivational or physiological changes can be associated with the status-quo, the past or a potential future? In my investigations into for example decision-making, warning signal processing in emergency escape situations and enhancing (false) witness memories, I tried to embrace the lab-to-life approach. Thus, in a first step investigating the possibility to optimize behaviour in the lab (e.g., individualized guidance from a burning building in virtual reality or using non-invasive brain stimulation as a potential memory enhancer for eye-witnesses) and incrementally moving towards more applied scenarios.
Theoretical approach
I believe we can’t understand the behaviour of an individual or the behaviour within a society without tackling the problem from both ends: we need to understand the fundamentals that influence human actions as well as the broader context and the real-life situations in which they occur. In this increasingly interconnected and fast-changing world, researchers need to strive for interdisciplinary solutions. One of the most challenging aspects of this is the puzzling-perspectives-problem. More often than not a certain societal or behavioral problem or any investigation into human experience has been undertaken in multiple disciplines. Different disciplines look at the same subject matter through different lenses, potentially even coming to similar solutions, but rarely are those perspectives integrated. For example, in my research on self-presentation in online spaces theories from human-computer interaction and cognitive psychology needed to be combined with evidence from neuroscience and discussions in the philosophical literature.
Empirical research strategies
I strongly consider mixed-method designs, combining both qualitative as well as quantitative data, to be the most effective in gaining the largest insights into the effects under investigation. I strive for effective pre-planning of studies whenever possible and clear experimental design. One of my core beliefs is that students, although usually not considered academic staff, are a core part of research: not only because they are involved in it throughout their stay at university but because they grow up to be members of society. In today’s society in general and even in the universities people are bad at judging the soundness of academic literature and have difficulties understanding the publication process. To the outside observer all journals and all papers may seem alike, but what differentiates good and bad research? How does peer-review help self-regulate the scientific community and act as a quality control process? This also leads to an increase in scepticism in science and a devaluation of fundamental research. During their studies, many students feel overwhelmed or intimidated by the prospect of independent research. I want to empower the next generation of scientific thinkers and involve them wherever possible.
Possibilities for inter- and transdisciplinary collaboration
I strongly consider mixed-method designs, combining both qualitative as well as quantitative data, to be the most effective in gaining the largest insights into the effects under investigation. I strive for effective pre-planning of studies whenever possible and clear experimental design. One of my core beliefs is that students, although usually not considered academic staff, are a core part of research: not only because they are involved in it throughout their stay at university but because they grow up to be members of society. In today’s society in general and even in the universities people are bad at judging the soundness of academic literature and have difficulties understanding the publication process. To the outside observer all journals and all papers may seem alike, but what differentiates good and bad research? How does peer-review help self-regulate the scientific community and act as a quality control process? This also leads to an increase in scepticism in science and a devaluation of fundamental research. During their studies, many students feel overwhelmed or intimidated by the prospect of independent research. I want to empower the next generation of scientific thinkers and involve them wherever possible.
Social transition(s) addressed
My work is a step toward a safer and more resilient society, that can deal with the threats of the modern world (e.g., climate change and increased cybersecurity problems) while upholding health and performance. New technologies create new opportunities and risks alike for all aspects of human life. Even the most basic human interaction is changed in the modern world; How do individuals interact with each other but also with non-human actors in this mediated reality? Can we learn something about human-human interaction by studying human-non human interaction? For example, the motivational pull of modern video games and their potential for a low-barrier of entry and immediate appeal can be harnessed to engage with people. Thus addressing the question what games and experiences lead to a longer-lasting change in perception and action? Among other projects, I am currently conducting work on safe and pleasant public parks: We want to investigate a park’s perception of safety and pleasantness in relation to different target groups. Inspired by citizen science methodologies, the research emphasizes an inclusive and playful approach to public park design by harnessing the motivational pull of video games as a starting point. Due to the interactive nature of a game we can also create experiences that otherwise would not be possible; for example we can potentially effectively engage people in learning about cybersecurity risks or elicit empathetic responses towards victims of war in order to change peoples’ stances on a topic.