Research Fields
Within the two research areas competencies and health, the research activities are synergized in several research fields.
Within the two research areas competencies and health the research activities are synergized in several research fields. One field within the area competencies explores the assessment of competence differences and the fundamentals of cognitive abilities. A second research field focuses on changes in competences due to learning and development. Competence is also needed to make good decisions. Decision making and attention processes constitute another research field. In the research field Sensory perception and Motor processes basal competences like regulating muscle activities and smell perception are the focal point. These basal competences could have far reaching consequences and for example substantially effect peoples’ well-being.
Relations to the second research area health can be found in all the other more competence oriented research fields. Health is often connected to developing and using specific competences. For example, the ability to regulate the self and one’s emotions, another research field in this research network, greatly effects peoples’ well-being. In the research field individual, group, and organization health related topics like healthy work environments are studied predominantly on the organizational level. The research field health and well-being incorporates research on a variety of approaches aiming to preserve and facilitate health and well-being. All research fields strive to work cooperatively and to combine behavioural and neuroscientific research methods.
The research area Cognitive Abilities and Competence Differences is dedicated to the study of cognitive traits from psychometric and neuroscientific perspectives.
What makes a good teacher? How do individual differences in the learner affect learning performance? Does the structure and function of synapses, neurons, or even entire brain regions change as result of learning?
In this research field we investigate the human capability of attending to stimuli in the environment that are relevant for goal-directed behavior and decision making.
One focus in Graz is the investigation of neuronal correlates of motor processes. In this context, we are not only interested in motor execution but also in the mental imagination of movements.
The topic of emotion regulation includes processes by which our brain modifies the experience and expression of our emotions as well as the degree to which we are affected by the perception of other people's emotions. Self regulation is a broader term that includes emotion regulation as well as additional processes by which the brain modulates immediate behavioural tendencies, in order to enable, for instance, the control of aggressive impulses or addictive behaviour, or the pursuit of more distant goals (e.g., educational goals).
Work plays a central role in life. Commonly, it is vital for assuring one’s living but besides that it also impacts the identity, well-being and satisfaction of individuals. To approach the challenges of our fast-changing work environment, it is inevitable to combine the strength of individuals in form of teams and organizations. In this field of research our focus is set on the transformation of work which we examine from an individual, group and organizational perspective.
Health and well-being are core elements of individual quality of life. Health is seen not only as absence of illness but as a positive state that can be described by psychological, physical and social dimensions.