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. We cover the range from basic questions of attention research to attentional orienting in applied contexts, such as making professional and personal decisions. The basic research questions in this field include single and multi-modal attention processes where we investigate, for example, what kind of stimuli attract attention and how humans direct  attention towards task-relevant and away from irrelevant information. The applied research questions are similar but aim at specific real-world scenarios such as attention to auditory stimuli when driving a car, information selection in consumer decisions, decisions in expert organizations, attentional blindness in coping, and the avoidance of cognitive biases.

Current funded projects

• Die Elektrophysiologie von IOR bei der visuellen Suche. 2025-2029. Funded by Fonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung (FWF). PI: Christof Körner.
• Gender and Sex Dynamics in Financial Behavior – Experimental Evidence. 2025-2029. Funded by ÖNB (Österreichische Nationalbank). PI: Stefan Palan.
• High-resolution imaging of the human claustrum. 2024-2028. Funded by Fonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung (FWF). PI: Natalia Zaretskaya.
• Contract Decisions of Consumers between Law and Psychology (CLP) , since 2014. Funded by the Province of Styria and the University of Graz. PIs: Brigitta Lurger and Ursula Athenstaedt.