Dr Ulrich von Hecker - Diploma (Hamburg) Phd (Berlin) Habilitation (Berlin)
I am interested in how we represent the social world around us. How do we create a comprehensive picture of our social group, our social networks, how do we perceive ourselves in the context of other people? How do we use analog dimensions, such as the up vs. down dimension, or spatial distance, to represent differences in social status, or friendship and affiliation relationships? I am also interested in attentional processes, and in the distinction between controlled and automatic processes in thinking and reasoning. I also study how different kinds of mood affect reasoning and memory.
Selected Publications
Sedek, G., & von Hecker, U. (2004). Effects of subclinical depression and aging on generative reasoning about linear orders: Same or different processing limitations? Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 133, 237-260.
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von Hecker, U., & Dutke, S. (2004). Integrative social perception: Individuals low in working memory benefit more from external representations. Social Cognition, 22, 336-365.
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von Hecker, U., & Meiser, T. (2005). Defocused attention in depressed mood: Evidence from source monitoring. Emotion, 5, 456-463.
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Rudolph, U., & von Hecker, U. (2006). Three principles of explanation: Verb schemas, balance, and imbalance repair. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 25, 377-405.
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Meiser, T., Sattler, C., & von Hecker, U. (2007). Metacognitive inferences in source memory decisions: The role of perceived differences in item recognition. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 60, 1015-1040. (.pdf)
Gebauer, J., Broemer, P., Haddock, G., & von Hecker, U. (2008). Inclusion-exclusion of positive and negative past selves: Mood congruence as information. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95, 470-487. (.pdf)
Research Projects
Comparative analyses of information processing strategies in psychological states potentially impairing cognitive functioning: in depression, aging and under stereotyping (State Committee for Scientific Research (KBN), Poland)
Attentional control in sad mood (ESRC)
The neural correlates of generative reasoning in subclinical depression (ESRC)
Sectarian Conflict and Cross-Community Trust in Northern Ireland (Russell Sage Foundation)
Type of social representation and the effectiveness of cognitive processes: Attention, memory, inhibition, and reasoning(State Committee for Scientific Research (KBN), Poland)
Research Students
Sindhuja Sankaran