Open Thesis Topics

Does acute exposure to environmental tobacco smoke impact cognitive performance, mood, and stress levels? This project hypothesizes that acute exposure to environmental tobacco smoke will decrease cognitive performance and mood while increasing stress and anxiety. To examine the main hypothesis, we will test for differences in cognitive performance, mood, and stress between smoke and water vapor exposure conditions (main effect of smoke). Additionally, we will assess whether participants’ beliefs about the exposure influence these effects. We have built a smoke-chamber for this and most of the materials for the study are ready. The study will have to be piloted and prepared before May and the data collection will have to happen between May-September due to weather conditions, as the smoke chamber is outside.

Type of study:
Experimental study with physiological and psychological data collection and analysis.

Suitable for:
Bachelor/Master Thesis

Skills needed or to be acquired:
Experience with or willingness to learn data analysis tools like R and/or Python, interest in working with physiological and psychological data, willingness to handle a smoke chamber, and knowledge of statistical methods

Contact:
Kağan Porsuk

How does the environmental context—such as air pollution, ambient noise levels, and GPS-derived measures—affect stress levels? This study aims to analyze day-to-day variations in environmental exposures and their potential impact on stress. We are currently collecting a multimodal dataset from 30 participants across 25 testing sessions. Using wearable devices, geographic ecological momentary assessments, and GPS-based geospatial tracking, we gather data on air quality, noise, light exposure, physical activity, stress, cognition, and affect over a 24-hour period for each session. Stress is continuously measured using a biosensor ring that records electrodermal activity throughout the testing period. In this project, you will work with the collected dataset to explore the relationship between various environmental factors and stress levels. Additionally, you may investigate whether living conditions during upbringing act as a mediating factor in this relationship.

Type of study:
Large data analysis study

Suitable for:
Bachelor/Master Thesis

Skills needed or to be acquired:
Experience with or willingness to learn R and/or Python, interest in working with large datasets, and knowledge of statistics

Contact:
Kim Falkenstein

In a previous study, we have attempted to test biophilia by means of implicit tasks, namely the dot-probe task, the approach avoidance task and the implicit association test (Schiebel, Gallinat & Kühn, 2022; https://pure.mpg.de/rest/items/item_3350703/component/file_3375636/content). We found quite consistent evidence that participants showed a tendency to approach nature and avoid the built environment. However, in this study all stimuli were presented for durations that ensured that they were consciously processed. This means that the results may have been influenced by the participants’ beliefs or assumptions. This is unlikely, since the implicit tasks usually do not rely on the stimulus content to be processed. However, in order to test this more explicitly we want to run a similar online study, involving the selection of tasks in which stimuli can either be consciously presented or so briefly displayed that most of the participants will not be able to consciously perceive the stimuli. The later condition will be verified at the end of the online study in order to exclude participants who were able to perceive the stimuli consciously from further analysis. Tasks that we plan to use include the subliminal priming and affect misattribution procedure, and we will try to develop a masked approach avoidance task.

Type of study:
Online experiment

Suitable for:
Master Thesis

Skills needed or to be acquired:
Programming in Inquisit (Milliseconds), online study presentation on the Prolific portal, data analysis preferably using R

Contact:
Penny Tilsley, Simone Kühn

Within the project we aim to investigate whether the technical implementation of soundscape reproductions and the realism of the performance has a measurable influence on the affect and cognition (optionally also brain activity) of human beings. To answer this question, suitable soundscape recordings are first generated. Based on preliminary studies from the lab on effects on well-being (Stobbe, et al. 2022), soundscapes will be recorded in a suitable forest. The playback will be carried out using a wave field synthesis lab at the MPIB. In the planned listening experiments, different forms of presentation will be investigated: a) playback with minimal influence of the playback system and the room acoustics with maximum realism and immersion effect, b) playback with high realism with headphones, and c) playback as a simulation of a standard stereo loudspeaker pair set up in a living room. In a within-subject design we want to test potential differences in the effects on self-reported affect, stress markers, and cognitive performance.

Type of study:
Behavioral study

Suitable for:
Master Thesis

Skills needed or to be acquired:
Recording soundscapes, audio editing, data analysis preferably using R

Contact:
Penny Tilsley, Simone Kühn

Within the project we aim to investigate to what extent the immersion into a virtual natural environment and its effects on human mental health is dependent on the modality of presentation. In a previous study, where a forest environment was presented, either auditorily only, visually only, olfactorily only or combined, we found that the combination of all three senses yielded superior effects in terms of self-reported positive affect and nature connectedness, but not in cognitive performance, with the exception of a backwards digit span task assessing working memory performance. In the present study we want to extend this approach to a different environmental setting, namely the ocean, and combine virtual reality visual exposure with hyper-realistic auditory exposure in a wave field synthesis lab, either separately or combined, again probing effects on affect and cognition.

Type of study:
Virtual reality study

Suitable for:
Master Thesis

Skills needed or to be acquired:
Recording soundscapes, audio editing, virtual reality, data analysis preferably using R

Contact:
Kira Pohlmann, Simone Kühn

Previous research has shown that pink noise can either be interpreted as resulting from a natural source, namely a waterfall or from a non-natural source, namely an industrial machine (Haga et al., 2016). This has been shown to have effects on self-reported restoration. This is interesting, since the participants are exposed to the same physical stimulus, but due to their stimulus-source interpretation, process it differently. Here we plan to do a similar experiment in a wave field synthesis lab where participants will listen to a soundscape and will be asked to indicate, by means of button presses, whether the sound appears to them as coming from the ocean or from a rainy road. After a short piloting phase, in which we need to find out whether participants are indeed hearing both conditions and finding out how often they switch, we might decide to add the acquisition of functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) in order to investigate the differences in neural correlates depending on the stimulus-source interpretation.

Type of study:
Behavioral study (fNIRS)

Suitable for:
Bachelor/Master Thesis

Skills needed or to be acquired:
fNIRS operation, data analysis preferably using R

Contact:
Juan Quinones, Simone Kühn

There is research showing multiple health effects of forest bathing. In Japan, typical forests are dominated by the Hinoki tree. There is evidence that the smell of the Japanese Hinoki tree can positively influence the immune system. We want to pilot hardware that can apply essential oils in the MRI scanner. We want to expose participants to repeated smells of the Hinoki tree, Douglas fir (a tree more common to our forests in Germany), and a control solution (likely water) and measure fMRI activity. If the setup enables us to measure typical olfactory brain activity we would consider combining the exposure with different instructions, to manipulate the beliefs of the participants and to investigate potential effects of the odor on subsequent cognitive tasks that are performed in the fMRI scanner.

Type of study:
fMRI study

Suitable for:
Master Thesis

Skills needed or to be acquired:
fMRI data analysis, Matlab programming environment

Contact:
Caroline Forlim, Simone Kühn

In environmental psychology there is a wealth of evidence hinting at the positive effects of nature exposure (even virtual by means of videos) on cognitive functions. However, so far this has rarely been tested for episodic memory. Here we would like to run a large online study in which we plan to ask participants to encode word lists. During the retention phase they will be shown videos of a natural environment or a non-natural environment. After this, immediate recall will be assessed and at a later stage, delayed recall.

Type of study:
Online experiment

Suitable for:
Master Thesis

Skills needed or to be acquired:
programming in Inquisit (Milliseconds), online study presentation on the Prolific portal, data analysis preferably using R

Contact:
Dmitry Kuznetsov, Simone Kühn

What are the contributing factors underlying the heterogeneity of aging trajectories? Why do some people retain their cognitive abilities while others show decline? Can age-related changes in neural structure or function predict cognitive abilities? Do our physical environments contribute to changes in the brain or in cognition? The Berlin Aging Studies (BASE and BASE-II) were designed as multidisciplinary and multi-institutional longitudinal studies that investigate older adults across many different domains including geriatics, internal medicine, immunology, psychology, genetics, sociology, economics, and neuroscience. These are rich datasets which can be used to investigate many diverse research questions.

Type of study:
Large data analysis study

Suitable for:
Bachelor/Master Thesis

Skills needed or to be acquired:
Experience with or willingness to learn Matlab, R, and/or Python, interest in working with large datasets, and knowledge of statistics

Contact:
Claire Pauley

The literature in the field of environmental psychology is full of the explicit or implicit idea that the positive effects of nature on humans are actually restorative and basically help us to recover from previous stressors. However, it could also be that the effects are easier to find when the sample has a more homogeneous starting point in terms of levels of arousal. Therefore, within this project we aim to explore whether the beneficial effects of nature exposure can also be observed when no stressor is applied, or when participants are instructed to meditate before the start of the actual experiment.

Type of study:
Online experiment

Suitable for:
Master Thesis

Skills needed or to be acquired:
Programming in Inquisit (Milliseconds), online study presentation on the Prolific portal, data analysis preferably using R

Contact:
Johanna Prugger, Simone Kühn

It has been shown that a virtual natural background behind the experimenter in a videocall experiment in which participants performed a creativity task was beneficial for performance, in contrast to an urban or neutral background. Within the planned study we would like to explore whether the effect can even be enhanced when the participant themselves is displayed in a virtual natural setting. Physiological (EDA, heart rate) and self-reported arousal will be measured in addition to performance in the creativity task.

Type of study:
Behavioral experiment

Suitable for:
Bachelor/Master Thesis

Skills needed or to be acquired:
Programming in Inquisit (Milliseconds), data analysis preferably using R, acquisition and analysis of physiological measurements

Contact:
Sonja Sudimac, Simone Kühn

This project will explore implicit mechanisms underlying artificially generated patterns based on the Voronoi diagram, a method that divides a space into smaller sections according to specific criteria. Voronoi patterns are commonly observed in nature, such as in leaf cell structures and honeycombs. The project includes generating Voronoi-based stimuli using a provided script and implementing these stimuli in a series of implicit tasks, such as the Approach-Avoidance Task. Data collection will be conducted through Prolific.

Type of study:
Online experiment

Suitable for:
Bachelor/Master Thesis

Skills needed or to be acquired:
Basic coding skills or willingness to learn them, programming in Inquisit (Milliseconds), online study presentation on the Prolific portal, data analysis preferably using R

Contact:
Kira Pohlmann

A substantial body of research shows that being in nature can be beneficial for our mental health. However, it is not yet clear which type of nature is the most beneficial. Should we spend more time in a forest, on grass, or at a lake? In this study, we examined how walking in different natural environments affects objective, physiological indicators of stress, such as heart rate (HR) and electrodermal activity (EDA). Participants were randomly assigned to go for a one-hour walk in three natural environments: Grunewald Forest (a green environment with a closed view), Tempelhof (a green environment with an open view), and Krumme Lanke (a lake). During the walk, participants wore an Empatica wristband collecting physiological stress indicators, and this project examines changes in these stress indicators during/after the walk in different natural environments.

Type of study:
Experiment

Suitable for:
Master Thesis/Internship project

Skills needed or to be acquired:
Experience with Python

Contact:
Sonja Sudimac