Concluded Areas

Do emotions have a history? And: Do emotions make history? These questions were at the focus of the Center for the History of Emotions (Director: Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Ute Frevert), which began its work in January 2008 and continued until the retirement of its director in 2024. more

The Center for Adaptive Behavior and Cognition (Director: Prof. Dr. Gerd Gigerenzer) investigated human rationality, particularly decision making and risk behavior in an uncertain world. Founded in 1997, the research center existed until 2017, when the director transitioned to emeritus status. more

The Center for Educational Research (Director: Prof. Dr. Jürgen Baumert) examined the consequences of institutionalized learning environments for student development. Founded in 1996, the research center existed until 2010, when the director transitioned to emeritus status. more

The Center for Sociology and the Study of the Life Course (Director: Prof. Dr. Karl Ulrich Mayer) focused on the interdependencies between family, education, and labor markets in the context of changing welfare states. The research center existed from 1983 to 2005. more

The Center for Development and Socialisation (Director: Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Edelstein †) examined the social and individual developmental conditions of action competence. Its focus was on cognitive, social, and moral competences and on interaction competence in different environments and under conditions of increasing social inequality in the process of modernization. Founded in 1981, the research center existed until 1997, when the director transitioned to emeritus status. more

The ERC-funded Research Group Adaptive Memory and Decision Making (Head: Bernhard Spitzer) investigates how the brain dynamically structures information in memory to enable adaptive behavior. more

The Max Planck Research Group NeuroCode (Head: Prof Dr Nicolas Schuck) investigated until December 2023 how learning experiences influence our decisions and how the brain reactivates old memories in the process. more

How do young children learn so much about the world, and so efficiently? The Max Planck Research Group iSearch—Information Search, Ecological and Active learning Research with Children—investigates theoretically and empirically how children actively seek information in their physical and social environments as evidence to test and dynamically revise their hypotheses and theories over time. more

How do infants and young children learn about the world around them? This overarching question is the foundation for the research carried out by the Max Planck Research Group Naturalistic Social Cognition. We use an interdisciplinary approach to examine social learning and social cognition in naturalistic contexts by combining theory and methodologies from cognitive science, developmental psychology, evolutionary biology, and biological anthropology. more

The Lifespan Neural Dynamics Group (LNDG) was financially supported by a 6-year Emmy Noether grant from the German Research Foundation (DFG) to Douglas D. Garrett from 2017 to 2023. It investigated, and continues to investigate, the computational and neurobiological bases for moment-to-moment fluctuations in brain activity, with a key emphasis on cognitive aging. more

Until June 2018, the Max Planck Research Group ReaD (Head: Prof. Dr. Sascha Schroeder) investigated primary school children’s reading acquisition and the underlying cognitive processes. more

Until April 2018, the Otto Hahn Research Group on Associative Memory in Old Age (Head: Prof. Dr. Yvonne Brehmer) investigated neural correlates of differences in associative memory performance in old age. more

Until February 2017, the Heisenberg Research Group Socioemotional Development and Health Across the Lifespan (Head: Prof. Dr. Michaela Riediger) investigated the interplay of socio-emotional and health development across the lifespan. Subsequently, its work was further pursued in the framework of a cross-institutional research network. more

Until September 2015, The Max Planck Research Group “Felt Communities? Emotions in European Music Performances” (Head: Prof. Dr. Oliver Müller) investigated the historical development of the emotions triggered by music in the 19th and 20th centuries. more

Until December 2014, the Max Planck Research Group Affect Across the Lifespan (Head: Prof. Dr. Michaela Riediger) investigated differences in people’s emotional experience and affective competencies from adolescence to old age. more

Until September 2010, the Independent Junior Research Group Neurocognition of Decision Making (Head: Prof. Dr. Hauke R. Heekeren) investigated mechanisms of decision making in the human brain. more

The Independent Research Group Lack of Training: Employment and Life Chances of the Less Educated (Head: Prof. Dr. Heike Solga) was located at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development until May 2005. more