Since its foundation by the late Paul B. Baltes in 1981, the Center for Lifespan Psychology has sought to promote conceptual and methodological innovation within developmental psychology and in interdisciplinary context. Over the years, the critical examination of relations among theory, method, and data has evolved into a distinct feature of the Center. The temporal resolution of data relevant for lifespan research varies widely, from the millisecond range provided by behavioral and electrophysiological observations to the small number of occasions spread out across several years provided by longitudinal panel studies. The Formal Methods project is dedicated to developing multivariate mathematical, statistical, and computational research tools that accommodate complex research designs with multimodal assessments collected over a wide range of timescales. It seeks to provide practical solutions to the methodological challenges of lifespan research and related fields of scientific inquiry. Its main goals are to critically examine the link between theory and data and equip researchers with means to improve the efficiency of data acquisition and data analysis.
The project is particularly interested in analyzing and classifying patterns of variability and change. Hence, the project has further broadened its interest in Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) methods. SEM integrates a wide range of different multivariate analysis techniques by modeling the relationship between latent and observed variables. In various projects, project members have shown how SEM as a formal language can assist researchers in:
finding the optimal constellation of resource investments when planning a longitudinal study,
refining or modifying prior hypotheses through exploratory data mining,
modeling the emergence of individuality and its relationship to brain plasticity,
analyzing and classifying high-dimensional time series.
The Berlin Aging Studies BASE and BASE-II are participating in this EU-funded project together with the Formal Methods project. It integrates data from 6000 participants in 11 European neuroimaging studies carried out in 7 countries.
more
Selected Publications
Tucker-Drob, E. M., De la Fuente, J., Köhncke, Y., Brandmaier, A. M., Nyberg, L., & Lindenberger, U. (2022). A strong dependency between changes in fluid and crystallized abilities in human cognitive aging. Science Advances, 8, Article eabj2422. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abj2422
Walhovd, K. B., Fjell, A. M., Wang, Y., Amlien, I. K., Mowinckel, A. M., Lindenberger, U., Düzel, S., Bartrés-Faz, D., Ebmeier, K. P., Drevon, C. A., Baaré, W. F. C., Ghisletta, P., Johansen, L. B., Kievit, R. A., Henson, R. N., Skak Madsen, K., Nyberg, L., Harris, J. R., Solé-Padullés, C., Pudas, S., Sørensen, Ø., Westerhausen, R., Zsoldos, E., Nawijn, L., Hovde Lyngstad, T., Suri, S., Penninx, B., Rogeberg, O. J., & Brandmaier, A. M. (2022). Education and income show heterogeneous relationships to lifespan brain and cognitive differences across European and US cohorts. Cerebral Cortex, 32(4), 839–854. https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhab248
Arnold, M., Voelkle, M. C., & Brandmaier, A. M. (2021). Score-guided structural equation model trees. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, Article 564403. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.564403
Köhncke, Y., Düzel, S., Sander, M. C., Lindenberger, U., Kühn, S., & Brandmaier, A. M. (2021). Hippocampal and parahippocampal gray matter structural integrity assessed by multimodal imaging is associated with episodic memory in old age. Cerebral Cortex, 31(3), 1464–1477. https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhaa287
Brandmaier, A. M., Ghisletta, P., & von Oertzen, T. (2020). Optimal planned missing data design for linear latent growth curve models. Behavior Research Methods, 52, 1445–1458. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-019-01325-y
Peikert, A., & Brandmaier, A. M. (2021). A reproducible data analysis workflow with R Markdown, Git, Make, and Docker. Quantitative and Computational Methods in Behavioral Sciences, 1, Article e3763. https://doi.org/10.5964/qcmb.3763
Tucker-Drob, E. M., Brandmaier, A. M., & Lindenberger, U. (2019). Coupled cognitive changes in adulthood: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 145(3), 273–301. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000179
Brandmaier, A. M., Wenger, E., Bodammer, N. C., Kühn, S., Raz, N., & Lindenberger, U. (2018). Assessing reliability in neuroimaging research through intra-class effect decomposition (ICED). eLife, 7, Article e35718. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.35718
