Main Focus

Head of Research Area Search and Learning

Research Interests

  • Decisions from experience
  • Information search
  • Mental representations
  • Network science
  • Language models
  • Computational modeling
  • Generalizability
  • Sustainability

Curriculum Vitae

Since 2023 Senior Research Scientist, Center for Adaptive Rationality, Max Planck Institute for Human Development
Since 2023 Senior Adjunct Researcher, Center for Cognitive and Decision Science, University of Basel
2016-2022 Researcher, Center for Cognitive and Decision Science, University of Basel
2015-2016 Postdoc, Center for Adaptive Rationality, Max Planck Institute for Human Development 
2010-2015 PhD in Psychology, University of Berlin & Max Planck Institute for Human Development
2004-2010 Diploma in Psychology, University of Marburg 

Selected publications

Wulff, D. U., Mergenthaler-Canseco, M., & Hertwig, R. (2018). A meta-analytic review of two modes of learning and the description-experience gap. Psychological bulletin144(2), 140-172.

Hertwig, R., & Wulff, D. U. (2022). A description–experience framework of the psychology of risk. Perspectives on psychological science17(3), 631-651.

Hertwig, R., Wulff, D. U., & Mata, R. (2019). Three gaps and what they may mean for risk preference. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B374(1766), 20180140.

Wulff, D. U., & Mata, R. (2022). On the semantic representation of risk. Science advances8(27), eabm1883.

Wulff, D. U., De Deyne, S., Jones, M. N., Mata, R., & Aging Lexicon Consortium. (2019). New perspectives on the aging lexicon. Trends in cognitive sciences23(8), 686-698.

Wulff, D. U., Hills, T. T., & Mata, R. (2022). Structural differences in the semantic networks of younger and older adults. Scientific Reports12(1), 21459.

Siew, C. S., Wulff, D. U., Beckage, N. M., & Kenett, Y. N. (2019). Cognitive network science: A review of research on cognition through the lens of network representations, processes, and dynamics. Complexity2019.

Wulff, D. U., De Deyne, S., Aeschbach, S., & Mata, R. (2022). Using network science to understand the aging lexicon: Linking individuals' experience, semantic networks, and cognitive performance. Topics in Cognitive Science14(1), 93-110.

Grants and Awards

Swiss National Science Foundation, Laying the groundwork for understanding age-related changes in individual semantic networks and their role in cognitive aging (€398'972)
Biäsch Foundation for Applied Psychology, Harnessing simulated expriences (€49'258)
Otto Hahn Medal, Max Planck Society (€7'000)
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