Research Unit

The School Psychology department is engaged in research and teaching on psychological topics within the school context. Our research focuses on the cognitive, behavioral, and emotional development of individuals from early childhood in kindergarten or school age to adulthood. We concentrate on all those involved in school life, including students, teachers, and parents, and address learning, performance, and behavioral difficulties in students through prevention and intervention concepts.

Since the winter semester of 2012/13, the MSc School Psychology program has been offered by the Department of Psychology. This program builds on a BSc degree in Psychology or polyvalent Psychology and is unique nationwide.

Current News in School Psychology

"It was a good mix of theoretical content in the panel discussion and practical approaches in the presentation of specific interventions. Overall, it was nice to be out and about in a university context again and to talk to people who deal with this topic scientifically." - A participant of the open seminar.
Open seminar: Gender-sensitive institutions - How kindergarten children and adolescents find their way into the world of gender.
On Tuesday, 5 November, the open seminar invited interested citizens, educators and guests from the city administration to talk about gender stereotypes at nursery and school age and to experience the young scientists' projects. The subsequent panel discussion with Prof Dr Pia Schober (sociology), Prof Dr Claudia Friedrich (developmental psychology) and Prof Dr Caterina Gawrilow (school psychology) offered visitors valuable insights. The opportunity to network science and practice was very well received by the guests. We from the School Psychology department are already looking forward to the next ‘Open Seminar’.

Publication

09.07.2024

Modality Matters: Fasted Individuals Inhibit Food Stimuli Better Than Neutral Stimuli for Words, but Not for Pictures.

The current study aimed to evaluate the effect different modalities (pictures and words) of food stimuli have on inhibitory control under different homeostatic states. To this end, the homeostatic state was altered by asking participants to fast for 16 h (n = 67) or eat lunch as usual (n = 76) before completing an online stop-signal task with modal (pictures) and amodal (words) food and valenced-matched non-food stimuli. Publication

Publication

17.07.2024

Association of Trait ADHD Symptoms and Trait and State Working Memory Performance in High-School Students: Implications for Everyday School Life

Cognitive performance fluctuates in the daily (school)life of individuals and ADHD- symptomatology seems associated with deficits in working-memory performance. This study investiga- ted the effect of the experience of ADHD-symptoms in students on their trait and state visuospatial working-memory performance. Publication

Image from left to right: Thomas Poreski MdL, Daniel Lede Abal MdL, Prof. Dr. Caterina Gawrilow, Tomasz Moschko M.Sc. Psychology

12.07.2024

More Psychology in Schools!

From the Department of School Psychology at the University of Tübingen, Prof. Dr. Caterina Gawrilow (Head of School Psychology) and Tomasz Moschko (M.Sc. Psychology, Research Associate) met with Green Party members of parliament Thomas Poreski (Deputy Chair of the Green Party; Spokesperson for Education; Spokesperson for Inclusion; Chair of the Cultural, Youth, and Sports Committee) and Daniel Lede Abal (Parliamentary Manager; Deputy Chair of the Green Party; Spokesperson for Migration). The discussion focused on the school environment: psychological expertise, competence, and education must be more strongly promoted.

Statement by Prof. Dr. Caterina Gawrilow as Chair of the Commission of the German Society for Psychology.