14.12.2017

Dr. Donna Bryce (Research group Cognition and Perception) has been awarded a Margarete von Wrangell Fellowship for Women

"The determinants and development of monitoring accuracy"

During this 5 year programme, Dr. Bryce will investigate how people reflect on their own cognitive processes (referred to as metacognitive monitoring or introspection), and how this skill develops across childhood. This ability is important for maximising performance in a range of contexts, is crucial for independent learning, and varies across individuals. The question of what determines the accuracy of our monitoring will be addressed, with a focus on the cues used and processes involved. Using experimental methods, the role of skills such as the ability to ignore distracting information (also referred to as executive functions) in monitoring will be examined. It is hypothesised that these skills may, in different circumstances, enable or compete with monitoring processes.

The Margarete von Wrangell Fellowship for Women is financially funded by the Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts of Baden-Württemberg and the European Social Fund. The programme aims to encourage qualified female scientists to achieve their postdoctoral qualification (namely habilitation). It promotes equality between men and women at the universities of the Land. Women are still underrepresented when it comes to the final career step: be awarded a professorship. In order to counteract such situations, the number of qualified women for those positions should increases.