Learning from the Chinese experiences

Xiang Zhao conducts research on health psychology at the University of Klagenfurt. We spoke to him about how China handled COVID-19. Among other things, Zhao recommends more precise instructions to the population.

Finding the water bottle, but missing the small weapon: Research on the role of the working memory during hand luggage checks at the airport

Visual search allows humans to identify certain objects: For example, a doctor can recognise dangerous anomalies in x-ray images, or airport security staff can use x-ray technology to identify items inside our hand luggage. At the Department of Psychology, Anna Conci, recipient of an ÖAW-DOC scholarship, is studying the influence of the working memory on the search performance. Read more →

“We live in a world that needs considerably more wisdom than it currently exhibits.”: A handbook dealing with research on wisdom has just come out

Weighing in at just over 800 pages, the recently published Cambridge Handbook of Wisdom was edited by Robert J. Sternberg (Cornell University) and Judith Glück (University of Klagenfurt). The handbook offers an overview of the state of research on wisdom, an area of study that is still something of a rarity at universities, and presents various perspectives describing how a greater understanding of wisdom could contribute to a better world.

A new program supports the mental health of children in Southeast Europe

Nearly half of all psychological disorders can be traced back to the early years of the affected individuals, i.e. to the time before they reached the age of 14. In adulthood, this frequently leads to chronic illnesses, which may in turn exert negative effects on the individuals’ social lives, economic productivity and quality of life. A new project supported by H2020 (European Union) aims to prevent the occurrence of these illnesses during the childhood years. The project’s geographical focus lies on Southeast Europe.