Profile
Abstract
Prof. Dr. Erich Schröger was appointed to Leipzig University of as professor of Biological Psychology in 1997. Since 2001 he has held a Chair of Cognitive and Biological Psychology and has been the Head of the research group BioCog. He studied philosophy at the Munich School of Philosophy (bachelor's degree in 1982) and psychology at the Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich (diploma in 1986), where he also received his doctorate (1991) and habilitation (1996). In the winter term 1991 he had been Research Fellow at the Cognitive Brain Research Unit, University of Helsinki. His research focuses on the processes underlying human perception and attention. He is also interested in the history and in the methods of psychology.
Professional career
- 04/2017 - 04/2022
Vice-Rector for Research and Young Academics of Leipzig University - 06/2014 - 10/2016
Dean of the Faculty of Biosciences, Pharmacy and Psychology - 10/2010 - 09/2013
Dean for Study Affairs in Psychology - 05/2004 - 04/2008
Delegate for Young Researchers of the German Society for Psychology (DGPs) - 10/2003 - 10/2005
Elected Head of the Department General Psychology (Fachgruppe Allgemeine Psychologie) of the German Society for Psychology (DGPs) - 05/2002 - 04/2004
Director of the Institute for General Psychology of the University of Leipzig - 05/2001 - 03/2025
Professor für Cognitive and Biological Psychology at Leipzig University - 10/1998 - 10/2003
Head of the Study-Group (DFG-Forschergruppe) "Working Memory" of the German Research Foundation (DFG) - 08/1997 - 04/2001
Professor für Biological Psychology at Leipzig University - 10/1996 - 03/1997
Associate Professor at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich - 02/1991 - 09/1996
Assistant Professor at the Institute for Psychology of the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich - 02/1987 - 01/1991
Academic Assistant at the Institute for Psychology der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich
Education
- 02/1991 - 02/1996
Habilitation in Psychology Dr. phil. habil. at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich - 02/1987 - 01/1991
Dr. phil. (Major: Psychology; minor: Statistics, Philosophy) at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich - 10/1981 - 02/1987
Diploma in Psychology (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) - 10/1980 - 03/1982
Bakkalaureat in Philosophy (Munich School of Philosophy)
Panel Memberships
- since 10/2023
Member of the International Advisory Board of the Institute of Psychology of the Czech Academy of Sciences - 02/2020 - 01/2026
Member of the International Commission of Experts for the Elite Network of Bavaria - since 10/2019
Fellow of the Max Planck School of Cognition - 10/2015 - 10/2023
Member of the Advisory Board of the Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Friedrich-Schiller Universität Jena - 10/2014 - 10/2021
Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology, Magdeburg - 10/2013 - 03/2022
Member of the Selection Committee for the Allocation of Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Research Awards (including the Sofja Kovalevskaja-Award) - 10/2005 - 10/2007
Member of the Board of Directors of the Society for Psychophysiological Research - 06/2004 - 04/2011
Elected Member and Speaker (2007-2011) of the Grant Council (DFG-Fachkollegium) "Psychology" of the German Research Foundation (DFG)
Schröger's main fields of research include perception, attention, and memory. He usually works in audition, but he also investigates visual and multimodal mechanisms of human information processing. Among other scientific contributions, he has developed an experimental paradigm for assessing the mechanisms of automatic distraction of attention and he was able to show that automatic irregularity detection involves both sensory adaptation processes and cognitive comparison processes of sensory memory.
In a Reinhart Koselleck grant awarded from the German Research Foundation, he contributed to a theory of predictive modelling in audition. Due to generative mental models incoming sounds can be processed with astonishing speed as when comprehending spoken language. Likewise, the specific processing of sounds that a person creates by means of its own behavior can be explained by the principles of predictive modeling. In order to optimize a predictive model, the information processing system calculates predictive errors as the difference between the prediction and the actual stimulus signal. Furthermore, Schröger is interested in the History and Methods of Psychology.
As of January 2021, Schröger had published more than 300 scientific papers, book chapters, and books and been an honorary reviewer for more than 100 scientific journals and organizations. According to an analysis of Ioannidis et al. (2020) Schröger belongs to the worldwide most (top 2 promille) cited scientists.
- show detailsIntention-based and sensory-based predictionsSchröger, ErichDuration: 07/2017 – 07/2020Funded by: DFG Deutsche ForschungsgemeinschaftInvolved organisational units of Leipzig University: Kognitive einschließlich Biologische Psychologie
- show detailsEffects of faulty relevance filtering on control of attentional processes.Schröger, ErichDuration: 01/2016 – 12/2016Funded by: DAAD Deutscher Akademischer AustauschdienstInvolved organisational units of Leipzig University: Kognitive einschließlich Biologische Psychologie
- show detailsSeeing without awarenessSchröger, ErichDuration: 01/2016 – 12/2016Funded by: DAAD Deutscher Akademischer AustauschdienstInvolved organisational units of Leipzig University: Kognitive einschließlich Biologische Psychologie
- show detailsPiecing auditory cues together: How we learn to integrate cues in speech perceptionSchröger, ErichDuration: 03/2016 – 03/2018Funded by: Andere ausländische öffentliche ForschungsfördererInvolved organisational units of Leipzig University: Kognitive einschließlich Biologische Psychologie
- show detailsGlobal and local aspects of temporal and lexical predictions for speech processingSchröger, ErichDuration: 10/2014 – 12/2016Funded by: DFG Deutsche ForschungsgemeinschaftInvolved organisational units of Leipzig University: Kognitive einschließlich Biologische Psychologie
- show detailsRozario, K.; Oh Rui Ying, R.; Marselle, M.; Schröger, E.; Gillerot, L.; Ponette, Q.; Godbold, D.; Haluza, D.; Kilpi, K.; Müller, D.; Roeber, U.; Muys, B.; Müller, S.; Shaw, T.; Bonn, A.The more the merrier? Perceived forest biodiversity promotes short-term mental health and well-being—A multicentre study.People and Nature. 2024. 6 (1). pp. 180–201.
- show detailsRinger, H.; Schröger, E.; Grimm, S.Within- and between-subject consistency of perceptual segmentation in periodic noise: A combined behavioral tapping and EEG studyPsychophysiology. 2023. 60 (2).
- show detailsRinger, H.; Schröger, E.; Grimm, S.Neural signatures of automatic repetition detection in temporally regular and jittered acoustic sequencesPLoS One. 2023. 18 (11).
- show detailsAlho, K.; Escera, C.; Kujala, T.; Schröger, E.; Tervaniemi, M.; Winkler, I.; Yabe, H.Risto Näätänen (1939-2023)Psychophysiology. 2023.
- show detailsSchröger, E.; Roeber, U.; Coy, N.Markov chains as a proxy for the predictive memory representations underlying mismatch negativityFrontiers in human neuroscience. 2023.
- Andere Ehrungen: Werner Heisenberg-Medaille der Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftungshow detailsSchröger, Erich (Kognitive einschließlich Biologische Psychologie)awarded in 2022 by Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung.
- Andere Ehrungen: Fellow of the Max Planck School of Cognitionshow detailsSchröger, Erich (Kognitive einschließlich Biologische Psychologie)awarded in 2019 by Max-Planck-Society.
- Akademiemitgliedschaften: Mitglied der Wilhelm-Wundt-Gesellschaftshow detailsSchröger, Erich (Kognitive einschließlich Biologische Psychologie)awarded in 2017 by Wilhelm-Wundt-Gesellschaft.
- Akademiemitgliedschaften: Academia Europaeashow detailsSchröger, Erich (Kognitive einschließlich Biologische Psychologie)awarded in 2016 by Academia Europaea.
- Andere Stipendien/Forschungspreise: Reinhart Koselleck Projectshow detailsSchröger, Erich (Kognitive einschließlich Biologische Psychologie)awarded in 2009 by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 103974738.
- show detailsWorkshopLinear ballistic acumulator modelling workshopKognitive einschließlich Biologische PsychologieEvent Organiser: Schröger, Erich29/09/2016 – 30/09/2016
- show detailsKonferenzError Signals from the Brain - 7th Mismatch Negativity Conference (MMN2015)Kognitive einschließlich Biologische PsychologieEvent Organiser: Wetzel, Nicole; Schröger, Erich08/09/2015 – 11/09/2015
My research group "Cognitive and Biological Psychology" teaches iological and cognitive psychology in the bachelor's program in psychology, and we contribute to the empirical practicum. In the master's program in psychology, we offer teaching on cognitive psychology, with a focus on perception, memory, and attention. In methodological courses, we train our students in programming psychological experiments and in analysing EEG-data.
Cognitive Psychology
The word "cognition" refers to mental activities such as percepton and action, learning, memory, consciousness, attention, problem solving, language. The subject of cognitive psychology is the description and explanation of such mental functions within the framework of the information processing approach.
Biological Psychology
Biological psychology is a branch of psychology that deals with the relationships between physical (bodily) states and processes on the one hand and psychological (mental) states and processes on the other. While psychology is generally defined as the science of human experience and behavior, biological psychology specifically explores the biological basis or correlates of our experience and behavior, especially the connection between the mind and the brain.