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Research Program 

• Third Cohort Projects (starting September 2023)
• Second Cohort Projects (starting 2020) 
• First Cohort Projects (2017 - 2020) 
• Principal Investigators
• Bachelor and Master Theses 

Overarching Research Questions

The aims of the RTG are to develop and use a model of expectations and expectation violations (ViolEx 2.0) in order to derive and test specific hypotheses within different domains of psychology and more general research questions across different domains of psychology (i.e., overarching research questions, ORQ). 

• Inhalt ausklappen Inhalt einklappen ORQ1: The way an expectation has been acquired may influence whether its violation will lead to accommodation or immunization.

  Whether expectations will change or not when being confronted with disconfirming evidence might depend (a) on the amount of learning trials on which expectations are based and (b) on whether the expectation originated from a consistent or inconsistent learning history. Specifically, expectation violations resulting from an inconsistent learning history may encourage accommodation rather than immunization. 

• Inhalt ausklappen Inhalt einklappen ORQ2: The magnitude of expectation violation has a (non-monotonic) influence on the relative probability of accommodation vs. immunization. 

  Currently, there are diverging predictions about the question whether the magnitude of expectation violations has a (non-monotonic) influence on the relative probability of accommodation vs. immunization. Hence, it is important to test whether large magnitudes of expectation violations are more likely to lead to immunization.   

• Inhalt ausklappen Inhalt einklappen ORQ3: The source of expectation violating information plays a crucial role on the relative probability of accommodation vs. immunization. 

  The credibility of the source of expectation violation can influence the reaction to disconfirming evidence. Less reliable sources are expected to induce more immunization strategies of coping, while reliable and trustful sources of expectation violation are expected to induce more accommodation and learning. 

• Inhalt ausklappen Inhalt einklappen ORQ4: Both global and content-specific characteristics of the person influence the relative probability of accommodation, assimilation, and immunization. 

  Accommodation, immunization and assimilation may require different cognitive resources and relate to different needs. Accordingly, individuals may differ in their general propensity to accommodate, immunize, and/or assimilate in response to expectation violations. We investigate to which degree variance in the selection of coping mechanisms can be explained by both global and content-specific characteristics of the person. 

• Inhalt ausklappen Inhalt einklappen ORQ5: Uncertainty drives the relative probability of assimilation vs. experimentation. 

  The more uncertain action consequences are, the more likely an actor will be to explore or to experiment if they wish to reduce this uncertainty (experimentation). In contrast, when action consequences can be predicted with higher certainty, then it is possible for the actor to choose actions that lead to a fulfillment of the actor’s expectations and hence avoid expectation violation (assimilation).