Unimodal and crossmodal processing of visual and kinesthetic stimuli in working memory

The processing of (object) information in working memory has been intensively investigated in the visual modality (i.e. D’Esposito, 2007; Ranganath, 2006). In comparison, research on kinesthetic/haptic or crossmodal processing in working memory is still sparse. During recognition and comparison of object information across modalities, representations built from one sensory modality have to be matched with representations obtained from other senses. In the present thesis, the questions how object information is represented in unimodal and crossmodal working memory, which processes enable unimodal and crossmodal comparisons, and which neuronal correlates are associated with these processes were addressed. In particular, unimodal and crossmodal processing of visually and kinesthetically perceived object features were systematically investigated in distinct working memory phases of encoding, maintenance, and recognition. At this, the kinesthetic modality refers to the sensory perception of movement direction and spatial position, e.g. of one’s own hand, and is part of the haptic sense. Overall, the results of the present thesis suggest that modality-specific representations and modality-specific processes play a role during unimodal and crossmodal processing of object features in working memory

Psychological Selection of Female Space Flight Participant (SFP) Candidates.

A call for a female German space flight participant to accompany a space flight crew for about ten days while conducting research activities was launched in 2016. The core goal was to encourage women for so-called STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) jobs. The German Aerospace Center DLR was responsible for the psychological and medical selection process. Due to extreme environmental challenges and public interest, the psychological requirements were on a comparatively high level and wide in variety: Besides basic cognitive requirements and personality factors, team and media competencies were considered. The selection campaign for the first German female space flight participant was carried out in 2016 and conducted in two steps: Phase 1 concentrated mainly on performance tests, while in phase 2 personality and interactive tests as well as a semi-structured interview were carried out. Out of 81 tested candidates 8 candidates were recommended based on the psychological assessment. In a comparison with a female European astronaut candidate sample, significant differences in personality traits were observed