Hi Arndis, what is your background and job role at AU?

I grew up in the Faroe Islands and moved to Denmark to study. I have a MSc in Psychology from University of Copenhagen but moved to Aarhus during my Master’s, where I did my internship at CFIN. After that, I was lucky to get a job as a research assistant, running a pharmacological study to investigate how serotonin, dopamine and noradrenaline modulate certain cognitive processes (e.g. social learning). I went on to do a PhD on social cognition in schizophrenia, focusing on how patients with schizophrenia are influenced by others.

What are your main areas of research?

My research focuses on getting a better understanding of the cognitive processes that can give rise to symptoms seen in mental disorders like schizophrenia. I work with researchers at the hospital, at the IMC and at Cognitive Science.

Are you involved with any teaching at the moment?

Currently, I teach a module on a graduate course and at the Summer University at Health on how to get your research published.

How did you hear about Cognition and Behavior Lab?

I was part of the Interacting Minds Centre when COBE Lab was founded.

Have you used the Lab? If so, what are the benefits for researchers?

I haven't used it directly, since it is difficult to combine with studies on patient populations. But I collaborate with researchers using it and the facilities, participant system and standardized procedures help streamline the research process.

Is there a particular recommendation you would like to pass on to other researchers? Something you wish you had known before you started, or just a useful trick.

Start early learning statistics, programming and psychometrics. Don't be afraid of technical skills, they take time and effort to learn, but they are invaluable to better design your research and understand which aspects of the more theoretically driven questions you have could be meaningfully asked.

Could you recommend one academic book to fellow colleagues that you think is of great interest?

Statistical Rethinking by McElreath is a great way to get in to Bayesian statistics and modelling using R.

Away from your research, what do you enjoy doing?

I have two small kids, and I enjoy very much spending time with them. That doesn’t leave time to do much else. However, I enjoy watching a good movie or TV series, when I get the chance.

Finally, which Associated Researcher would you like to see under 'Spotlight' next time?

Katrin Heimann