PD Dr. phil. habil. Kerstin Fröber

Froeberkerstin

+++ I have been appointed at the University of Cologne from October 01, 2023 to September 30, 2024 and will be at the University of Regensburg only sporadically. You can contact me directly via email here. +++

Raum: PT 4.0.37

Telefon: 0941 943-3251

Telefax: 0941 943-1995

Research interests:

motivational and affective modulations of cognitive control
the adaptive balance between cognitive flexibility and stability
psychocinematics

Curriculum Vitae

Academic education

2020 Habilitation in Psychology (University of Regensburg)
2013 Doctoral degree in Psychology (Promotion) (University of Regensburg)
2009 Diplom in Psychology (University of Regensburg)
2005 Vordiplom in Psychology (University of Regensburg)

Professional employment history

10/2023-09/2024 Temporary professor (University of Cologne)
2020-present Senior lecturer (University of Regensburg)
2013-2020 PostDoc researcher (University of Regensburg)
09/2018-02/2019 Research stay at the University of Oregon in Prof. Mayr's Cognitive Dynamics Lab (Feodor Lynen Research Fellowship, Humboldt Foundation)

2009-2013 Research associate (University of Regensburg)
2009 Research assistant, Lehrstuhl für Kunstgeschichte (Prof. Wagner), University of Regensburg
2009 Research assistant, Lehrstuhl für Allgemeine Psychologie I (Prof. Greenlee), University of Regensburg
2008-2009 Research assistant, Lehrstuhl für Sozialpsychologie (Prof. Hammerl), University of Regensburg

Ad hoc peer review activities (* for international grants)

Acta Psychologica
Advances in Cognitive Psychology
Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics
Biological Psychology
Brain Research
Cerebral Cortex
Cognition
Cognition & Emotion
Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Neuroscience
Collabra: Psychology
Communications Psychology
Emotion
Experimental Brain Research
Experimental Psychology
Frontiers (seit 2021 Review Editor für Frontiers in Cognition)
In.Mind: The Inquisitive Mind
International Journal of Mental Health Promotion
International Journal of Psychophysiology
*Israel Science Foundation (Israel)
Journal of Cognition
Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience
Journal of Cognitive Psychology
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition
Journal of Personnel Psychology
Journal of Psychophysiology
Memory & Cognition
Motivation and Emotion
Motivation Science
*National Science Center (Poland)
NeuroImage
*Österreicher Wissenschaftsfond FWF (Austria)
Personality and Individual Differences
PloS ONE
Psychological Research
Psychological Science
Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts
Psychonomic Bulletin and Review
Pscyhophysiology
Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology
Royal Society Open Science
Scientific Reports
Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience

Professional Memberships

European Society for Cognitive Psychology (ESCoP)
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Psychologie (DGPS)
Psychonomic Society
Society for Cognitive Studies of the Moving Image (SCSMI)
Women in Cognitive Science (WiCS+)
Women+ in (Cognitive) Control

Publications

Fröber, K. (2022). [Review of the book Movies on Our Minds: The Evolution of Cinematic Engagement, by J. E. Cutting]. Journal für Kunstgeschichte, 26(4), 368-374.
Fröber, K. (2019). Cognitive Control as a dynamic balance between stability and flexibility. Habilitationsschrift, Universität Regensburg.
Fröber, K. (2013). How positive affect modulates cognitive control: New insights into the specificity of positive affect effects. Dissertation, Universität Regensburg. download

Articles (peer-reviewed)

Mendl, J., Fröber, K., & Dreisbach, G. (2024). Flexibility by Association? No Evidence for an Influence of Cue-Transition Associations on Voluntary Task Switching. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 50(3), 313-328. doi.org/10.1037/xhp0001186
Weber, T., Fröber, K., & Schuch, S. (2024). Reward-based modulation of task-switching performance: a diffustion model analysis. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 86, 680-706. doi.org/10.3758/s13414-023-02711-7 full text
Fröber, K., & Dreisbach, G. (2023). You Can(’t) Always Get What You Want: When Goal Persistence Requires Flexibility. Motivation Science, 9(3), 193-204. https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/mot0000297
Fröber, K., & Lerche, V. (2023). Performance-contingent reward increases the use of congruent distracting information. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 85, 905-929. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13414-023-02682-9 full text
Fröber, K., Jurczyk, V., & Dreisbach, G. (2022). Keep flexible - keep switching? Boundary conditions of the influence of forced task switching on voluntary task switching. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 48(9), 1249-1262. https://doi.org/10.1037/xlm0001104
Fröber, K., Jurczyk, V., Mendl, J., & Dreisbach, G. (2021). Investigating anticipatory processes during sequentially changing reward prospect: An ERP study. Brain and Cognition, 155, 105815. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandc.2021.105815
Fröber, K., & Thomaschke, R. (2021). In the dark cube: Movie theater context enhances the valuation and aesthetic experience of watching films. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 15(3), 528-544. https://doi.org/10.1037/aca0000295
Jurczyk, V., Fröber, K., & Dreisbach, G. (2021). Bottom-up influences on voluntary task switching in different reward contexts? Acta Psychologica, 217, 103312. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2021.103312 full text
Jurczyk, V., Mittelstädt, V., & Fröber, K. (2021). Does temporal predictability of tasks influence task choice? Psychological Research, 85, 1066-1083. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-020-01297-1 full text
Fröber, K., & Dreisbach, G. (2021). How sequentially changing reward prospect modulates meta-control: Increasing reward prospect promotes cognitive flexibility. Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Neuroscience, 21, 534-548. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13415-020-00825-1 full text
Chiu, Y.-C., Fröber, K., & Egner, T. (2020). Item-specific priming of voluntary task switches. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 46(4), 434-441. https://doi.org/10.1037/xhp0000725
Fröber, K., Pittino, F., & Dreisbach, G. (2020). How sequential changes in reward expectation modulate cognitive control: Pupillometry as a tool to monitor dynamic changes in reward expectation. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 148, 35-49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2019.12.010
Fröber, K., Pfister, R., & Dreisbach, G. (2019). Increasing reward prospect promotes cognitive flexibility: Direct evidence from voluntary task switching with double registration. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 72(8), 1926-1944. https://doi.org/10.1177/1747021818819449
Dreisbach, G., Fröber, K., Berger, A. & Fischer, R. (2019). Unexpected conflict signals loom larger in a positive context: Evidence from context specific control adjustments. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 45(8), 1398-1409. https://doi.org/10.1037/xlm0000662
Dreisbach, G., & Fröber, K. (2019). On how to be flexible (or not): Modulation of the flexibility-stability balance. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 28(1), 3-9. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721418800030 full text
Jurczyk, V., Fröber, K., & Dreisbach, G. (2019). Increasing reward prospect motivates switching to the more difficult task. Motivation Science, 5(4), 295-313. https://doi.org/10.1037/mot0000119

Fischer, R., Fröber, K., & Dreisbach, G. (2018). Shielding and relaxation in multitasking: Prospect of reward counteracts relaxation of task shielding in multitasking. Acta Psychologica, 191, 112-123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2018.09.002
Mendl, J., Fröber, K., & Dolk, T. (2018). Are you keeping an eye on me? The influence of competition and cooperation on joint Simon task performance. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 1361. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01361 full text
Czaczkes, T, Koch, A., Fröber, K., & Dreisbach, G. (2018). Voluntary switching in an invertebrate. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Learning and Cognition, 44(3), 247-257. https://doi.org/10.1037/xan0000171
Fröber, K., Raith, L., & Dreisbach, G. (2018). The dynamic balance between cognitive flexibility and stability: the influence of local changes in reward expectation and global task context on voluntary switch rate. Psychological Research, 82(1), 65-77. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-017-0922-2 full text
Fröber, K., Stürmer, B., Frömer, R., & Dreisbach, G. (2017). The role of affective evaluation in conflict adaptation: An LRP study. Brain and Cognition, 116, 9-16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandc.2017.05.003

Fröber, K., & Dreisbach, G. (2017). Keep flexible – keep switching! The influence of forced task switching on voluntary task switching. Cognition, 162, 48-53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2017.01.024
Fröber, K., & Dreisbach, G. (2016). How performance (non-)contingent reward modulates cognitive control. Acta Psychologica, 168, 65-77. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2016.04.008
Fröber, K., & Dreisbach, G. (2016). How sequential changes in reward magnitude modulate cognitive flexibility: Evidence from voluntary task switching. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 42, 285-295. https://doi.org/10.1037/xlm0000166
Fröber, K., & Dreisbach, G. (2014). The differential influences of positive affect, random reward, and performance-contingent reward on cognitive control. Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Neuroscience, 14, 530-547. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13415-014-0259-x full text
Fröber, K., & Dreisbach, G. (2012). How positive affect modulates proactive control: Reduced usage of informative cues under positive affect with low arousal. Frontiers in Psychology, 3, 265. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00265 full text

Invited Talks and Conference Presentations

Invited talks

Fröber, K. (2023) How to survive in academia. Keynote at the 12. Doktoranden-Workshop Allgemeine Psychologie (ADok), University of Greifswald, Greifswald, 23.06.2023.
Fröber, K. (2023). On the (in-)dependence of cognitive stability and flexibility: Evidence from voluntary task switching research. Georg-Elias-Müller-Institute of Psychology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, 23.05.2023.
Fröber, K. (2023). Wie man flexibel wird (oder auch nicht): Was wir aus Studien zum (freiwilligen) Aufgabenwechsel über das Flexibilitäts-Stabilitäts-Gleichgewicht gelernt haben. Cognitive Psychology Unit, Universität Trier, Trier, 09.01.2023.
Fröber, K. (2022). What is stabilized by remaining high reward prospect? Joint Cognitive Control Colloquium, Universities of Greifswald and Regensburg, virtual meeting, 25.10.2022.
Fröber, K. (2022). Cognitive stability and flexibility vs. maintenance and updating in working memory - Same same or different?. Joint Cognitive Control Colloquium, Universities of Greifswald and Regensburg, virtual meeting, 28.06.2022.
Fröber, K., & Dreisbach, G. (2022). On how to be flexible (or not): modulation of the stability-flexibility balance. International Symposium and Meeting of the DFG Priority Program SPP 1772 "Multitasking", Aachen, 17.03.2022.
Fröber, K. (2021). How reward modulates cognitive control: It's a matter of contingency. Joint Cognitive Control Colloquium, Universities of Greifswald and Regensburg, virtual meeting, 20.04.2021.
Fröber, K. (2019). In the black box: Cinema context enhances the valuation and aesthetic experience of watching films. Experimental Psychology Unit, Helmut-Schmidt-University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg, Hamburg, 11.06.2019.
Fröber, K. (2019). Mein Leben am Broadway - Im Gleichgewicht zwischen Stabilität und Flexibilität. Netzwerktagung der Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung, Leipzig, 05.04.2019.
Fröber, K. (2018). Conflict, control adaptations, and affect. Cognitive Dynamics Lab, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA, 22.10.2018.
Fröber, K., Jurczyk, V., & Dreisbach, G. (2018). The influence of sequentially changing reward prospects on cognitive flexibility during (voluntary) task switching. International Symposium and Meeting of the DFG Priority Program SPP 1772 "Multitasking", Gießen, 24.04.2018.
Fröber, K. (2017). How sequential changes in reward prospect modulate cognitive control. Department of Psychology, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Würzburg. 04.12.2017.
Fröber, K., Dignath, D., Dreisbach, G., Kiesel, A., Manzey, D., Poljac, E., & Schubert, T. (2017). Challenges and opportunities of voluntary task switching paradigms. International Symposium and Resume Meeting of the DFG Priority Program SPP 1772 "Multitasking", Aachen, 20.06.2017.
Fröber, K. (2016). Der Einfluss sequenziell wechselnder Belohnungserwartung auf Flexibilität beim (freiwilligen) Aufgabenwechsel. Department of General Psychology, Universität Ulm, Ulm, 17.06.2017.

Conference Presentations (first Authorship only, * as chair of an international symposium)

*Fröber, K., & Lerche, V. (2024). Performance-contingent reward increases the use of context information in a conflict task. 66. Tagung experimentell arbeitender Psychologen (TeaP), Regensburg, 19.03.2024. [talk]
Fröber, K., & Lerche, V. (2023). Performance-contingent reward increases the use of congruent distracting information. 8. Motivational and Cognitive Control Conference (MCC), Lyon (France), 13.10.2023. [poster]
Fröber, K., & Lerche, V. (2023). Performance-contingent reward increases the use of congruent distracting information. 23. Conference of the European Society for Cognitive Psychology (ESCoP), Porto (Portugal), 07.09.2023. [poster]
Fröber, K., & Pastötter, B. (2023). The influence of free choice on recognition memory in the face of distraction. 23. Annual Summer Interdisciplinary Conference (ASIC), Kranjska Gora (Slovenia), 03.07.2023. [talk]
*Fröber, K., & Pastötter, B. (2023). The influence of free choice on recognition memory. 65. Tagung experimentell arbeitender Psychologen (TeaP), Trier, 29.03.2023. [talk]
Fröber, K., & Pastötter, B. (2022). The influence of free choice on recognition memory. 54. Herbsttreffen experimentelle Kognitionspsychologie (HexKop), Greifswald, 07.10.2022. [poster]
*Fröber, K., & Dreisbach, G. (2022). You can('t) always get what you want: When goal persistence requires flexibility. 22. Conference of the European Society for Cognitive Psychology (ESCoP), Lille (France), 01.09.2022. [talk]
Fröber, K., & Dreisbach, G. (2022). Keep flexible - keep switching? The influence of forced task switching on voluntary task switching. Control Processes 2022, virtual meeting, 20.05.2022. [talk]
*Fröber, K., & Dreisbach, G. (2022). You can('t) always get what you want: When goal persistence requires flexibility. 64. Tagung experimentell arbeitender Psychologen (TeaP), Köln (virtual meeting), 23.03.2022. [talk]
Fröber, K. (2021). Verhaltenskontingente Belohnung verstärkt die Nutzung kongruenter, aufgabenirrelevanter Informationen. 53. Herbsttreffen experimentelle Kognitionspsychologie (HexKop), Würzburg, 08.10.2021. [talk]
Fröber, K., Mendl, J., Jurczyk, V., & Dreisbach, G. (2021). Investigating anticipatory processes during sequentially changing reward prospect: An ERP study. 5. International conference of the European Society for Cognitive and Affective Neuoscience (ESCAN), Budapest (virtual meeting), 26.06.2021. [talk]
Fröber, K., & Dreisbach, G. (2021). You can’t always get what you want: When persistence in task choice requires increased flexibility. 63. Tagung experimentell arbeitender Psychologen (TeaP), Ulm (virtual meeting), 15.03.2021. [talk]
Fröber, K., & Dreisbach, G. (2020). Carrot or Stick: Cognitive Flexibility Increases with Increasing Loss or Reward Prospect. 61. Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society, virtual meeting, 20.11.2020. [poster]
Fröber, K., & Dreisbach, G. (2019). Increasing reward prospect promotes cognitive flexibility: More evidence from task switching with three tasks. 7th International Symposium on Motivational and Cognitive Control (MCC), Berlin, 16.09.2019. [poster]
Fröber, K., & Thomaschke, R. (2019). In the black box: Cinema context enhances the valuation and aesthetic experience of watching films. Annual Meeting of the Society for Cognitive Studies of the Moving Image (SCSMI), Hamburg, 12.06.2019. [poster]
Fröber, K., Pfister, R., & Dreisbach, G. (2019). Increasing reward prospect promotes cognitive flexibility: Direct evidence from voluntary task switching with double registration. 61. Tagung experimenteller arbeitender Psychologen (TeaP), London (UK), 17.04.2019. [talk]
Fröber, K., Stürmer, B., Frömer, R., & Dreisbach, G. (2018). The role of affective evaluation in conflict adaptation: An LRP study. 59. Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society, New Orleans (USA), 17.11.2018. [poster]
*Fröber, K., & Dreisbach, G. (2018). Voluntary task switching as a tool to investigate the flexibility-stability balance. 4. International conference of the European Society for Cognitive and Affective Neuoscience (ESCAN), Leiden (Netherlands), 21.07.2018. [talk]
Fröber, K., Pittino, F., & Dreisbach, G. (2018). How sequential changes in reward expectation modulate cognitive control: pupillometry as a tool to monitor dynamic changes in reward expectation. 60. Tagung experimentell arbeitender Psychologen (TeaP), Marburg, 13.03.2018. [talk]
Fröber, K., Stürmer, B., Frömer, R., & Dreisbach, G. (2017). The role of affective evaluation in conflict adaptation: An LRP study. 50. Herbsttreffen experimentelle Kognitionspsychologie (HexKop), Ulm, 04.11.2017. [poster]
*Fröber, K., & Dreisbach, G. (2017). Voluntary switch rate as an indicator of flexibility versus stability. 20th Meeting of the European Society for Cognitive Psychology (ESCoP), Potsdam, 05.09.2017. [talk]
Fröber, K., & Dreisbach, G. (2017). Keep flexible - keep switching! The influence of forced task switching on voluntary task switching. 59. Tagung experimentell arbeitender Psychologen (TeaP), Dresden, 29.03.2017. [talk]
Fröber, K., & Dreisbach, G. (2016). Keep flexible - keep switching! 57. Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Boston (USA), 18.11.2016. [poster]
Fröber, K., & Dreisbach, G. (2016). Keep flexible - keep switching! The influence of forced task switching on voluntary task switching. 49. Herbsttreffen experimentelle Kognitionspsychologie (HexKop), Tübingen, 05.11.2016. [poster]
Fröber, K., & Dreisbach, G. (2016). How positive affect and performance (non-)contingent reward modulate cognitive control. International Meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Granada (Spain), 08.05.2016. [talk]
Fröber, K., Pfister, R., & Dreisbach, G. (2016). How sequential changes in reward magnitude modulate cognitive flexibility: More direct evidence for increased flexibility under increased reward prospect. 58. Tagung experimentell arbeitender Psychologen (TeaP), Heidelberg, 22.03.2016. [talk]
*Fröber, K., & Dreisbach, G. (2015). How sequential changes in reward magnitude modulate cognitive flexibility: Evidence from voluntary task switching. 19th Meeting of the European Society for Cognitive Psychology (ESCoP), Paphos (Cyprus), 20.09.2015. [talk]
Fröber, K., & Dreisbach, G. (2015). How sequential changes in reward magnitude modulate cognitive flexibility: Evidence from voluntary task switching. 57. Tagung experimentell arbeitender Psychologen (TeaP), Hildesheim, 09.03.2015. [talk]
Fröber, K. (2014). Antagonistische Anforderungen an kognitive Kontrolle: Flexibilität und Stabilität. 47. Herbsttreffen experimentelle Kognitionspsychologie (HexKop), Trier, 09.11.2014. [talk]
Fröber, K., & Dreisbach, G. (2014). The differential influence of positive affect, random reward, and performance-contingent reward on cognitive control. 56. Tagung experimentell arbeitender Psychologen (TeaP), Gießen, 02.04.2014. [talk]
Fröber, K., & Dreisbach, G. (2013). Increased novelty bias under positive affect. 55. Tagung experimentell arbeitender Psychologen (TeaP), Wien (Austria), 25.03.2013. [poster]
Fröber, K. (2012). Affektive Modulation kognitiver Kontrolle. Doktoranden-Workshop Allgemeine Psychologie, Würzburg, 15.6.2012. [talk]
Fröber, K., & Dreisbach, G. (2012). How positive affect modulates cognitive control: Reduced reliance on informative cues. 54. Tagung experimentell arbeitender Psychologen (TeaP), Mannheim, 4.4.2012. [talk]
Fröber, K., & Dreisbach, G. (2011). Affective modulation of cognitive flexibility. 17th Meeting of the European Society for Cognitive Psychology (ESCoP), San Sebastian (Spain), 1.10.2011. [talk]
Fröber, K., & Dreisbach, G. (2011). Affektive Modulation der Aufmerksamkeit: Der Einfluss von affektiven Bildern auf endogene Aufmerksamkeitssteuerung. 53. Tagung experimentell arbeitender Psychologen (TeaP), Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, 16.03.2011. [talk].