Timo Mäntylä
Professor i kognitiv psykologi
Sammanfattning
Efter doktorsexamen år 1987 vid Umeå universitet har jag varit anställd vid Karolinska institutet och Stockholms universitet samt senast som professor i psykologi vid Umeå universitet. Sedan april 2011 är jag professor i kognitiv psykologi här vid institutionen för psykologi. Jag har gästforskat vid universitetet i Toronto, Kanada, Tsukubas universitet i Japan samt Trentos universitet i Italien.
Undervisning
Jag undervisar främst i kognitionspsykologi och forskningsmetodik både på grundutbildningen och på forskarutbildningen. Jag handleder två doktorander vid andra universitet.
Forskning
Utöver intresset för grundläggande minnesfunktioner har min forskning handlat om kognitiva funktioners utveckling över livsspannet. Ett annat aktuellt tema är relationen mellan högre kognitiva funktioner med fokus på beslutsfattande, metakognition och kognitiv kontroll. Ett nära relaterat projekt handlar om individuella skillnader i relation till multitasking och temporal samordning av komplexa uppgifter.
Min aktuella forskning stöds ekonomiskt av Riksbankens Jubileumsfond och Vetenskapsrådet:
Temporal cognition in children and adults
Vetenskapsrådet
Sense of time is a prerequisite to most higher-order cognitive functions, including autobiographic memory, theory of mind and executive control functions. Although the empirical study of psychological time is well over a century old, its dominating psychophysical paradigms do not capture these complexities. We propose a memory-based approach in which experienced time is assumed to reflect basic memory functions and associated control functions, rather than being determined by a discrete ticking pacemaker or a “mental clock.” A central methodological goal of the project is to develop a valid and reliable paradigm for examining temporal information processing within the complexities of everyday cognition. A series of empirical studies will examine the notionthat experienced time reflects individual and developmental differences in working memory (executive functioning), episodic memory, semantic memory and procedural memory. The findings may have important theoretical and clinical implications for understanding disorders of goal-directed behavior and some expressions of psychopathology.
Aging and decision-making competence
Riksbankens Jubileumsfond
Decision-making skills are critical for preserving physical and psychological well-being in older adulthood. A central aim of the project is to investigate how older adults perceive and evaluate decision problems in their real life, and to understand how the aging decision makers interact with the environment in order to cope with cognitive and emotional changes. A related aim is to develop standardized instruments for the objective assessment of individual and age-related differences in judgment and decision-making competence. A more applied contribution of the project is to develop theoretically and empirically-justified guidelines for effective forms of decision support , which can be positively accepted by elderly people. The results of the project will advance our knowledge of how elderly adults handle and cope with complex everyday decision tasks while their physical and cognitive resources are gradually reducing. The present project will also provide insights and explicit guidelines for decision aiding in older adults.
Övrigt
- Ordförande av Vetenskapsrådets beredningsgrupp för psykologisk forskning.
- Ledamot av Ämnesrådet för humaniora och samhällsvetenskap, Vetenskapsrådet.
- Ledamot av Nordiska samarbetsnämnden för humanistisk och samhällsvetenskaplig forskning (NOS-HS).
- Biträdande redaktör av Journal of Cognitive Psychology.
Senaste publikationer
Mäntylä, T., Still, J., Gullberg, S., & Del Missier, F. (in press). Decision making in adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Journal of Attention Disorders.
Del Missier, F., Mäntylä, T., & Bruine de Bruin, W. (in press). Decision-making competence, executive functioning, and general cognitive abilities. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making.
Rönnlund, M., Vestergren, P., Mäntylä, T., & Nilsson, L-G. (in press). Predictors of self-reported prospective and retrospective memory in a population-based sample of older adults. The Journal of Genetic Psychology.
Forman, H., Mäntylä, T., & Carelli, M.G. (2011). Time keeping and working memory development in early adolescence: A four-year follow-up. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 108, 170-179.
Del Missier, F., Mäntylä, T., & Bruine de Bruin, W. (2010). Executive functions in decision-making competence: An individual differences approach. Thinking and Reasoning, 16, 69-97.
Mäntylä, T., Kliegel, M., & Rönnlund, M. (2010). Components of executive functioning in metamemory. Applied Neuropsychology.
Mackinley, R., Kliegel, M., & Mäntylä, T. (2009). Predictors of time-based prospective memory in children. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 102, 251-264.
Mäntylä, T., Del Missier, F., & Nilsson, L.-G. (2009). Age differences in multiple outcome measures of time-based prospective memory. Aging, Neuropsychology and Cognition, 16, 654-670.
Mäntylä, T., Karlsson, M., & Marklund, M. (2009). Executive control functions in simulated driving. Applied Neuropsychology, 16, 11-18.
