Wanja Wolff
@wanjawolff.bsky.social
Professor for Sport Psychology at the University of Hamburg. Researching the Dynamics of Human Performance Regulation (@dhprlab.bsky.social) and planning to use that knowledge to stop getting worse at cycling.
Pinned
Wanja Wolff
@wanjawolff.bsky.social
· Oct 13
OSF
osf.io
#preprint 📢
Effort usually boosts performance - but not always. We discuss 4 domain-general factors that modulate effort-performance (de)coupling: osf.io/preprints/ps...
TL;DR: A framework on when and why effort-performance links appear to change across domains, timescales & measures.
🧵
Effort usually boosts performance - but not always. We discuss 4 domain-general factors that modulate effort-performance (de)coupling: osf.io/preprints/ps...
TL;DR: A framework on when and why effort-performance links appear to change across domains, timescales & measures.
🧵
Reposted by Wanja Wolff
Yesterday, we had the pleasure of welcoming Prof. Dr. Amitai Shenhav from UC Berkeley to our #DHPRlab meeting. He told us about neural and computational mechanisms of motivation, affect, and decision-making
Thank you for taking the time and for the really engaging discussions @ashenhav.bsky.social🙏
Thank you for taking the time and for the really engaging discussions @ashenhav.bsky.social🙏
January 7, 2026 at 11:12 AM
Yesterday, we had the pleasure of welcoming Prof. Dr. Amitai Shenhav from UC Berkeley to our #DHPRlab meeting. He told us about neural and computational mechanisms of motivation, affect, and decision-making
Thank you for taking the time and for the really engaging discussions @ashenhav.bsky.social🙏
Thank you for taking the time and for the really engaging discussions @ashenhav.bsky.social🙏
Reposted by Wanja Wolff
Inspiring talk at our research colloquium yesterday! 🧠
Using very cool games (🦀🎰🐷🃏),
@sebraem.bsky.social showed when and how individuals flexibly adapt their learning across different environments.
We enjoyed a day packed of valuable discussions and delicious food!
Using very cool games (🦀🎰🐷🃏),
@sebraem.bsky.social showed when and how individuals flexibly adapt their learning across different environments.
We enjoyed a day packed of valuable discussions and delicious food!
January 7, 2026 at 9:02 AM
Inspiring talk at our research colloquium yesterday! 🧠
Using very cool games (🦀🎰🐷🃏),
@sebraem.bsky.social showed when and how individuals flexibly adapt their learning across different environments.
We enjoyed a day packed of valuable discussions and delicious food!
Using very cool games (🦀🎰🐷🃏),
@sebraem.bsky.social showed when and how individuals flexibly adapt their learning across different environments.
We enjoyed a day packed of valuable discussions and delicious food!
Reposted by Wanja Wolff
Another great joint event with @cmdn-lab.bsky.social before the winter break!
It was wonderful to visit each other’s labs again and enjoy a fun evening together ✨
Already looking forward to the next one!
It was wonderful to visit each other’s labs again and enjoy a fun evening together ✨
Already looking forward to the next one!
December 18, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Another great joint event with @cmdn-lab.bsky.social before the winter break!
It was wonderful to visit each other’s labs again and enjoy a fun evening together ✨
Already looking forward to the next one!
It was wonderful to visit each other’s labs again and enjoy a fun evening together ✨
Already looking forward to the next one!
Reposted by Wanja Wolff
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻
Annual reminder that the book is open access.
How do we think of the brain as a deeply interconnected system with highly distributed, non hierarchical processing.
Want to learn about the brain from a fresh perspective?
#neuroskyence
mitpress.mit.edu/978026254460...
Annual reminder that the book is open access.
How do we think of the brain as a deeply interconnected system with highly distributed, non hierarchical processing.
Want to learn about the brain from a fresh perspective?
#neuroskyence
mitpress.mit.edu/978026254460...
The Entangled Brain
Popular neuroscience accounts often focus on specific mind-brain aspects like addiction, cognition, or memory, but The Entangled Brain tackles a much bigger ...
mitpress.mit.edu
December 28, 2025 at 5:56 PM
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻
Annual reminder that the book is open access.
How do we think of the brain as a deeply interconnected system with highly distributed, non hierarchical processing.
Want to learn about the brain from a fresh perspective?
#neuroskyence
mitpress.mit.edu/978026254460...
Annual reminder that the book is open access.
How do we think of the brain as a deeply interconnected system with highly distributed, non hierarchical processing.
Want to learn about the brain from a fresh perspective?
#neuroskyence
mitpress.mit.edu/978026254460...
Reposted by Wanja Wolff
AI and LLMs trend towards sameness of expression - it might just make us all more boring!
www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/the-...
www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/the-...
Is AI Making Us Boring?
AI works by predicting the most likely next thing, but in doing so, it risks becoming predictable and monotonous—and so do we if we rely too much on the tool.
www.psychologytoday.com
December 19, 2025 at 4:26 PM
AI and LLMs trend towards sameness of expression - it might just make us all more boring!
www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/the-...
www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/the-...
Reposted by Wanja Wolff
We are hiring a new Ph. D. student on neuroimaging and/or computational modeling on motivation and emotion. Tübingen is a great place to pursue work on these topics!!
uni-tuebingen.de/fakultaeten/...
uni-tuebingen.de/fakultaeten/...
PhD Position on computational modelling and neuroscience (m/f/d)
uni-tuebingen.de
December 10, 2025 at 4:04 PM
We are hiring a new Ph. D. student on neuroimaging and/or computational modeling on motivation and emotion. Tübingen is a great place to pursue work on these topics!!
uni-tuebingen.de/fakultaeten/...
uni-tuebingen.de/fakultaeten/...
Reposted by Wanja Wolff
Had an amazing time at the #ISSP conference in Hong Kong 🌆
Thanks for joining the hitchhike journey through the #effort research universe.
Interested, check our preprint together w/ @wanjawolff.bsky.social & @israelhalperin.bsky.social
➡️ osf.io/preprints/ps...
Thanks for joining the hitchhike journey through the #effort research universe.
Interested, check our preprint together w/ @wanjawolff.bsky.social & @israelhalperin.bsky.social
➡️ osf.io/preprints/ps...
December 13, 2025 at 3:48 AM
Had an amazing time at the #ISSP conference in Hong Kong 🌆
Thanks for joining the hitchhike journey through the #effort research universe.
Interested, check our preprint together w/ @wanjawolff.bsky.social & @israelhalperin.bsky.social
➡️ osf.io/preprints/ps...
Thanks for joining the hitchhike journey through the #effort research universe.
Interested, check our preprint together w/ @wanjawolff.bsky.social & @israelhalperin.bsky.social
➡️ osf.io/preprints/ps...
Reposted by Wanja Wolff
How Effortful Is Boredom? Studying Self-Control Demands Through Pupillometry, from Vanessa Radtke, @wanjawolff.bsky.social, and @corimartarelli.bsky.social #RegisteredReport doi.org/10.1525/coll...
How Effortful Is Boredom? Studying Self-Control Demands Through Pupillometry
Self-control is essential for managing actions, yet its exertion is perceived as effortful. Performing a task may require effort not only because of its inherent difficulty but also due to its potenti...
doi.org
December 11, 2025 at 8:56 PM
How Effortful Is Boredom? Studying Self-Control Demands Through Pupillometry, from Vanessa Radtke, @wanjawolff.bsky.social, and @corimartarelli.bsky.social #RegisteredReport doi.org/10.1525/coll...
Reposted by Wanja Wolff
I really enjoyed talking about investigating dynamic decision strategies in sports using the explore-exploit framework at #ISSP in Hong Kong.
If you're interested in our recently published work on this topic ➡️ doi.org/10.1016/j.ps...
If you're interested in our recently published work on this topic ➡️ doi.org/10.1016/j.ps...
December 11, 2025 at 2:47 PM
I really enjoyed talking about investigating dynamic decision strategies in sports using the explore-exploit framework at #ISSP in Hong Kong.
If you're interested in our recently published work on this topic ➡️ doi.org/10.1016/j.ps...
If you're interested in our recently published work on this topic ➡️ doi.org/10.1016/j.ps...
Reposted by Wanja Wolff
Truly enjoyed sharing some empirical data on one of our key points at #ISSP in Hong Kong:
People minimize effort & especially time costs for their exercise goals, even when they know it’s not the most effective way!
w/ @corimartarelli.bsky.social, @mbieleke.bsky.social, and @wanjawolff.bsky.social
People minimize effort & especially time costs for their exercise goals, even when they know it’s not the most effective way!
w/ @corimartarelli.bsky.social, @mbieleke.bsky.social, and @wanjawolff.bsky.social
December 11, 2025 at 4:41 AM
Truly enjoyed sharing some empirical data on one of our key points at #ISSP in Hong Kong:
People minimize effort & especially time costs for their exercise goals, even when they know it’s not the most effective way!
w/ @corimartarelli.bsky.social, @mbieleke.bsky.social, and @wanjawolff.bsky.social
People minimize effort & especially time costs for their exercise goals, even when they know it’s not the most effective way!
w/ @corimartarelli.bsky.social, @mbieleke.bsky.social, and @wanjawolff.bsky.social
A “Nutri-Score". But for the lab 😁
Had a blast presenting our thoughts on optimal lab technology for complex questions at #ISSP in Hong Kong.
Interested? Check out our @cmdn-lab.bsky.social & @dhprlab.bsky.social preprint w/ @sgluth.bsky.social & Johannes Keyser: osf.io/preprints/ps...
Had a blast presenting our thoughts on optimal lab technology for complex questions at #ISSP in Hong Kong.
Interested? Check out our @cmdn-lab.bsky.social & @dhprlab.bsky.social preprint w/ @sgluth.bsky.social & Johannes Keyser: osf.io/preprints/ps...
December 11, 2025 at 3:32 AM
A “Nutri-Score". But for the lab 😁
Had a blast presenting our thoughts on optimal lab technology for complex questions at #ISSP in Hong Kong.
Interested? Check out our @cmdn-lab.bsky.social & @dhprlab.bsky.social preprint w/ @sgluth.bsky.social & Johannes Keyser: osf.io/preprints/ps...
Had a blast presenting our thoughts on optimal lab technology for complex questions at #ISSP in Hong Kong.
Interested? Check out our @cmdn-lab.bsky.social & @dhprlab.bsky.social preprint w/ @sgluth.bsky.social & Johannes Keyser: osf.io/preprints/ps...
Reposted by Wanja Wolff
#DHPRLab in the ISSP 16th World Congress in Hong Kong!
Curious about our talks? Stay tuned 🙌🏼😌
@wanjawolff.bsky.social @senaozayotgonbayar.bsky.social @katjarewitz.bsky.social @lukas-hack.bsky.social
Together w/ @corimartarelli.bsky.social, @mbieleke.bsky.social, and Darias Holgado.
Curious about our talks? Stay tuned 🙌🏼😌
@wanjawolff.bsky.social @senaozayotgonbayar.bsky.social @katjarewitz.bsky.social @lukas-hack.bsky.social
Together w/ @corimartarelli.bsky.social, @mbieleke.bsky.social, and Darias Holgado.
December 8, 2025 at 2:14 PM
#DHPRLab in the ISSP 16th World Congress in Hong Kong!
Curious about our talks? Stay tuned 🙌🏼😌
@wanjawolff.bsky.social @senaozayotgonbayar.bsky.social @katjarewitz.bsky.social @lukas-hack.bsky.social
Together w/ @corimartarelli.bsky.social, @mbieleke.bsky.social, and Darias Holgado.
Curious about our talks? Stay tuned 🙌🏼😌
@wanjawolff.bsky.social @senaozayotgonbayar.bsky.social @katjarewitz.bsky.social @lukas-hack.bsky.social
Together w/ @corimartarelli.bsky.social, @mbieleke.bsky.social, and Darias Holgado.
Reposted by Wanja Wolff
New #DHPRLab paper by @katjarewitz.bsky.social and @wanjawolff.bsky.social together with @nicoschuck.bsky.social 💪🥳
Check out the post below, in case you're interested! ⬇️
Check out the post below, in case you're interested! ⬇️
Very happy to see this out now in Psychology of Sport & Exercise 🤓
If you’re interested in how the explore–exploit framework helps us study decision-making in sports and exercise, check it out!
w/ @nicoschuck.bsky.social & @wanjawolff.bsky.social
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
If you’re interested in how the explore–exploit framework helps us study decision-making in sports and exercise, check it out!
w/ @nicoschuck.bsky.social & @wanjawolff.bsky.social
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
The explore-exploit trade-off in sports and exercise: a primer on empirical and computational approaches
Sports and exercise require constant on-the-fly decision-making from professional athletes and recreational exercisers alike. In the final minutes of …
www.sciencedirect.com
December 7, 2025 at 11:25 PM
New #DHPRLab paper by @katjarewitz.bsky.social and @wanjawolff.bsky.social together with @nicoschuck.bsky.social 💪🥳
Check out the post below, in case you're interested! ⬇️
Check out the post below, in case you're interested! ⬇️
Reposted by Wanja Wolff
Check out our new preprint, led by Romy Froemer and in collaboration with Chih-Chung Ting and Sebastian Gluth:
“Goals shape dynamics of attention and selection for value-based decision-making”.
🔗 osf.io/preprints/ps...
“Goals shape dynamics of attention and selection for value-based decision-making”.
🔗 osf.io/preprints/ps...
OSF
osf.io
October 24, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Check out our new preprint, led by Romy Froemer and in collaboration with Chih-Chung Ting and Sebastian Gluth:
“Goals shape dynamics of attention and selection for value-based decision-making”.
🔗 osf.io/preprints/ps...
“Goals shape dynamics of attention and selection for value-based decision-making”.
🔗 osf.io/preprints/ps...
Reposted by Wanja Wolff
New #DHPRLab paper by @wanjawolff.bsky.social and @katjarewitz.bsky.social together with @corimartarelli.bsky.social 💪🥳
Check out the post below, in case you're interested!⬇️
Check out the post below, in case you're interested!⬇️
📢 New paper 🤩
w/ @katjarewitz.bsky.social & @corimartarelli.bsky.social, we used Bayesian network analyses to study the relationship between exercise boredom, effort value & self-reported exercise behavior.
TL;DR: high boredom & low value -> less exercise
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
w/ @katjarewitz.bsky.social & @corimartarelli.bsky.social, we used Bayesian network analyses to study the relationship between exercise boredom, effort value & self-reported exercise behavior.
TL;DR: high boredom & low value -> less exercise
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
An analysis of the associations between boredom, effort value, and exercise behavior
Insufficient physical activity poses significant health risks, making it essential to understand psychological aspects influencing exercise engagement…
www.sciencedirect.com
December 3, 2025 at 1:08 PM
New #DHPRLab paper by @wanjawolff.bsky.social and @katjarewitz.bsky.social together with @corimartarelli.bsky.social 💪🥳
Check out the post below, in case you're interested!⬇️
Check out the post below, in case you're interested!⬇️
Reposted by Wanja Wolff
📺 A TV team from NDR visited our @dhprlab.bsky.social to learn about our current research & why boredom plays a powerful role in human behavior.
You can spend three (German, but hopefully not boring) minutes watching it here: www.ndr.de/fernsehen/se...
P.S. Thumbnail is not footage from our lab 😁
You can spend three (German, but hopefully not boring) minutes watching it here: www.ndr.de/fernsehen/se...
P.S. Thumbnail is not footage from our lab 😁
Die Kraft der Langeweile: Warum Nichtstun uns voranbringt
Psychologe Prof. Wanja Wolff von der Uni Hamburg erklärt, warum Langeweile wie Schmerz wirkt: ein Signal, Kurs zu ändern.
www.ndr.de
December 4, 2025 at 8:56 AM
Reposted by Wanja Wolff
Very happy to see this out now in Psychology of Sport & Exercise 🤓
If you’re interested in how the explore–exploit framework helps us study decision-making in sports and exercise, check it out!
w/ @nicoschuck.bsky.social & @wanjawolff.bsky.social
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
If you’re interested in how the explore–exploit framework helps us study decision-making in sports and exercise, check it out!
w/ @nicoschuck.bsky.social & @wanjawolff.bsky.social
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
The explore-exploit trade-off in sports and exercise: a primer on empirical and computational approaches
Sports and exercise require constant on-the-fly decision-making from professional athletes and recreational exercisers alike. In the final minutes of …
www.sciencedirect.com
December 3, 2025 at 9:34 AM
Very happy to see this out now in Psychology of Sport & Exercise 🤓
If you’re interested in how the explore–exploit framework helps us study decision-making in sports and exercise, check it out!
w/ @nicoschuck.bsky.social & @wanjawolff.bsky.social
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
If you’re interested in how the explore–exploit framework helps us study decision-making in sports and exercise, check it out!
w/ @nicoschuck.bsky.social & @wanjawolff.bsky.social
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Wanja Wolff
New #DHPRLab paper by @wanjawolff.bsky.social together with @corimartarelli.bsky.social and Vanessa Radtke 💪🥳
Check out the post below, in case you're interested!⬇️
Check out the post below, in case you're interested!⬇️
Very cool to see this one out now in Physiology & Behavior 🤩
- We tracked boredom-related & diffculty-related effort dynamics & assessed how they covary with changes in electrodermal activity
Led by Vanessa Radtke & w/ @corimartarelli.bsky.social
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
- We tracked boredom-related & diffculty-related effort dynamics & assessed how they covary with changes in electrodermal activity
Led by Vanessa Radtke & w/ @corimartarelli.bsky.social
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Task-related effort - distinguishing boredom- and difficulty-related effort via electrodermal activity
Exerting effort is central to human performance, with the sources of effort varying across tasks. While traditionally linked to task difficulty, effor…
www.sciencedirect.com
December 2, 2025 at 8:33 AM
New #DHPRLab paper by @wanjawolff.bsky.social together with @corimartarelli.bsky.social and Vanessa Radtke 💪🥳
Check out the post below, in case you're interested!⬇️
Check out the post below, in case you're interested!⬇️
Reposted by Wanja Wolff
Last week we had another amazing guest in our #DHPRLab meeting:
Prof. Dr. Martin Behrens told us about psychometric measures and neurophysiological approaches towards fatigue in his “Updated Fatigue Framework” talk.
Thank you for taking the time and really nice discussions! 🙏
Prof. Dr. Martin Behrens told us about psychometric measures and neurophysiological approaches towards fatigue in his “Updated Fatigue Framework” talk.
Thank you for taking the time and really nice discussions! 🙏
December 1, 2025 at 9:27 AM
Last week we had another amazing guest in our #DHPRLab meeting:
Prof. Dr. Martin Behrens told us about psychometric measures and neurophysiological approaches towards fatigue in his “Updated Fatigue Framework” talk.
Thank you for taking the time and really nice discussions! 🙏
Prof. Dr. Martin Behrens told us about psychometric measures and neurophysiological approaches towards fatigue in his “Updated Fatigue Framework” talk.
Thank you for taking the time and really nice discussions! 🙏
Reposted by Wanja Wolff
One week left to apply to the Max Planck School of Cognition! I have worked with several grad students from the programme and it's an impressive group of people. Deadline Dec 1st.
The new application cycle for our fully funded international graduate program has just started. You can now apply via our website, sign up for a Q&A, or participate in the Applicant Support Program cognition.maxplanckschools.org/en ! 👍🏻🧠👏🏾#passionforscience, #maxplanckschools
November 24, 2025 at 7:41 PM
One week left to apply to the Max Planck School of Cognition! I have worked with several grad students from the programme and it's an impressive group of people. Deadline Dec 1st.
Reposted by Wanja Wolff
Postdoc (and PhD) opportunity in my lab. www.linkedin.com/posts/matthi...
November 23, 2025 at 5:33 PM
Postdoc (and PhD) opportunity in my lab. www.linkedin.com/posts/matthi...
Want to delve into how LLM's shape how we write? Embark on the journey below 🙃⬇️
Here we delve into...
Read this phrase before? When everything you read starts to blur toghether, blame the LLM 😜 With @wanjawolff.bsky.social , we discuss why this happens, how it increases boredom at scale, and why it becomes increasingly hard to escape.
Interested? Delve into it below ⬇️
Read this phrase before? When everything you read starts to blur toghether, blame the LLM 😜 With @wanjawolff.bsky.social , we discuss why this happens, how it increases boredom at scale, and why it becomes increasingly hard to escape.
Interested? Delve into it below ⬇️
The boredom trap: How LLMs are draining entropy from the way we communicate: https://osf.io/wzveh
November 21, 2025 at 11:32 AM
Want to delve into how LLM's shape how we write? Embark on the journey below 🙃⬇️
Reposted by Wanja Wolff
The boredom trap: How LLMs are draining entropy from the way we communicate: https://osf.io/wzveh
November 21, 2025 at 8:47 AM
The boredom trap: How LLMs are draining entropy from the way we communicate: https://osf.io/wzveh
Reposted by Wanja Wolff
The Real Reason the Last Decade of Our Life Seems to Fly By. My Psychology Today blog on our latest empirical discovery with Alice Teghil as to why time speeds up as we grow older. It is not related to autobiographical memory but to cognitve decline. www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/sens...
The Real Reason the Last Decade of Our Life Seems to Fly By
Our new study shows why time feels like it speeds up with age. The good news: Older adults cherish and recall their meaningful experiences more vividly than the younger do.
www.psychologytoday.com
November 15, 2025 at 5:52 PM
The Real Reason the Last Decade of Our Life Seems to Fly By. My Psychology Today blog on our latest empirical discovery with Alice Teghil as to why time speeds up as we grow older. It is not related to autobiographical memory but to cognitve decline. www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/sens...
📺 A TV team from NDR visited our @dhprlab.bsky.social to learn about our current research & why boredom plays a powerful role in human behavior.
You can spend three (German, but hopefully not boring) minutes watching it here: www.ndr.de/fernsehen/se...
P.S. Thumbnail is not footage from our lab 😁
You can spend three (German, but hopefully not boring) minutes watching it here: www.ndr.de/fernsehen/se...
P.S. Thumbnail is not footage from our lab 😁
Die Kraft der Langeweile: Warum Nichtstun uns voranbringt
Psychologe Prof. Wanja Wolff von der Uni Hamburg erklärt, warum Langeweile wie Schmerz wirkt: ein Signal, Kurs zu ändern.
www.ndr.de
November 17, 2025 at 10:49 AM
📺 A TV team from NDR visited our @dhprlab.bsky.social to learn about our current research & why boredom plays a powerful role in human behavior.
You can spend three (German, but hopefully not boring) minutes watching it here: www.ndr.de/fernsehen/se...
P.S. Thumbnail is not footage from our lab 😁
You can spend three (German, but hopefully not boring) minutes watching it here: www.ndr.de/fernsehen/se...
P.S. Thumbnail is not footage from our lab 😁