Marie Michael
Doctoral student
Department of Comparative Cultural Psychology
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Deutscher Platz 6
04103 Leipzig
phone: +49 (0) 341 3550 412
e-mail:
marie_michael@[>>> Please remove the text! <<<]eva.mpg.de
Research Interests
- Social Cognition and its Biological Foundations
- Cross-Cultural and Developmental Perspectives
- Olfaction
- Effective Data Visualisation
My current projects focus on the concept of baby-schema. This theory suggests that certain facial and body features universally elicit human caregiving behaviors. These features, found in both human and non-human individuals, and even in abstract stimuli, elicit characteristic reactions that are believed to be universal. However, most research on this topic has been conducted within communities of the Global North.
To broaden our understanding and incorporate diverse perspectives, I will be conducting cross-cultural studies in Malaysia. This research will involve the Batek and Temiar indigenous peoples as well as participants from an urban Malaysian university. Our goal is to identify the specific features that constitute baby-schema and to uncover the robust psychophysiological signatures associated with reactions to these features.
By understanding baby-schema, we can gain insights into how interactions between infants and others are optimized to promote infants’ exceptional socio-cognitive development. This research not only aims to investigate the universality of baby-schema but also to enrich our knowledge of human caregiving across different cultures.
Curriculum Vitae
| Since 2022 | PhD Student at Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and Max Planck School of Cognition, Leipzig |
| 2022 | Lab-Rotations in the Orientationphase: Daniel B. M. Haun, Christine Heim und Caroline F. Rowland |
| 2020-2022 | Master of Science in Social Cognitive Affective Neuroscience, Freie Universität Berlin |
| 2022 | Research stay + Master Thesis: Perception Neuroscience Group with Johan Lundström at Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden |
| 2021 | Master Internship: Milestones of Early Cognitive Development Group at Max Planck Institute for Cognitive Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany |
| 2019- 2020 | Bachelor of Philosophy, Humboldt Universität, Berlin |
| 2019 | Bachelor Internship + Bachelor Thesis: Neuromarker Group with Ilona Croy at University Clinic Dresden, Germany |
| 2015–2019 | Bachelor of Science in Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden |
Languages
- German – Mother Tongue
- English – C1
- Malay – Basic
- Danish – Basic
- Spanish - Basic
Open Access