The TeaP (Tagung experimentell arbeitender Psychologen – Conference of Experimental Psychologists) is an important venue for early-career researchers in experimental psychology. This year’s conference drew some 800 participants, who gathered at Goethe University Frankfurt from March 9 to 12, 2025. We spoke with Prof. Dr. Sabine Windmann about this year’s main topics, current research trends, as well as the challenges associated with organizing an event of this scale.
Professor Windmann, what do you consider the key themes of this year’s TeaP?
Sabine Windmann: The emphases vary slightly from year to year, depending on which team is organizing the TeaP. This year, there is a strong emphasis on perception research, particularly visual processes. But there are also some exciting new developments – some lectures, for instance, explore the role of large language models and artificial intelligence in psychological research, which is a relatively new trend. In addition to more traditional topics like attention, memory, motor control, language, and emotion, I did notice that higher cognitive processes – such as creativity, problem-solving, and social interactions – are somewhat underrepresented this year.
Where do you see experimental psychology heading? Can you observe any trends?
There are two developments that stand out. First, Open Science has meanwhile become the norm. In the wake of the replication crisis – a period in which many classic psychological studies failed to be reliably reproduced, exposing fundamental methodological weaknesses – psychology has placed a strong emphasis on transparency and reproducibility. The second observation I have is that research increasingly takes place online, often within interdisciplinary teams. Whereas most experiments used to take place in the specific lab of a specific research group, researchers today are increasingly relying on online panel providers. These are services that offer access to a large pool of registered participants for surveys and experiments, allowing researchers to recruit individuals based on specific criteria such as age, gender, or education level. In addition to facilitating cross-regional collaborations, this also enables the recruitment of larger and more representative samples – consisting not just of students but participants from a wide range of diverse demographic backgrounds or even different cultural contexts.
This shift also impacts analytical methods. Where traditional statistical techniques were once considered the norm, machine learning and big data approaches are becoming more common – significantly enhancing the statistical power and generalizability of findings.
What challenges do you currently see in experimental psychology?
There are occasions where I observe a disconnect between experimental research and the pressing social issues of our time. We live in politically and ecologically critical times, and I would like to see more researchers integrate these larger societal questions into their work – including in experimental settings. Although the German Research Foundation (DFG) already asks grant applicants to reflect on sustainability and diversity in their research projects, in terms of actual content, this is not yet strongly reflected at TeaP.
Why is Frankfurt a great location for the TeaP?
Hosting the TeaP here is truly a privilege. Our Westend Campus is one of the most beautiful and well-suited venues I can imagine for such an event. The conference takes place in several impressive buildings: The opening was held in the historic rotunda of the IG-Farben-Building – an architectural highlight. The lectures take place in the spacious, bright lecture halls of the main lecture hall center, while the poster sessions are held on the upper floor of the Casino building – which features grand staircases, floor-to-ceiling windows, elegant parquet flooring, and a beautiful terrace overlooking the imposing main building, set against Frankfurt’s skyline.
It was an exciting challenge for our team to organize from scratch an event of this scale, featuring so many participants and such detail. In the early planning stages, in particular, it was sometimes difficult to estimate how many people would actually attend, and whether the rooms, schedules, staff, materials, as well as all sorts of calculations and projections would match the needs. Seeing it all fall into place in such a smooth manner is truly rewarding.
What has been your personal TeaP highlight so far?
I am particularly looking forward to the lecture of Jörg Gross from Zurich, which focuses on social and group processes. Although his research consists of highly controlled experiments, these have significant implications for socially relevant topics such as intergroup conflict and international cooperation. It is after all crucial in today’s world that psychology contribute to urgent societal issues – from climate change to migration or political polarization.
Thank you for the conversation!
Phyllis Mania
