Laura Sperl

Research Interests:

• Time Perception
• The Multilingual Mind
• Motor Skill Change & Automatization
• Inhibition & Intererence
• Cognition, Language & Motor Performance

Research Projects:

• Dissertation/PhD thesis: Challenges in motor skill change – unraveling behavioral, cognitive and electrophysiological correlates of proactive interference
• Electrophysiological correlates of motor restrictions as a potential tool for interference control in motor tasks
• The effect of slow motion replay on time perception
• On the architecture of the multilingual mental lexicon in late multilinguals

Articles (peer-reviewed):

• Dietrich, A., Liepelt, R. & Sperl, L. (2024). Die Wissenschaftsautor*innen Ihres Vertrauens – Über die Hürden von Wissenschaftskommunikation. Das In-Mind Magazin, 2. https://de.in-mind.org/article/die-wissenschaftsautorinnen-ihres-vertrauens-ueber-die-huerden-von
• Sperl, L.; Nicanço Tomé, M. S., Kühn, H., Kreysa, H. (2024). Context Matters: How Experimental Language and Language Environment Affect Mental Representations in Multilingualism. Languages 9(3), 106. https://doi.org/10.3390/languages9030106
• Sperl, L.*, Breier, C. M.*, Grießbach, E. & Schweinberger, S. R. (2023). Do typing skills matter? Investigating university students’ typing speed and performance in online exams. Higher Education Research & Development. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2023.2287724 ; *shared first authorship
• Hüttner, N.*, Sperl, L.*, & Schroeger, A. (2023). Slow motion bias: Exploring the relation between time overestimation and increased perceived intentionality. Perception, 030100662211399. https://doi.org/10.1177/03010066221139943; *shared first authorship
• Sperl, L., Ruttloff, J. M., Ambrus, G. G., Kaufmann, J. M., Cañal-Bruland, R. & Schweinberger, S. R. (2021). Effects of motor restrictions on preparatory brain activity. Experimental Brain Research, 239(11), 3189–3203. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-021-06190-w
• Sperl, L., Ambrus, G. G., Kaufmann, J. M., Schweinberger, S. R. & Cañal-Bruland, R. (2021). Electrophysiological correlates underlying interference control. Biological Psychology, 163, 108138. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2021.108138
  
• Sperl, L., Gergeleit, T. & Cañal-Bruland, R. (2021). On the role of different subdimensions of inhibition for successful motor skill change. Human Movement Science, 77, 102801. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.humov.2021.102801
• Sperl, L., Hüttner, N. & Schroeger, A. (2021). Why do actions in slow motion videos appear to last longer? On the effect of misconceiving video speed. Perception, 50(1), 69-79. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0301006620982212
• Sperl, L., & Cañal-Bruland, R. (2020). Interindividual differences in the capability to change automatized movement patterns. Acta Psychologica, 204, 103027. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2020.103027
• Sperl, L. & Cañal-Bruland, R. (2020). Reducing proactive interference in motor tasks. Journal of Motor Behavior, 52, 372-381. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222895.2019.1635984

Book Chapters:

• Sperl, L. & Cañal-Bruland, R. (2020). Changing automatized movement patterns. In N. J. Hodges & A. M. Williams (Eds.), Skill Acquisition in Sport: Research, Theory and Practice (3rd edition) (pp. 20-38). London: Routledge. ISBN 9780815392842

Other Publications:

• Sperl, L. (2020). Zur Rolle von proaktiver Interferenz bei motorischen Umstellungsaufgaben. Jenaer Beiträge zum Sport, 23,
• Sperl, L. (2018). Die Macht der Gewohnheit – Herausforderungen beim motorischen Umlernen. Jenaer Beiträge zum Sport, 22, 18-20.
• Sperl, L. (2017). Directed Forgetting – Ein Schlüssel zum erfolgreichen motorischen Umlernen? Zeitschrift für Sportpsychologie, 24(4), 168.

• since 2022: Lecturer, Department for General Psychology, FernUniversität Hagen, Germany
• since 2022: Associated Post-Doc and Lecturer, Department for General Psychology, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany
• 2020 – 2021: Post-Doctoral Researcher/Scholarship Holder, Department for General Psychology, Institute of Psychology, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany
• since 2017: Research Staff and doctoral candidate, Department for the Psychology of Human Movement and Sport, Institute of Sport Science, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany
• 2013 – 2016: Master of Science in Cognitive Psychology and Neurosciences, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Germany
  Master’s thesis topic: Mental representation of multilingualism.
• 2015 – 2016: Research Assistant, Department of Personality Psychology and Psychological Diagnostics, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Germany
• 2014 – 2015: Università degli Studi di Padova, Italy
• 2010 – 2013: Bachelor of Science in Psychology, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Germany
  Bachelor’s thesis topic: Neuronal correlates of hypnosis. An investigation of the dynamic complexity of the human EEG

Reviewer for scientific peer-reviewed journals:

• Human Movement Science
• Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance
• Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
• Cognitive Processing

• Full position as lecturer at FernUniversität Hagen
  • Empirical-experimental internships for psychology students
  • Supervision of Bachelor’s and Master‘s theses
  • Seminars for psychology students
• Supervision of students’ theses at Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena
• Previous courses:
  • Empra Psychology (empirical internship)
  • Time Perception
  • The Multilingual Brain
  • Selected Aspects of Sport Psychology
  • Cognitive Aspects of Sports Performance