On this page you can find all the current and past projects carried out by our laboratory. Our projects cover different areas of psychological research, including emotions, behaviour, cognition, social psychology and more. Following our projects allows you to learn about our work and research achievements, and you can also find news about events and collaborations with other institutions and organisations.
Current projects
2023 IndividuUM
Funding: University of Maribor Student Challenges (ŠI:UM)
Description: Conducting a large-scale survey to monitor individuals’ wellbeing and emotion management. In addition, we will also monitor some of the factors that contribute to this (e.g. sleep quality). The aim of the project is to develop a scalable data analysis system that will allow researchers and practitioners in the field of psychology to generate personalised reports based on the analysis of data collected through different intensive longitudinal research designs, such as experience sampling methodology or diary studies.
2023 Neural processes underlying social emotion regulation and pain
Funding: Public Agency for Scientific Research and Innovation of the Republic of Slovenia (ARIS)
Description: The overall aim of the project is to significantly increase our knowledge of the neural systems underlying the social regulation of emotion and pain. The first aim of the project is to shed light on global patterns of brain interactions during supportive social presence, thus providing a complementary picture of the large-scale changes in brain networks involved in the social regulation of emotion. The second, third and fourth aims of the project together focus on providing a comprehensive picture of the way in which social support from a partner influences pain. A study with romantic couples was conducted; during the experience of pain, the partner supported his/her female companion and at the same time we measured her brain activity with electroencephalography (EEG). We then 1) analysed the positive and negative effects of the partner’s support on the perception of pain, 2) determined the emotional and attentional effects of the romantic partner’s support on pain, and 3) build a Bayesian computational model of the effect of the partner’s support on the perception of pain. Understanding the impact of social support on pain can help us to select and establish situations and circumstances in which individuals would benefit most from social support. In the future, such an understanding will mark an important first step toward the ultimate development of specific primary and/or adjuvant treatments for chronic pain.
Completed projects
2020-2021 Exploring ethical issues in psychological research
Funding: Internal resources of the Institute
Description: In this project we investigated ethical issues related to psychological research, such as consent, privacy, and confidentiality. The aim was to develop guidelines for ethical conduct in psychological research and to improve the quality of psychological research. We used a literature review, analysis of ethical guidelines and interviews with experts.