Michel Failing, PhD

Michel Failing, PhD

Alexander von Humboldt Fellow

Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin

Short Bio

I am a postdoctoral researcher currently working with Prof. Philipp Sterzer at the Charité - Unversitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany.
My research interests are attention, learning, memory and perceptual decision-making and I study these topics using various techniques such as behavioral, eye-tracking, electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
In my free time, I love to travel, game, and cook !

Interests

  • Attention
  • Learning
  • Memory
  • Perceptual decision-making

Education

  • PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience, 2017

    Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

  • MSc in Cognitive Neuroscience, 2012

    Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen / Donders Institute

  • BA in Psychology, 2010

    Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen

News & Blog

Manuscript accepted as book chapter for publication in Cambridge Elements in Perception !

Our recent manuscript titled “Attentional Selection: Top-Down, Bottom-Up and History-Based Biases” has been accepted as a book chapter in the upcoming Cambridge Elements in Perception. In this element, we propose a framework in which it is assumed that visual selection is the result of the interaction between top-down, bottom-up and selection-history factors.
Last updated on Mon, Jun 22, 2020 1 min read
Manuscript accepted as book chapter for publication in Cambridge Elements in Perception !

Manuscript accepted for publication in Psychonomic Bulletin & Review !

Our recent paper on spatial distractor suppression just got accepted for publication in the Psychonomic Bulletin & Review. In this paper, we show that the extent to which salient distractors elicit spatial attention capture also affects the amount of spatial suppression they exhibit due to statistical regularities regarding the distractor’s location.
Last updated on Mon, Jun 22, 2020 1 min read
Manuscript accepted for publication in Psychonomic Bulletin & Review !

Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship granted !

I am very happy to annouce that I have been awarded a Humboldt Research Fellowship for Postdoctoral Researchers. I will be starting my project with which I will further investigate the neural correlates of Statistical Learning towards the end of 2019.
Last updated on Mon, Jun 22, 2020 1 min read
Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship granted !
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Projects

Attention

Attention is the fundamental mechanism that determines what information we parse from the environment.

Reward

Reward selectively affects the way we pay attention and thus how we perceive the world around us.

Selection History

Selection history describes the phenomenon that what we have attended in the past will determine what we pay attention to in the present.

Recent Publications

More capture, more suppression: Distractor suppression due to statistical regularities is determined by the magnitude of attentional capture

Salient yet irrelevant objects often interfere with daily tasks by capturing attention against our best interests and intentions. …
Michel Failing, Jan Theeuwes
PDF Code Dataset Project Project Source Document DOI

Statistical regularities induce spatial as well as feature-specific suppression

We are constantly extracting regularities from the visual environment to optimize attentional orienting. Here we examine the phenomenon …
*Michel Failing, *Tobias Feldmann-Wüstefeld, Benchi Wang, Christian Olivers, Jan Theeuwes
Code Dataset Project Project Source Document DOI

Spatial suppression due to statistical regularities is driven by distractor suppression not target activation

Where and what we attend to is not only determined by what we are currently looking for but also by what we have encountered in the …
*Michel Failing, *Benchi Wang, Jan Theeuwes
PDF Dataset Project Project Source Document DOI
See all publications

Experience

 
 
 
 
 

Alexander von Humboldt Postdoctoral fellow

Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin

2019 – Present Berlin, Germany
Advisor: Philipp Sterzer
 
 
 
 
 

Postdoctoral researcher

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

2017 – 2019 Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Advisor: Christian Olivers
 
 
 
 
 

Postdoctoral researcher

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

2016 – 2017 Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Advisor: Jan Theeuwes
 
 
 
 
 

Visiting researcher

University of Chicago

2016 – 2016 Chicago, IL, USA
Advisor: Edward Awh

Grants and Awards

Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship ( € 87.000 )

Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany 2019
Two-year postdoctoral fellowship at Charité - University Medical Centre Berlin, Germany

Maria Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Seal of Excellence

European Research Council, Belgium 2019
EU quality label for first-class innovative ideas worthy of investment awarded for MSCA individual fellowship call (top 10% of all proposals)

Talent grant ( € 5.000 )

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands 2016
Four-month visiting researcher fellowship for the University of Chicago, IL, USA

Travel Award ( € 200 )

Rovereto Attention Workshop, Italy 2013

Travel Award ( € 150 )

Dutch NeuroFederatie, The Netherlands 2011

Tag Cloud

(click on keyword to explore)

attention attentional capture award book Charite distractor suppression doctoral thesis eye movements fMRI grant MVPA oculomotor capture poster presentation publication reward selection history statistical learning suppression time perception

Contact

  • Rahel-Hirsch Weg 5
    10117 Berlin
  • Office hours:
    Mo-Fr - 10.00-18.00