Peter Frensch

Professor Peter Frensch is a distinguished cognitive psychologist serving as Chair of General Psychology at the Institute of Psychology, Humboldt University of Berlin. He has held this position since 1998 and previously served as an Honorary Professor at the same institution from 1995-1998. His academic journey includes significant roles at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development (1994-1998) and the University of Missouri-Columbia (1989-1996), where he progressed from Assistant to Associate Professor with tenure. Currently, he also serves as Dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences II at Humboldt University.

Professor Frensch earned his Ph.D. in Psychology from Yale University in 1989, following M.Phil and MS degrees from the same institution. His earlier academic background includes psychology studies at the University of Trier (1979-1984) and electrical engineering at TU Darmstadt (1976-1979). His research program has been consistently supported by major funding bodies including the German Research Foundation (DFG), with numerous projects spanning cognitive skill acquisition, implicit learning, and dual-task performance.

Professor Frensch's research primarily focuses on the emergence of awareness of environmental regularities, implicit learning and memory processes, the role of language in behavior regulation, cognitive skill acquisition, and computational modeling of learning and knowledge representation. His work bridges theoretical cognitive psychology with practical applications, particularly in understanding how humans acquire complex skills and process information under various constraints. His research has significantly contributed to understanding the mechanisms of information reduction during skill acquisition and the relationship between implicit and explicit knowledge systems.

His extensive publication record demonstrates consistent contributions to cognitive psychology over three decades, with recent work focusing on dual-task performance, implicit sequence learning, and the cognitive mechanisms underlying skill acquisition. Professor Frensch has served as editor for Psychological Research (2000-2008) and is on the editorial boards of several prominent journals including Learning & Individual Differences, Psychological Research, and Psychological Studies.

• Fellow, American Psychological Association (Division 3)
• Award from the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences II of the Humboldt University of Berlin for excellent teaching (2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008)
• Robert S. Daniel Junior Faculty Outstanding Teaching Award (1992-1993)
• Graduate Fellowship, Yale University (1985-1989)
• Fulbright Scholarship, United States Government (1984-1985)

His research group has secured substantial third-party funding for projects examining cognitive and neural changes during practice, the acquisition of action-effect bindings, and mechanisms of information reduction. Professor Frensch has supervised numerous doctoral students and collaborated extensively with researchers across Europe and North America, contributing to the international standing of cognitive psychology research at Humboldt University.