Silke Atmaca

Silke Atmaca is a cognitive psychologist turned Research Coordinator at the Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture (HBEC) of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany. She holds a Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology from Rutgers University (2007) and a Dipl.-Psych. (German M.A. Equivalent) from Free University Berlin (2002). Her professional experience spans over 20 years in academia, including roles as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences (2007–2013) and various internships across Max Planck Institutes in Berlin and Munich.

Her primary role involves curating a database for HBEC studies, systematically cataloging research attributes like field sites, methods, and publications to enhance scientific transparency. This initiative supports longitudinal studies and cross-cultural comparisons. Her research interests include cognitive processes in social learning, action prediction, and interdisciplinary methods bridging psychology, anthropology, and neuroscience.

Atmaca’s work integrates neuroimaging (fMRI), behavioral experiments (e.g., Multiple Object Tracking), and ethological approaches (e.g., primate behavior coding). She is skilled in tools like SPSS, FileMaker Pro, and Mendeley. Non-academically, she leads the Jazz Choir Chornfeld e.V. in Leipzig, focusing on musical progress and practice.