Teaching

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Differential psychology is concerned with psychological traits that lead to differences in experience and in behavior between individuals or between groups of persons.
Questions are amongst other: In which traits do people differ, how strongly do they differ, which reasons lead to differences in these traits and to what extent can these traits be modified? Differential psychology constitutes the scientific basis of other psychological domains, especially of psychological assessment and applied psychology.

Psychological assessment refers to the measurement of individual differences in experience and behavior (on the basis of tests, questionnaires and behavioral observations) with the aim of predicting future experience and behavior, and of justifying, monitoring and optimizing decisions and resulting interventions (e.g. identifying mental disorders and selecting the appropriate therapy, decisions on career path and career choice, selection and placement in industrial psychology, and others).

The aim of our department is both the imparting of and research on basics and methods in differential psychology and psychological assessment, and the practical implementation of this knowledge. In this sense, the department for assessment and evaluation, which is connected to our department, also serves the networking within and between the departments of research and teaching. Resources and expertise in the field of assessment and evaluation should be developed, coordinated, utilized in an effective way for teaching and research purposes, and provided for regional partners (in terms of developing test procedures, realizing diagnostic examinations and writing psychological appraisals).