Interview with Prof. Dr. Mark W. Greenlee

Prof. Dr. Mark W. Greenlee has been working at the Chair of Experimental Psychology and Methodology since 2003. Previously he was an Associate Professor for Cognitive Neuropsychology at the University of Oldenburg.

From 1974 to 1978 he studied at Wayne State University (Detroit, Michigan/USA). After a stay abroad at the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, he received his Diploma in Psychology in 1984. In 1986 he received his doctorial degree and in 1989 his Habitilation.

His field of responsibility includes General Psychology and Methodology. His courses focus on the area of human perception and cognition.

Question 1: Mr. Greenlee, at which chair / institute at the University of Regensburg do you work?

General psychology and methodology

Question 2: Which topics do you mainly teach? Or. In which subject (s) are your events to focus on?

Human perception and cognition

Question 3: “Knowledge creates² data” is a cross-faculty project at the University of Regensburg. It combines research efforts in the areas of big data, artificial intelligence and machine learning. How do your events relate to AI? Please describe this reference to us. (Please give us example events / example topics)

Methods of cognitive neuroscience in the master’s degree in psychology

Question 4: How do you convey this relationship to the students? What do you have to pay particular attention to here with regard to various prior knowledge?

Students have already successfully completed the bachelor’s degree in Psychology.

Question 5: Building on this, which specialist skills does the student acquire in the course?

Statistics, experimental design, hypothesis testing

Question 6: Why do you think it makes sense to convey AI-related topics to students?

Machine learning is used in the evaluation of imaging data (e.g. functional MRI, EEG). Students should be familiar with these methods.

Question 7: In addition to the courses you hold, you are also involved in research. What are you currently doing here?

Multi-sensory integration of self-movement perception (own DFG project).

Question 8: Have you already done research on topics that are related to AI? If so, can you give us an example?

A Constrained ICA-EMD Model for Group Level fMRI Analysis – Article written jointly with Simon Wein, Ana M. Tomé, Markus Goldhacker, Mark W. Greenlee, and Elmar W. Lang

Question 9: Now a question about your personal career. What experience do you have in the field of AI? And how did you get your knowledge of AI? (Ex .: training, self-study, etc.)

self-study

Question 10: Do you personally find it easy or difficult to deal with topics that are related to AI?

moderate

Question 11: What exactly is it that interests / fascinates you particularly about such topics?

AI methods to elucidate brain connectivity.

Question 12: Mr. Greenlee, are there currently projects on which you are collaborating with other lecturers across disciplines? If so, can you give us an example of this? And how is the connection to be assessed?

Cooperation with Prof Elmar Lang (Biophysics, UR) for the analysis of fMRI data sets

Question 13: What is your ideal vision for the future role of AI in higher education? What could be the biggest change in the future compared to the status quo?

Extension of method training in psychology to better convey AI methods.

Question 14: How do you feel about the “Knowledge creates2 data” project at the University of Regensburg? How do you contribute to the projects?

I wasn’t aware of the project before.

Question 15: In your opinion, are there any other aspects that you consider important in this context and that were not addressed in this interview?

Interdisciplinary courses in the field of AI methods for students of all subjects.

Mr. Greenlee, thank you very much for taking the time to answer these questions. We wish you a nice day!