Nina Lutze

I studied psychology at TU Braunschweig (2017-2021), completing internships in both research (Cognitive Neuroscience department at the German Primate Center) and clinical settings (child and adolescent psychiatry at UMG), as I was drawn to both areas from early on. For my Master’s degree (2021-2024) I specialized in clinical psychology and psychotherapy, with a focus on developmental psychology in my thesis: “The mediating role of prospective memory, future orientation, and episodic future thinking on the relationship between ADHD symptoms and procrastination in children and adolescents”. In this project I investigated the interplay between ADHD and procrastination behaviour, shedding light on potential mediating factors, with the broader aim of identifying how fostering cognitive skills and adaptive behaviours could serve as an additional component in ADHD treatment.

Developmental interplay of curiosity, meta-cognition and social learning

My PhD project investigates how curiosity, metacognition and social learning interact during child development. A central question is whether and how curiosity-driven learning is enhanced in social contexts compared to individual exploration, and what role metacognition plays in these processes. By approaching curiosity as a metacognitive feeling (that arises from evaluating one’s own lack of knowledge, motivating information seeking) and building on a dual-process framework of metacognition, I want to explore how curiosity and metacognition develop from an implicit form toward an explicit, communicable one, and how children's growing awareness of their own knowledge gaps shapes what they want to find out and how they learn from others.

I have always been curious about how children learn (cognitively, linguistically and socially) and fascinated by what makes learning feel so natural and intrinsically motivating in early childhood. Coming from a clinical background, I am interested in interindividual developmental differences and believe that understanding the foundations of learning is essential for supporting children, especially those who face difficulties. This is why I am particularly interested in how basic research can inform interventions and practical support for children with atypical development, whether due to psychiatric disorders or (neuro-)developmental differences. Both curiosity and metacognition are central to how children actively acquire and manage knowledge, and therefore interconnected components of optimal learning. By investigating their interplay, I hope that my research contributes to a better understanding of adaptive learning in childhood.

• Research assistant at University Medical Center Mainz, Project TASC – Together Against Suicidal Ideation and Behaviour in Cancer Patients (2022-2023): contributed to clinical research and publications
• Training as child and adolescent psychotherapist at AVM (since 2024)
• Clinical psychologist at University Medical Center Göttingen (UMG), child and adolescent psychiatry (2024-2026)