PD Dr. Amory Danek
Research Associate | TUM
PD Dr. Amory Danek has been part of the PISA team since February 2025. She is a habilitated psychologist, and her research interests include thinking and problem solving, the Aha! moment, and the influence of emotions on memory.
Vita
- Research Scientist, Technical University of Munich, School of Social Sciences and Technology, Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) since 02/2025
- Habilitation (venia legendi for psychology), Heidelberg University, 06/2024
- Lecturer, Department of Psychology, Heidelberg University (09/2017 – 02/2025)
- Research Scientist, Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA (DFG Research Fellowship on “Learning from insight – disentangling cognitive and affective components of the insight memory advantage”) (09/2015 – 08/2017)
- Research Scientist, Neurobiology, Department Biology II, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich (LMU) (01/2015 – 08/2015)
- Principal Investigator „Neural Correlates of Insight“, Junior Researcher Fund of LMUexcellent, LMU (07/2013 – 12/2014)
- Ph.D., Graduate School of Systemic Neurosciences, LMU Thesis “Investigation of insight with magic tricks: Introducing a novel paradigm”; Grade: A (1,3) (04/2008 – 11/2012)
- Diploma, Psychology, University of Vienna and LMU (10/2002 – 03/2008)
- Master of Science, Neuro-Cognitive Psychology, LMU (10/2005 – 09/2007)
Research Interests
- Thinking and problem solving
- Aha! experiences
- Creativity
- Metacognition
- Impact of emotions on memory
- Educational equality
Activities
- PISA 2025 (innovative domain)
- EU-project on educational equality: https://mapie-project.eu/home
- Associate Editor of Thinking & Reasoning (since 2021)
- Editor of Journal of Dynamic Decision Making (since 2023)
Selected Publications
- Wiley, J. & Danek, A.H. (2024). Restructuring processes and Aha! experiences in insight problem solving. Nature Reviews Psychology, 3, 42-55.
- Bilalić, M., Graf, M., Vaci, N., & Danek, A.H. (2021). The temporal dynamics of insight problem solving – restructuring might not always be sudden. Thinking & Reasoning, 27(1), 1-37. PDF
- Rummel J., Iwan, F., Steindorf, L., & Danek, A.H. (2021). The role of attention for insight problem solving: Effects of mindless and mindful incubation periods. Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 33 (6-7), 757-769. PDF
- Danek, A.H. & Wiley, J. (2020). What causes the insight memory advantage? Cognition, 205, 104411. PDF
Danek, A.H. & Salvi, C. (2020). Moment of truth: Why Aha! experiences are correct. The Journal of Creative Behavior, 54, 484-486. PDF
Danek, A.H. & Wiley, J. (2017). What about false insights? Deconstructing the Aha! experience along its multiple dimensions for correct and incorrect solutions separately. Frontiers in Psychology, 7:2077. PDF
Danek, A.H., Öllinger, M., Fraps, T., Grothe, B., & Flanagin, V.L. (2015). An fMRI investigation of expectation violation in magic tricks. Frontiers in Psychology, 6:84. PDF
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- Danek, A.H., Fraps, T., von Müller, A., Grothe, B., & Öllinger, M. (2014). It’s a kind of magic – what self-reports can reveal about the phenomenology of insight problem solving. Frontiers in Psychology, 5:1408. PDF
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Danek, A.H., Fraps, T., von Müller, A., Grothe, B., & Öllinger, M. (2014). Working Wonders? Investigating insight with magic tricks. Cognition, 130(2), 174-185. PDF
Danek, A.H., Fraps, T., von Müller, A., Grothe, B., & Öllinger, M. (2013). Aha! experiences leave a mark: facilitated recall of insight solutions. Psychological Research, 77(5), 659-669. PDF
Book chapters
Danek, A.H. & Wiley, J. (2024). The insight memory advantage. In C. Salvi, J. Wiley, & S. M. Smith (Eds.), The emergence of insight (pp. 199-220). Cambridge University Press.
Danek, A.H. (2024). The phenomenology of insight: The Aha! experience. In L. J. Ball & F. Vallée-Tourangeau (Eds.), Routledge International Handbook of Creative Cognition (pp. 308-331). London: Routledge.
Danek, A.H. (2018). Magic tricks, sudden restructuring and the Aha! experience: A new model of non-monotonic problem solving. In F. Vallée-Tourangeau (Ed.), Insight: On the origins of new ideas. (pp. 51-78). London: Routledge.