With my research I aim to understand how we as humans, through development, adapt to our specific environment, as the basis for individual and culturally diverse developmental pathways. I do so by studying early socio-cognitive development, neuro-cognitive learning mechanisms in infants and adults, as well as social and cultural influences on human development.
An overview on my research topics can be found here.
Garzòn, M., Korja, R., Ainamani, H., Ndyareeba, E., Töpfer, P., Holmberg, E. & Köster, M. (preprint) Unpredictable Maternal Behavior and Infant Emotional Reactivity in the Context of High Maternal Adversity. doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/xmr7a
Fulcher, T., Köster, M., Woodward, A. (preprint) Infants Understand Others’ Needs – An Independent Replication. doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4347478
Tebbe, A., Rothmaler, K., Köster, M., Wiesmann C. (preprint) Infants and adults neurally represent the perspective of others like their own perception. doi.org/10.1101/2024.08.06.605501
2024 & in press
Köster, M. (2024) The theta-gamma code in predictive processing and mnemonic updating. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews. doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105529
Köster, M. & Hepach, R. (2024). Preverbal infants' understanding of social norms. Scientific Reports. doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-53110-3
Bohn, M., da Silva, W., Giner Torréns, M., Kärtner, J., Itakura, S., Cavalcante L., Haun, D., Köster, M.*, & Kanngiesser, P.* (2024). Mealtime conversations between parents and their 2-year-old children in five cultural contexts. Developmental Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0001688
Mendl, J., Banerjee, S., Fischer, R., Dreisbach, G.*, & Köster, M.* (2024) Control in Context: The Theta Rhythm Provides Evidence for Reactive Control but no Evidence for Proactive Control. Psychophysiology. https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.14625
Bánki, A., Köster, M., Cichy, R. M., & Hoehl, S. (2024). Communicative signals during joint attention promote neural processes of infants and caregivers. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2023.10132
Kärtner, J., & Köster, M. (2024) Early social-cognitive development as a dynamic developmental system—a lifeworld approach. Frontiers in Psychology. doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1399903
Kopp, K.*, Kanngiesser, P.*, Brügger, R., Daum, M., Gampe, A., Köster, M., van Schaik, C., Liebal, K.*, Burkart, J.* (2024). The proximate regulation of prosocial behaviour: Towards a conceptual framework for comparative research. Animal Cognition. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-024-01846-w
2023
Köster, M., Bánki, A., Yamasaki, D., Kato, M., Itakura, S., & Hoehl, S. (2023). Cross-cultural differences in visual object and background processing in the infant brain. Imaging Neuroscience. doi.org/10.1162/imag_a_00038
Köster, M.*, Brzozowska, A.*, Bánki, A., Tünte, M., Ward, E., & Hoehl, S. (2023). Rhythmic visual stimulation as a window into early brain development: a systematic review. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2023.101315
Köster, M.*, & Meyer, M.* (2023). Down and up! Does the mu rhythm index a gating mechanism in the developing motor system? Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2023.101239
Jurkat, S., Köster, M., Hernandez, L., Itakura, S., & Kärtner, J. (2023) Visual attention across cultures: Similarities and differences in child development and maternal attention styles. Developmental Science. doi.org/10.1111/desc.13368
2022
Xie, S., Hoehl, S., Moeskops, M., Kayhan, E., Kliesch, C., Turtleton, B., Köster, M.* & Cichy, R. M.* (2022) Visual category representations in the infant brain. Current Biology. doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2022.11.016
Köster, M., & Gruber, T. (2022). Rhythms of human attention and memory: An embedded process perspective. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2022.905837
Köster, M., Giner Torréns, M., Kärtner, J., Itakura, S., Cavalcante L., & Kanngiesser, P. (2022). Parental teaching behavior in diverse cultural contexts. Evolution and Human Behavior. doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2022.07.002
Bánki, A. A., Brzozowska, A., Hoehl, S., & Köster, M. (2022). Neural entrainment vs. stimulus-tracking: A conceptual challenge for rhythmic perceptual stimulation in developmental neuroscience. Frontiers in Psychology. doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.878984
2021
Köster, M., Langeloh, M., Michel, C., & Höhl, S. (2021). Young infants process prediction errors at the theta rhythm. Neuroimage. doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118074
Köster, M., Langeloh, M., Kliesch, C., Kanngiesser, P.*, & Höhl, S.* (2021). The value of subsequent memory paradigms in uncovering neural mechanisms of early social learning. Neuroimage. doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.117978
2020
Köster, M., Kayhan, E., Langeloh, M., & Höhl, S. (2020) Making Sense of the World – Infant Learning from a Predictive Processing Perspective. Perspectives on Psychological Science. doi.org/10.1177/1745691619895071
Köster, M., Langeloh, M., Kliesch, C., Kanngiesser, P.*, & Höhl, S.* (2020). Motor cortex activity during action observation predicts subsequent action imitation in human infants. Neuroimage. doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.116958
Köster, M., Goeke, C., Bonkoch-Goeke, E., Hoffmann, T., & Kaspar, K. (2020). Auditory information support the learning transfer from L2 to L3 tonal languages. Current Psychology. doi.org/10.1007/s12144-018-9792-z
Köster, M., Yovsi, R., & Kärtner, J. (in press). Cross-Cultural Differences in the Generation of Novel Ideas in Middle Childhood. Frontiers in Psychology. doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01829
Mavridis, P., Kärtner, J., Cavalcante, L., Resende, B., Schuhmacher, N., & Köster, M. (in press) The Development of Context-sensitive Attention in Urban and Rural Brazil. Frontiers in Psychology. doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01623
Jurkat, S., Köster, M., Yovsi, R., & Kärtner, J. (2020) The development of context-sensitive attention across cultures - the impact of stimulus familiarity. Frontiers in Psychology. doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01526
Haun, D.*, Liebal, K.*, Amici, F., Bender, A., Bohn, M., Bräuer, J., Buttelmann, D., Burkart, J., Cacchione, T., Detroy, S., Faßbender, I., Fichtel, C., Fischer, J., Gampe, A., Gray, R., Horn, L., Ona, L., Kärtner, J., Kaminski, J., Kanngießer, P., Keller, H., Köster, M., Kopp, K., Kornadt, K., Rakoczy, H., Schuppli, C., Stengelin, R., Trommsdorff, G., Van Leeuwen, E., Van Schaik, C. (2020) Ein Plädoyer für die Relevanz der Vergleichenden Psychologie für das Verständnis menschlicher Entwicklung. Psychologische Rundschau. doi.org/10.1026/0033-3042/a000467
2019
Köster, M.*, Langeloh, M.*, & Höhl, S. (2019) Visually entrained theta oscillations increase for unexpected events in the infant brain. Psychological Science. doi.org/10.1177/0956797619876260
Köster, M., & Kärtner, J. (2019). Why do infants help? A simple action reveals a complex phenomenon. Developmental Review. doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2018.11.004
Köster, M., Itakura, S., Omori, M., & Kärtner, J. (2019). From understanding others’ needs to prosocial action: Motor and social abilities promote infants’ helping. Developmental Science. doi.org/10.1111/desc.12804
Dworazik, N., Kärtner, J., Lange, L., & Köster, M. (2019) Young children respond to moral dilemma like their mothers. Frontiers in Psychology. doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02683
Schuhmacher, N., Köster, M., & Kärtner, J. (2019). Modeling prosocial behavior increases helping in 16-month-olds. Child Development. doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13054
2018
Köster, M.*, Finger, H.*, Graetz, S., Kater, M., & Gruber, T. (2018). Theta-gamma coupling binds visual perceptual features in an associative memory task. Scientific Reports. doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-35812-7
Köster, M., & Kärtner, J. (2018). Context-sensitive attention is socialized via a verbal route in the parent-child interaction. PLoS ONE. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0207113
Köster, M., Itakura, S., Yovsi, R., & Kärtner, J. (2018). Visual attention in 5-year-olds from three different cultures. PLoS ONE. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0200239
Fonseca, B., Cavalcante, L., Kärtner, J., & Köster, M. (2018). Maternal socialization goals and the spontaneous prosocial behavior of children in rural contexts. Psychology: Research and Review doi.org/10.1186/s41155-018-0108-x
Schöne, B., Köster, M., & Gruber, T. (2018). Coherence in general and personal semantic knowledge. Experimental Brain Research. doi.org/10.1007/s00221-018-5324-1
Kruger, D.J., Köster, M., Nedelec, J.L., & Murphy, S.F. (2018). A life history framework advances the understanding of intentions for police cooperation. Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences. doi.org/10.1037/ebs0000109
2017
Köster, M., Castel, J., Gruber, T., & Kärtner, J. (2017). Visual cortical networks align with behavioral measures of context-sensitivity in early childhood. Neuroimage. doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.08.008
Köster, M., Haese, A., Czernochowski, D. (2017). Neuronal oscillations reveal the processes underlying intentional compared to incidental learning in children and young adults. PLoS ONE. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0182540
Köster, M., Finger, H., Kater, M., Schenk, C., & Gruber, T. (2017). Neuronal oscillations indicate sleep-dependent changes in the cortical memory trace. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience. doi.org/10.1162/jocn_a_01071
2016
Köster, M., Cavalcante, L., Carvalho, R., & Resende, B. D., Kärtner, J. (2016). Cultural Influences on Toddlers’ Prosocial Behavior: How Maternal Task Assignment Relates to Helping Others. Child Development. doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12636
Köster, M. (2016) What about microsaccades in the EEG of infants? Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2016.0739
Köster, M., Ohmer, X., Nguyen, T. D., Kärtner, J. (2016) Infants understand others’ needs. Psychological Science. doi.org/10.1177/0956797615627426
2015
Köster, M., Schumacher, N., & Kärtner, J. (2015) A Cultural Perspective on Prosocial Development. Human Ethology Bulletin link
Goeke, C., Gramann, K., Kornpetpanee, S., Köster, M., Revelles, F. & König, P. (2015). Cultural background shapes spatial reference frame proclivity. Scientific Reports. doi.org/10.1038/srep11426
Köster, M., Rüth, M., Hamborg, K.-C., Kaspar, K. (2015). Effects of personalized banner ads on visual attention and recognition memory. Applied Cognitive Psychology. doi.org/10.1002/acp.3080
2014 & 2013
Köster, M.*, Friese, U.*, Schöne, B., Trujillo-Barreto, N., & Gruber , T. (2014). Theta-gamma coupling during episodic retrieval in the human EEG. Brain Research. doi.org/10.1016/j.brainres.2014.06.028
Friese, U.*, Köster, M.*, Hassler, U., Martens, U., Barreto, N. T., & Gruber, T. (2013). Successful memory encoding is associated with increased cross-frequency coupling between frontal theta and posterior gamma oscillations in human scalp-recorded EEG. Neuroimage. doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2012.11.002
