An international workshop in Potsdam, Germany
20–22 November 2026
Research on individual differences in Pavlovian conditioned approach has developed rapidly across several partly overlapping areas: animal work on the neural and neurochemical mechanisms underlying sign- and goal-tracking, computational accounts of why identical cue–reward contingencies can produce different conditioned responses across individuals, and a growing body of human research using measures such as eye-tracking, physical approach tasks, and neural response to cues and rewards.
Although these approaches increasingly inform one another, researchers working with the different paradigms and levels of analysis do not often have the opportunity to meet in the same setting. The aim of this workshop is therefore to bring together researchers across these areas and to create space for detailed discussion of how sign-tracking and goal-tracking are currently conceptualised, measured, and modelled.
A central aim of the meeting will be to compare the different approaches currently used across the field. Lever autoshaping, gaze-based measures, neural measures, physical approach tasks, and formal computational models each capture somewhat different aspects of the phenotype and rely on different assumptions about what sign- and goal-tracking represent and predict. By discussing these approaches alongside one another, we hope to develop a clearer shared picture of where the different lines of work converge, where they differ, and which open questions may be particularly important for future research.
The sessions are intended to emphasise discussion and exchange, with time to explain not only findings but also the practical and methodological details of how the work is carried out.
Speakers and contributors currently include (in alphabetical order):
Ralf Engbert and Daniel J. Schad facilitate the workshop, and further contributors will join the programme.
Please let us know by Sunday 18 October 2026 whether you are interested and able to attend, by email to stgtworkshop.potsdam@gmail.com. We are happy to provide further details on the programme, venue, and accommodation.
Participation is €70, which covers some food and drinks.
A poster session open to researchers at all career stages will run alongside the workshop, and participants are warmly encouraged to present relevant work. If you would like to present a poster, please send us a title and an abstract of your work with your email.
The workshop takes place in Potsdam, close to the Kongresshotel Potsdam. Potsdam borders Berlin to the south-west, and the nearest airport is Berlin Brandenburg (BER). Details on the venue and on accommodation are available on request.
Prof. Dr. Daniel J. Schad
Professor for Quantitative Methods
Institute for Mind, Brain & Behavior
HMU Health and Medical University, Potsdam, Germany
Workshop email: stgtworkshop.potsdam@gmail.com