Michael Öllinger is a cognitive psychologist and research scientist at the Parmenides Center for the Study of Thinking and a lecturer at the Psychological Department of the Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich. He is interested in the understanding of human thinking, problem solving, and the development of thinking. His main field of interest is insight problem solving. He investigates why problem solvers get stuck in impasses, and the cognitive mechanisms that help to overcome impasses. He addresses the interplay of search and representational change as the foundation of problem solving and creativity. Furthermore, he is interested in the development of cognitive theories that conceptually incorporate behavioral and neuro-cognitive findings. Methodologically, he conducts behavioral, EEG, and fMRI experiments to get new insights in the fascinating world of human thinking and creativity.