Crystal Meth, Group Sex and HIV: Exploring applications of Health Psychology among marginalised populations (Thurs 5th Nov, 4pm)

Posted on October 22, 2015 by Robert Dempsey

Dr Adam Bourne

The School of Psychology, Sport & Exercise is pleased to welcome Dr Adam Bourne (Lecturer, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine) who is giving the third Visiting Speaker talk on Thursday 5th November, 4pm, in the R001 Lecture Theatre in the Science Centre (Leek Road campus).

Adam will be speaking about his research into health behaviours among marginalised populations, particularly as they relate to sexual health. Adam’s work has included a number of mixed-methods studies of HIV-related risk behaviour among gay and bisexual men, both in Europe and in the Caribbean, and of black African migrant populations. Adam has also lead several studies that explored the wider health and well-being of gay and bisexual men, and has a particular interest in alcohol and drug use among this population.

All staff, students and members of the public are welcome to attend these free Visiting Speaker talks – join in our live tweeting from the talk using the #StaffsVSS event hashtag. We hope to see you there!

The Visiting Speaker seminars are a regular series of free talks hosted by the School of Psychology, Sport & Exercise. Psychologists from across the country are invited to speak at these events to share their research and discuss their findings with staff and students from Staffordshire University. The Visiting Speaker series is also open to anyone from the general public with an interest in psychological research.

Research Digest: New Research by Staffordshire’s Psychologists Presented at Conferences

Posted on October 21, 2015 by Robert Dempsey

The beginning of September can be a particularly busy time for academics. Not only are academic staff busy preparing for the new teaching semester, we are also busy conducting our own research and presenting this work at conferences across the UK and beyond! Here are some updates on recent conference presentations featuring new research conducted by academic staff from Staffordshire University’s Department of Psychology:

Developmental Psychology: Children’s Creative Intentions in Drawing

The Annual British Psychological Society Developmental Section Conference was held in Manchester this year. This conference is an opportunity for researchers (from students to Professor level) to hear about new research and ideas in Developmental Psychology. It also a great opportunity to catch up with likeminded researchers, many of whom become friends over the years, and attend social events, including the conference Gala Dinner.

Dr Sarah Rose & Dr Richard Jolley

This year two of our Developmental Psychology Team, Dr Richard Jolley and Dr Sarah Rose, attended the conference and presented work on children’s creative intentions in drawing. This is a new area of research as although we know an increasing amount about how children’s drawing skills develop we know very little about where they actually get their ideas about what to draw from. Sarah and Richard presented qualitative research suggesting that children are inspired by a wide range of sources when deciding what to draw, including their immediate surroundings, recent experiences, memories, imagination and motivation to express their thoughts and emotions.

BPS West Midlands Conference: Health Psychology, Keynotes, Social Norms & Brand Recognition!

Various members of staff and students, including many from Staffordshire’s Centre for Health Psychology, attended the British Psychological Society’s West Midlands Branch Conference held in Coventry in early September. The conference was an opportunity for students (both undergraduate and postgraduate), early career researchers and academic researchers to present their own research and hear about the latest psychological research being conducted in the West Midlands region.

Professor Karen Rodham, Keynote Talk

Professor Karen Rodham, Professor of Health Psychology at Staffordshire University and current Chair of the BPS Division of Health Psychology, gave an engaging and insightful keynote talk about her practice and research working to better understand how people cope with chronic health conditions such as Complex Regional Pain Syndrome. Karen discussed her background in Health Psychology, her practice work and ongoing projects into how people cope with and manage chronic pain, including some interesting new research into how individuals represent chronic pain through drawings or portraits.

Dr Rob Dempsey’s poster presented at the BPS WM Conference

Other presenters from Staffordshire University included Dr Rob Dempsey who presented findings from the recent European Commission-funded SNIPE (“Social Norms Intervention for Polydrug usE in university students“) study, included recent work demonstrating that European students have similar overestimations of their peers’ cannabis use behaviours as found in North America. This study is part of an ongoing series of projects conducted by Rob and several Masters in Health Psychology students investigating the role of misperceptions of peer norms (attitudes and behaviours) in health-related behaviours, such as help seeking for various health issues, substance use behaviours, and self-screening behaviours for cancer (e.g. testicular self-examination).

Jenny’s poster

Also presenting data was Jenny Parfitt-Bowman, a PhD student working on a cognitive psychology research project into branding and consumer behaviour using eye-tracking equipment under the supervision of Dr Louise Humphreys and Dr Emily Buckley. Jenny’s research is investigating the processing of brand information when certain features of the product packaging (e.g. location) is manipulated.

BPS Cognitive Section Conference: Product Branding & Facial Recognition

Dr Louise Humphreys, and PhD student Jenny Parfitt-Bowman, also presented their research at the Annual British Psychological Society Cognitive Section Conference which was held in Kent. Their presentations were on the topic of product branding. In particular, Louise’s presentation discussed the role of automatic and voluntary processes in locating and recognising a branded product, and Jenny’s presentation considered the impact of brand manipulation on visual attention disruption and accurate product recognition (see below for pictures).

Also attending the BPS Cognitive Section Conference was Dr Andrew Edmonds, who has posted his own report on new developments in facial recognition research as discussed at the conference (click here to read Andrew’s blog post).

Academic staff at Staffordshire University’s Psychology Department have a wide range of research interests which directly informs their teaching of undergraduate and postgraduate students. The department is home to two centres of research excellence: the Centre for Psychological Research and the Centre for Health Psychology.

For more information about courses offered by the department please click here, including information about our BPS accredited Stage 1 Health Psychology Masters, Stage 2 Health Psychology Professional Doctorate, as well as our new MSc/MA by Research and established MPhil/PhD programmes.

The reality of Freshers’ Week when you are not a teenager!

Posted on October 20, 2015 by Robert Dempsey

Sammy, who recently started a Psychology degree at Staffordshire University, blogs on her experiences returning to education:

University students are usually fresh straight out of school or college with very little experience of the world, some might have taken a gap year, and then there’s me! I have done it all backwards, pregnant at 18, divorced by 24, now at the age of almost 37 years old and a single mother of 4 children, I have found myself back in education, attending lectures surrounded by 18 and 19 year olds.

For all these younger students moving into halls during Fresher’s Week (now known as “Welcome Week”) gives them the freedoms they have probably never experienced before. Fresher’s week can often be seen as a week where drinking huge amounts of alcohol every night is expected by your peers. Meeting new people, no parents to boss you around or tell you what to do, how to think, feel or behave. Students can even eat a pot noodle or greasy burger every night of the week if they want just because they can (with no parents around!).

But what is the reality for those of us that are a little older? Anyone over 21 is traditionally labelled a mature student – I am not sure how I feel about being labelled in this way as I don’t want my experience at Staffordshire University to be any different to that of my peers. But it will be different and that is the reality. Finding myself as a student at the mid-point in my life with responsibilities of family does help avoid some issues associated with being a fresher. I can’t do crazy nights out and I would advise my peers to avoid that if they can. I can’t roll into a lecture late because I’ve hit snooze on my alarm too many times. I have to make sure that my boys are fed and watered and tucked up in bed on time, or I’ve got to work to make sure bills are paid and there’s food on the table, and so for me university life will be very different. I have joined some Students’ Union societies such as the Marvel Society and the Pagan Society and through these groups I will meet some other people from other parts of the University. I also want to get involved with the Psychology Film Club hosted by the department and Stoke’s Psychology in the Pub talks (what better place to observe human behaviour).

The things that have stood out most to me so far might sound pretty random. The unisex toilets in Verve are like wow, that’s pretty awesome, I’ve never seen that before but it’s a fabulous idea. I wonder if normal pubs and shopping centres will ever catch on to that!?! I’ve overheard some interesting conversations between other students discussing their nights out! I’ve found myself thinking about their parents, their mothers really, and how much these students will be being missed back at home… So I would like to take this opportunity to appeal to my peers, don’t forget your mum, don’t forget your dad, yes you are having fun, meeting people and exploring this vast new world that has opened up with new possibilities, but it takes nothing to send a text, an email, or just one half hour phone call a week.

Remember them because they really do miss you!

Sammy.

The School of Psychology, Sport and Exercise Celebrate Staff Success!

Posted on October 16, 2015 by Robert Dempsey

Staff from the School of Psychology, Sport and Exercise excelled at this year’s Staffordshire University Celebrating Staff Success Awards. This annual award ceremony held in the beautiful Kings Hall in Stoke-upon-Trent (pictured right) celebrates academic and support teams who have achieved success in the previous twelve months, achieved teaching fellowships of the Higher Education Academy, and have excelled in their roles.

Prof Karen Rodham with her Research Excellence Award!

Professor Karen Rodham, Health Psychologist and Professor of Health Psychology, who was nominated in three categories, won the inaugural Excellence in Research Award. This recognised both her own high impact research into chronic health conditions and also the work she has done developing a vibrant research culture within the Psychology Department, including initiatives such as setting up the Stoke Psychology in the Pub series of talks and Staffordshire University’s Images of Research competition. Karen said “it’s great to have research celebrated in this way at Staffordshire University; not least because it shows that research is considered to be an integral part of what we do as a leading academic institution. To win the inaugural prize is an honour.”

Dr Emily Buckley with her award!

Academic Group leader and Health Psychologist Dr Emily Buckley beat stiff opposition to take the Inspirational Leadership Award for her work leading Postgraduate courses in Psychology. Emily was presented her award by Vice Chancellor Professor Michael Gunn, she commented “I was very surprised to win as there was such strong competition. I feel very proud to have won this as is it voted for by my peers.”

Head of the School of Psychology, Sport & Exercise, Dr Peter Jones, also collected a team prize in the Cross University Excellence Award category for his work with colleagues from Marketing and Sport Departments in establishing Team Staffs Elite, the Universities sports scholarship programme which supports students who compete in sport at county level and above. Peter said “This has been a really great event. To see the depth and breadth of academic quality in the University but particularly from the School of Psychology, Sport & Exercise is wonderful. Not only celebrating so many members of the team achieving Fellowships of the Higher Education Academy, Teaching Excellence Fellowships but also winning some really prestigious and high profile awards. I am very proud of all my team.”

The School of Psychology, Sport and Exercise at Staffordshire University is a leading School in the UK for Psychology degrees and is situated in the heart of England. We produce internationally recognized research which is driving knowledge in this area forward and we work with a variety of healthcare providers, charities, international sports teams and private sector organisations.

For more information or details of the wide range of Psychology degrees on offer at Staffordshire University please visit our website and our courses page.

Making an impact: Service design for School Communities (Visiting Speaker, Thurs 15th Oct, 4pm)

Posted on October 13, 2015 by Robert Dempsey

The School of Psychology, Sport & Exercise is pleased to welcome Dr Sarah Norgate (Senior Lecturer in Psychology, University of Salford), who is giving the second Visiting Speaker talk on Thursday 15th October at 4pm in the R001 Lecture Theatre in the Science Centre (Leek Road campus).

Sarah is an applied developmental psychologist and will be speaking on her research into service design in schools and the use of mobile app technologies to support the use of “walking buses” with primary school children.

Gemma Hurst joins the Psychology Department at Staffordshire University

Posted on October 13, 2015 by Robert Dempsey

The Psychology Academic team are pleased to welcome Dr Gemma Hurst, who joined the University as a Lecturer in Psychology in September 2015. Gemma introduces herself below:

Dr Gemma Hurst

I have made the (small) jump from the Brindley Building to the Science Centre and I am extremely pleased to have joined the Psychology team here at Staffordshire University as a Lecturer. After completing my undergraduate degree in Psychology at the University of Durham in 2005, my journey at Staffordshire University began. I completed my MSc in Health Psychology here in 2006 before starting my PhD in 2007, under the supervision of Dr Christopher Gidlow, Prof David Clark-Carter, Prof Sarah Grogan and Prof Rachel Davey. My PhD research focused on the use of a multi-component behaviour change intervention to promote physical activity in the area of Sandwell, West Midlands. My PhD was carried out in an applied setting working with Sandwell Primary Care Trust.

Following this, I was involved in the evaluation of a community development project through a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) with Staffordshire University and NHS Stoke-on-Trent. The My Health Matters project focused on addressing the underlying social and environmental determinants of health using a bottom-up, asset-based approach. My role involved investigating the use of community-led interventions to reduce health inequalities relating to physical activity and healthy eating in Stoke-on-Trent using community-based participatory research and a socio-ecological approach. During this time I also began my Professional Doctorate in Health Psychology at Staffordshire University.

More recently, I was employed as a postdoctoral Research Officer in the Centre for Sport, Health and Exercise Research investigating the links between exposure to natural outdoor environments and human health and well-being across Europe – PHENOTYPE.

Gemma before her Stoke Psychology in the Pub talk on the Phenotype project (April 2015)

Therefore, I have a wide range of research interests in the field of health psychology and beyond, including: the evaluation of health promotion programs using both quantitative and qualitative research methods; reducing health inequalities through community-led interventions and partnership working; the social and environmental determinants of health; and understanding the positive health effects of different environments.

Throughout my time at Staffordshire University, both as a student and a member of staff, I have always found it to be an incredibly supportive and welcoming place to be and the Psychology team has continued this pattern. I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the students over the past few weeks, they are a great bunch and I am very much looking forward to getting stuck into teaching. If you’d like to know a little more about me and my research, please follow me on twitter @gemma_hurst.

The School of Psychology, Sport and Exercise at Staffordshire University is a leading School in the UK for Psychology degrees and is situated in the heart of England. We produce internationally recognized research which is driving knowledge in the area of Psychology forward and we work with a variety of healthcare providers, charities, international sports teams and private sector organisations.

Stoke’s Psychology in the Pub returns for 2015/16!

Posted on September 30, 2015 by Robert Dempsey

After a highly successful first edition of the Stoke Psychology in the Pub series in 2014/15, we are pleased to announce that a new series of talks by psychologists from Staffordshire University and the West Midlands region starts on 7th October!

Stoke’s Psychology in the Pub is organised as part of the British Psychological Society‘s West Midlands branch. The talks provide a forum for psychologists, healthcare professionals, students, and anyone with an interest in Psychology to hear about the latest psychological research being conducted in the West Midlands.

The 2014/15 edition saw a series of great and inspiring talks from academic psychologists working in Staffordshire University’s Psychology department and universities around the region, including talks on subjects as diverse as: managing stress; the psychology of swearing; effects of perceived social norms on alcohol use; food allergies; benefits of green spaces on health; sexuality; as well as a musical final edition with psychology-related songs! Click here to see photos from the other 2014/15 talks.

Staffordshire University’s Keith Walmsley-Smith at June 2015’s PitPStoke

The 2015/16 edition of #PitPStoke starts on Wednesday 7th October 2015 with David Parkes (Staffordshire University) talking about “Psychogeography“.

Subsequent talks in 2015 (which may be subject to change) include Dr Alexandra Lamont (Keele University) talking about “Music, Emotion and Wellbeing” (4th November), and Colin Preece (Staffordshire University) discussing “Sherlock Holmes and Psychology” (2nd December).

The Glebe Pub, Stoke-upon-Trent

The talks take place in the Glebe Pub, Glebe Street, Stoke-upon-Trent, ST4 1HG. Talks start at 6pm and last until 7pm, with opportunities for questions to the invited speaker and networking after the talk has finished. Guests are advised to arrive early to secure a seat and order food/drinks! Directions to the Glebe Pub can be found here.

Students, staff and anyone interested in psychology from the general public are very welcome to attend the talks! No need to book just show up!

Don’t forget that you can join in the Psychology in the Pub conversation using the #PitPStoke twitter hashtag or follow the Staffordshire University Psychology Department twitter feed for live tweets (@StaffsPsych)! We hope to see you there!

Daniel Jolley joins the Psychology Department at Staffordshire University

Posted on September 30, 2015 by Robert Dempsey

The Psychology Academic team are pleased to welcome Dr Daniel Jolley, who joined the University as a Lecturer in Psychology in September 2015. Daniel introduces himself below:

This is not my first time to be in the Psychology Department at Staffordshire University. As an alumni, I received by Bachelor Degree in Forensic Science and Psychology in 2010. In the years in-between however, we have both grown in strength.

Dr Daniel Jolley

When I was a student within the Psychology Department, Psychology was housed in the Mellor Building on College Road. Today, the department is found in the fantastic Science Centre on Leek Road. The building is equally impressive on the outside as in. Whilst I have only been here a couple of weeks, I already feel at home.

To provide more background on the time I have spent away from Staffordshire University, after graduating in 2010, I moved to Canterbury to begin a Master’s degree in Social and Applied Psychology at the University of Kent. After this year course, I stayed at the University of Kent to begin my Doctoral studies in Social Psychology. During my PhD, I worked as an Associate Lecturer at Kent and a Sessional Academic at Canterbury Christ Church University. I also worked as a Research Assistant on several projects with other researchers. After completing my PhD in 2014, I then moved to Lancaster University to work as a Research Associate on a number of industry-funded projects, with Professor Paul Taylor.

My research focuses on the psychology of conspiracy theories. This research began at Staffordshire University as a part of my final year project with Dr Jenny Cole. As I was keen to continue exploring the psychology of conspiracy theories, I moved to the University of Kent to work with an expert in the field, Professor Karen Douglas. We worked together during my Master’s course, and she then continued as my supervisor during my PhD, which aimed to examine and attempt to address the social psychological consequences of conspiracy theories.

Alongside my PhD and postdoctoral role, I have been an active member of the British Psychological Society. I am a current committee member of the Social Psychology Section. I was the Section’s Postgraduate Officer for two years, before being appointed as their Web Officer. I am also a member of the BPS Research Board, where I represent the views of early career researchers. So whilst I am biased, I do think the BPS (and the Section in particularly) is a great organisation that I recommend you get engaged in.

I am delighted to be back at Staffordshire University as a Lecturer in Psychology. Both the Academic team and students are a brilliantly engaging group of people, and I am very much looking forward to supporting the next generation of psychologists.

If you wish to find out more about me and my research, I blog at conspiracypsychology.com and tweet @DrDanielJolley.

For more information about Psychology degrees at Staffordshire University please visit the Psychology Department homepage and the course listings.

Dr Andrew Edmonds reports from the BPS Cognitive Section Conference

Posted on September 29, 2015 by Robert Dempsey

Dr Andrew Edmonds, Lecturer in Psychology at Staffordshire University, provides a short report from the BPS Cognitive Section Conference held in September 2015, in particular some new developments in his research area – facial recognition.

The highlight of this year’s Annual BPS Cognitive Section Conference – hosted by the University of Kent – was the fascinating sessions on face processing, superbly convened by my former mentor and co-author, Professor Bob Johnston. Two days of talks reflected on just how far research has come in the field over the last 40-50 years and highlighted some of the challenges still remaining. For example, research has shown that we are relatively poor at processing faces which are unfamiliar to us – such as picking a once-seen face out of a line-up, or even just determining that two simultaneously-presented faces are of the same person – but yet we are often very confident of our judgements in these situations. This has significant implications, not only suggesting that we are not always reliable eyewitnesses but that police officers and passport control officials may also make errors when performing their duties. Current research is therefore aiming to explore what factors affect our ability to perform these face matching tasks accurately – if we can identify these factors, this may help us to understand whether performance on these tasks can be improved and if so, how.

An example of why researching facial recognition and processing is important. The man on the right was convicted of an indecent assault based on the composite image on the left. This was a few years ago now but shows how inaccurate facial composites could lead to wrongful convictions of innocent individuals.

An example of why researching facial recognition and processing is important. The man on the right was correctly convicted of an indecent assault based on the composite image on the left – the development of more accurate facial processing software can have a significant impact on conviction of offenders.

Meanwhile, in the last 10-15 years huge amounts of progress have been made in the development of systems such as EvoFIT to help witnesses produce facial composites (likenesses of criminals) which can lead to the perpetrators of crimes being identified. Whilst identification of criminals from these images is still far from perfect, accuracy is now at such a level that researchers can begin to investigate what makes someone good at constructing an identifiable face composite (e.g. performing well on other face processing tasks, being able to refer to examples of the internal features of faces during composite construction etc.). Somewhat reassuringly, the early evidence suggests that being moderately intoxicated at the time of seeing the criminal does not significantly impair our ability to perfom this task – but the effects of hangovers have yet to be explored!

The conference was also an opportunity to renew old acquaintances and develop new ones, and I am excited by the prospect of collaborating with Dr Sarah Laurence from Keele University on some interesting new projects – we are both interested in how faces become familiar over time and what processes are involved in us learning a new face – so look out for more news on this in the future. I am really looking forward to welcoming Sarah to the university as part of the Visiting Speaker Series in November 2015, and hope to see you there too!

Dr Edmonds is a researcher and a member of the Cognitive Neuroscience Research Group part of the Staffordshire Centre for Psychological Research. For more information or details of the wide range of Psychology degrees on offer at Staffordshire University please visit our website and our courses page.

School of Psychology, Sport and Exercise’s Visiting Speaker Series 2015/16

Posted on September 24, 2015 by Robert Dempsey

Dr Nichola Street

Dr Nichola Street announces a new edition of the Visiting Speaker Series in the School of Psychology, Sport & Exercise:

Each year the School holds a visiting speaker series hosting academics and practitioners working in a variety of settings around the UK. We encourage attendance from everyone with an interest in psychological research and practice and we hope to see students, staff and the general public attending and engaging with psychological research.

The series is held on Thursdays from 4-5pm on a (mostly) bi-weekly basis and begins next week on Thursday 1^st October. In Semester 1 talks will be held in the Science Centre Lecture theatre R001 and Semester 2 in Ashley Lecture building LT2. To keep up to date with the schedule or for more information please visit the visiting speaker series webpage for information.

This year we have a great line up of speakers that show the current and up to date trends in a number of different areas within psychology. A wide range of topics will be covered by this year’s speakers including health psychology, face perception, forensic and investigative psychology, impact pathways in applying psychology as well as cognitive and experimental neuropsychology.

First Visiting Speaker: Dr Elena Hoicka, Thursday 1st October, 4pm

Dr Elena Hoicka

Next week the series kicks off with Dr Elena Hoicka from University of Sheffield who will be coming to speak with us about her work in developmental psychology and particularly how ‘Toddlers think for themselves!’ the abstract for her talk below outlines the fascinating research she will be discussing.

‘Toddlers think for themselves!’

Social learning has been a large focus of early developmental psychology for the past two decades. While importantly revealing how culture is transmitted to young children, questions about how young children come up with their own ideas and learn for themselves have been largely ignored. In this talk, I will present research showing that toddlers can be creative and come up with their own ideas. I will focus on two streams of research – toddlers’ creation of their own novel jokes, and toddlers’ divergent thinking with novel objects. However, I will also demonstrate that social learning can be an important part of children’s independent learning and thought, suggesting both of these strands of learning are inter-connected.

New students, returning students, members of staff, and anyone with an interest in psychology are very welcome to come along! Hope to see you Thursday 1^st Oct 4-5pm, R001 Science Centre for a chance to hear about the latest research in psychology.

For more information please contact the Visiting Speaker series organiser: Dr. Nikki Street Tel: 01782 294672 Email: nichola.street@staffs.ac.uk