Author Archives: Robert Dempsey

Psychology Technicians from across the UK and Ireland descend on Staffordshire University for the 40th Annual ATSiP Conference

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The 3-day Association of Technical Staff in Psychology conference, hosted by Staffordshire University’s Technical Skills Specialists Sarah Higgins and Paul Gallimore, obtained record numbers of attendance and was well received by the delegates. There were a range of talks throughout the conference, ranging from gesture recognition using the Microsoft Kinect to using eye-tracking equipment and the evolving role of the Psychology Technician at universities.

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Paul and Sarah present ‘The Links between Essential Technical Skills and Core Teaching’, at the 2015 ATSiP Conference, Staffordshire University.

The delegates also had the opportunity to tour around the Psychology facilities within the Science Centre at Staffordshire University, which left many in admiration:

‘we’re very envious of your lovely building and your equipment… certainly something to aspire to’ – Julia Mackenzie, University of Hertfordshire.

‘the Staffs department is something to aspire to and a similar level of accessibility of the equipment to the students is something I hope to achieve in the near future’ – Oliver Clark, Manchester Metropolitan University.

‘You’ve a fine setup, there was a lot of us very jealous’ – Michelle Glasheen, Mary Immaculate College.

Delegates dined locally for their evening meals at the Rare Lounge Bar and Steakhouse and David’s Brassiere which included a visit to the Italian Gardens in the gorgeous sunshine!

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Delegates at the 2015 ATSiP Conference held in Staffordshire University’s Science Centre

The hosts commented ‘the feedback we received from delegates was amazing, everyone was impressed with the laboratories and equipment we had to offer and how they were integrated within student learning’ – Paul Gallimore.

‘It has been a privilege to host the 40th annual conference. We are so grateful for the sharing of best practices and the valuable feedback in relation to the technical provision we currently provide’ – Sarah Higgins.

New research explores how officers conduct investigative interviews with children

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Dr Sarah Krähenbühl, Lecturer in Psychology and Forensic Psychology researcher at Staffordshire University, discusses her new research exploring the use of “ground rules” by police officers and social workers when interviewing children:

This study examined over 50 transcripts of investigative interviews conducted with children who were either witnesses to, or victims of, different forms of abuse. The particular focus was when, how and if ground rules were used by the interviewing officers (generally a Police Officer but a Social Worker may take this role) and then to establish the likely impact of this on the child’s understanding and the remainder of the interview.

Ground rules refer to explanations such as shutterstock_131453660 Resized‘say if you don’t know’, ‘tell me if I get something wrong’ and an agreement to tell the truth. The interviewing protocol (known as ‘Achieving Best Evidence’ 2011) states that ground rules should be included in all interviews with children. The study took a mixed methodological approach with numerical assessment of what ground rules were included, when this happened, were there any subsequent repetitions of the rules, and a qualitative approach as to the wording used and implications of this.

The results showed that there was a lack of consistency in ground rule implementation despite clear interviewing protocol guidance. Of greater concern was that when the ground rules were implemented the child’s understanding was not established and the relevance of the ground rules to the remainder of the interview was rarely established. So, this study has relevance not only to interviewing officers and legal professionals but also has implications in relation to assessments of child credibility when giving evidence.

Dr Krähenbühl’s study has recently been accepted for publication by Psychiatry, Psychology and Law and can be accessed via the journal’s website:

Dr Krähenbühl teaches on Staffordshire University’s Forensic Psychology degree – for more information about our degrees please visit the Forensic Psychology course page and the Psychology courses webpages.

Staffordshire University to host the Association of Technical Staff in Psychology (ATSiP) Conference in June 2015.

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June is nearly here! This month sees Psychology Technical Skills Specialists Sarah Higgins and Paul Gallimore gearing up in preparation as Staffordshire University plays host to the Association of Technical Staff in Psychology (ATSiP) three day annual conference (24th – 26th June).

ATSiP Logo

The conference will see over 60 delegates arriving from from Universities across the UK and Ireland as well as exhibitors and suppliers of specialist equipment in attendance.

Talks at the conference will include:

Links Between Delivery of Essential Technical Skills and Core Teaching – Paul Gallimore and Sarah Higgins (Staffordshire University)

Effectiveness of Audience Participation Software (Turning Point) – Prof David Clark-Carter (Staffordshire University)

The Unseen Technician – Andrew Barnes (University of Surrey)

Developing a Preschool Diagnostic Methodology for Dyslexia – Maria Shaw (Edinburgh Napier University)

There will also be several specialist talks focusing on the use of Eyetracking, EEG and Biopac equipment.

You can follow the events at the conference via the Staffordshire University Psychology twitter account (@StaffsPsych) and via the newly created Psychology Technician’s account (@StaffsPsyTech).

Join in the conversation using the conference’s twitter hashtag: #ATSiP2015

Does television affect young children’s creativity?

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New research at Staffordshire University aims to find out! Dr Sarah Rose, Lecturer in Developmental Psychology, is welcoming 60 children and their parents to the Psychology ‘Children’s lab’ on the third floor of the Science Centre during June and July. These children and their parents are contributing to new research on the immediate impact of watching television on children’s creativity.

When they arrive at the lab children are given an ‘unusual box’ to play with. The box has ledges of wood attached to it, loops and holes, and inside is a stairway. In order to test their creativity, the children are given unusual objects to use within the box. The different movements that the children make with the objects in the box, such as moving them up and down the stairs or balancing them on the shelves, are recorded and scored for creativity. Following this, the children either watch an old ‘slow-paced’ episode of Postman Pat from the 1990s, a recent more ‘fast-paced’ episode or are given books and jigsaws to read and play with.

The unusual box (SR)

The “Unusual Box”

To determine the effect of watching the TV episode, all the children are then set a number of action and movement tasks to complete, including exploring how many different ways they can get from one side of a room to another and get a paper cup into a bucket. Similar to the activity with the ‘unusual box’, the different movements are recorded and scored for creativity. The assessment of creativity is of course complex. In this study tasks requiring divergent thinking will be used, these will require children to move and behave in different ways. This is a particularly appropriate way to measure creativity in 3-year-old children who may or may not feel like talking to us when they visit the lab!

The Psychology Children’s lab now has a web presence (https://blogs.staffs.ac.uk/childrenslab/) and it is hoped that this project will be the first of many to take place in the lab. Sian Foulkes, a current level 6 student, is working as a research assistant to help Sarah to collect the data from the children and their parents. Student research assistants will also be involved in scoring the various tasks for creativity once they have received training. Sarah says ‘that it is exciting to be welcoming local children and their parents to the children’s lab to take part in ground breaking research and being able to provide hands on research experience for students is very important too’.

For more details about the Children Lab click here. Interested in Child Development? The Psychology department at Staffordshire University also runs a successful BPS-accredited BSc (Hons) Psychology & Child Development degree.

 

Blog: Mental Health Awareness Week – New Research into Suicidality & Bipolar Disorder

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Dr Rob Dempsey blogs on Mental Health Awareness Week and some ongoing research into the role of psychosocial factors in the experience of suicidality in people with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder.

This week marks the Mental Health Foundation’s “Mental Health Awareness Week” – an MHAW_RGBannual event which aims to raise awareness of mental health and wellbeing. It is estimated that around 1 in 4 people in the UK will experience some form of mental health issues and there is increasing recognition of the need for increased funding and resources for NHS mental health services.

One of the current research projects I’m involved in is investigating the role of psychosocial factors in the experience of suicidal thoughts, feelings and acts amongst people who have a diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder. Bipolar Disorder is characterised by the experience of severe and dynamic mood swings, including the experience of prolonged periods of depression and mania, and can be one of the most disabling mental health diagnoses. Yet, many people manage their Bipolar Disorder very successfully and some report positive experiences associated with their Bipolar Disorder. Of particular concern, however, is the high rate of completed suicide amongst people who have a Bipolar Disorder diagnosis – around 19% are thought to die by suicide (estimates do variety as Bipolar Disorder is often misdiagnosed) – meaning that people who experience Bipolar Disorder are at a substantially greater risk of completing suicide compared to people from the general population (estimates vary but are around 1.5% for the general population).

Our research, led by our PhD Student Rebecca Owen, was motivated by a general lack of good quality psychological research into the experience of suicidal thoughts, feelings and behaviours in people with lived experience of Bipolar Disorder. We were particularly interested in understanding people’s personal experiences of suicidality and understanding the role of psychological and social factors associated with heightened suicidality. Rebecca’s first paper, recently published in the Journal of Affective Disorders, was based on a series of qualitative interviews conducted with 20 people who have a Bipolar Disorder diagnosis and who reported the past experience of suicidal thoughts, feelings and/or behaviours. The interviews focused on our participants’ experiences of factors which worsened their experiences of suicidality and, importantly, were protective against suicidality.

We found a number of key themes in the data – including the “impact of others on suicide” (relating to the potential impact on others after suicide – e.g. family members) and “reflecting on positive social experiences” as being protective factors against suicidality. Factors which triggered or worsened suicidal thoughts included the role of negative social events (e.g. negative social interactions and more major life events like bereavements) as well as not feeling understood by others (including participants’ perceptions of being stigmatised due to their diagnosis), feeling like a burden to others and interactions with other people which reinforced the participants’ own negative self-appraisals and thoughts. These results are novel as they focus on people’s lived experience of suicidality including factors which may protect against or worsen suicidal thoughts and feelings. This study formed the first part of Rebecca’s PhD thesis and helped to inform her current studies which are looking at which of these factors (based on a literature review and this qualitative study) predict suicidal thoughts, feelings and behaviours in people with a Bipolar Disorder over time.

In addition to this study, we are working on papers discussing the impact of social factors on the experience of Bipolar Disorder more generally (and vice versa – how does Bipolar Disorder affect individuals’ social lives), a literature review of studies investigating psychosocial predictors of suicidality in people with Bipolar Disorder, as well as a paper reporting our participants’ subjective experience of participating in research discussing suicide. This latter paper is particularly novel as the majority of our participants reported that discussing their own experiences of suicidality was not distressing and we have identified some good practice guidelines for conducting suicide-focused research interviews.

We hope that this research contributes to the understanding of the experience of suicidality in people with a Bipolar Disorder diagnosis and contributes to the development of evidence-based psychological therapies. We are currently running further studies and we are seeking volunteers who have a Bipolar Disorder diagnosis to participate in an online questionnaire study – for more details about the study please contact Rebecca via rebecca.owen-6@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk

Dr Rob Dempsey is a Lecturer in Psychology at Staffordshire University and a member of the University’s Centre for Psychological Research and the Centre for Health Psychology. Rob is co-supervising Rebecca Owen’s PhD with Dr Trish Gooding (University of Manchester) and Professor Steven Jones (Spectrum Centre, University of Lancaster). Rebecca’s PhD is funded by a Studentship from the School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Manchester.

 

Greater health benefits when dieting with a partner

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The Sentinel Newspaper recently printed a story highlighting the benefits of dieting with a partner. Evidence suggests that when we diet or increase our exercise behaviour in partnership with someone else we are more likely to successfully lose weight.

Dr Amy Burton

Dieting is an important area of interest for Health Psychology and Dr Amy Burton (Senior Lecturer in Health Psychology) was contacted by the paper for comment. Dr Burton explained: “One theory that can help to explain the success of couples dieting together is Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behaviour which was developed in the 1980’s. This theory proposes that our intentions to engage in healthy behaviours (such as diet or exercise) are dependent on three factors: our attitudes towards the behaviour, our perceptions of the resources available to us for completing the behaviour, and how we think others around us are behaving or expecting us to behave. When we work with another person the importance of those around us becomes more salient meaning our attitudes towards diet and exercise will be more positive, we will perceive that we have support from those around us to continue with the behaviour, and we are more likely to follow through with our plans to diet or exercise to ensure we don’t disappoint our partner.

The full article was published in the Saturday Sentinel on 21st March 2015 and an online version of the piece is available here. Dr Amy Burton is a member of the Centre for Health Psychology at Staffordshire University (click here for more details).

Blog: Dr Rob Dempsey on making Psychology lectures interactive

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Dr Rob Dempsey, Lecturer in Psychology, blogs on his experiences of using web and mobile app based audience participation software in his lectures to Psychology students at Staffordshire University.

Over the past six months I’ve been experimenting with audience response technology in my lectures as a means to better engage my students. Given the increasing sophistication of mobile app technologies, and the high proportion of students who own mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, there’s a real opportunity for lecturers to make their teaching more engaging. As I often teach large groups of students it can be challenging to develop sessions which (1) get the students’ attention and keep it, (2) get them interested in the subject you are lecturing on, and (3) inspire them to read around the subject in their independent study after the session. The last point is particularly important if students are to develop as curious and independent lifelong learners.

As someone who completed their Psychology degree less than ten years ago it is surprising how students’ tastes for lectures and their motivation for studying for a degree has changed, certainly compared to my own experiences and expectations as a student. Furthermore, the development of mobile technology seems to be having some unintended negative effects on students’ learning habits and general motivation for learning. Given that we can easily search for any information using our devices whenever and wherever we want, why should we bother to learn new information (or learn anything in detail) when Google always has the answer? Also, the sometimes irresistible urge to check our devices for new emails, messages and tweets, means that there’s a potential for students to easily become distracted by their devices if they’re not suitably engaged. I’ll admit it, I’ve sat through some pretty uninteresting meetings and checked emails, twitter, etc., whilst someone is droning on… If this is something I do, often without fully realising it, then students are equally likely to do this too! Rather than trying to resist all mobile devices (Would a complete ban on mobiles be enforceable in a lecture? Probably not), I’ve been exploring ways in which I satisfy that urge to use devices whilst also sneaking some “learning” in…

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Kahoot!

Possibly my favourite app for engaging students is Kahoot!, a free web-based app which allows you to create short quizzes or surveys to test students’ existing knowledge, their understanding of the concepts you’ve introduced during a session, or simply survey their opinions.

Kahoot! offers three options:

  1. Quizzes – where you can set timed multiple choice questions where students can gain points for fast AND correct answers. Even more appealing is that students are ranked according to their points tally and their rank will appear on their own device and on the main screen after each question (if they are in the Top 5-6).
  2. Discussions – an option to spark a debate or a discussion using more open-ended questions.
  3. Surveys – similar to a quiz but this isn’t timed or associated with points, but useful for getting a sense of students’ opinions on a topic.

Kahoot! stores the responses for all three activity types and produces downloadable reports for lecturers to analyse later.

To date I’ve used both Quizzes and Surveys in my lectures with our Level 4 (1st year) and Level 5 (2nd year) students. What’s great with the Quizzes is Kahoot!’s use of a Countdown-style timer and accompanying music when I’ve posed a question to the group. This really makes students focus on answering questions correctly and in the quickest time possible to gain more points. So far I’ve used quizzes to test students’ understanding of previous lectures (by launching a quiz at the start of a session) and test their knowledge of the topic I’ve introduced (via a quiz towards the end of a session). What’s great with the latter option is that lecturers can use this as an incentive for students to pay attention to the lecture part of a session. The promise of a Kahoot! quiz on the topics I’ve discussed, with accompanying prizes for the top ranked team, can really help to engage students.

Surveys, on the other hand, allow the lecturer to conduct a general survey of students’ opinions about a topic or simply check understanding without the time or points pressure of a quiz.

To give an example of my use of Kahoot!, my recent “Perspectives in Psychology” lecture to the first year students (“An Individual Differences Approach to Helping Behaviour“) first used a quiz to check students’ understanding of the key Individual Differences theories covered in a previous module, followed by a reminder of the Big 5 Personality Trait Theory. I then provided some definitions of helping behaviour (AKA altruism) and showed the students a video clip of a situation where someone received helped from a stranger and asked the students to think about which of the Big 5 traits would predict who would provide help (in the form of offering a coat to a child stuck in the snow – an “altruistic” act). I followed this clip with a short Kahoot! survey asking students to rate whether scoring high or low on each trait would be associated with a greater likelihood of helping a stranger (e.g. would high or low Extraversion be associated with helping?). After each trait question, we reviewed the responses via the results screen (giving a breakdown of responses) and I asked students to explain why they gave that answer (kicking off some debate about trait theory – great!). Rather than sitting passively whilst I waffled talked about which traits predict helping behaviour, I got students involved in applying their own understanding and reviewed the live results on-screen. I followed up this activity by discussing some recent psychological research using the Big 5 to investigate helping behaviour, followed by the introduction of a newer trait theory (the Dark Triad) which could explain more selfish and less altruistic behaviours. This session had a strong focus on introducing new content, something which one of my colleagues positively commented on whilst observing the lecture, in addition to using Kahoot! and it’s probably fair to say that the students (and me – one of my favourite lectures) really enjoyed the session.

There are some opportunities and limitations to using technology like Kahoot! The opportunities include: making lectures more interactive and engaging (which students often comment on in module feedback); testing prior or gained knowledge; satisfying that “must check mobile” urge; motivating students and focusing their attention by “threatening” that a quiz may be imminent so they better pay attention(!); as well as making learning more “fun”. However, software like Kahoot! must be used for a clear purpose in taught sessions, must complement the learning objectives/outcomes for that session, and I feel be used sparingly alongside other activities, otherwise students may become bored of being “Kahooted” every week.

Challenges with using Kahoot! and other software include: maintaining control of the session as students get VERY excited and can lose focus (the lecturer really needs to manage the room and ensure that students’ learn why one answer was correct and others were not); issues where some students may not own a web device (although students can work together in teams and share devices or borrow a device from the department, e.g. an iPad); losing focus of the session’s learning outcomes; taking the time taken to set up a good quiz prior to a session; knowing when, and crucially, when not to use such software. If my use of Kahoot! makes my lectures more interesting, promotes students’ knowledge and understanding of key psychological theories, and encourages them to engage in independent study after my session – great! However, the use of game-like participation software like Kahoot! by university lecturers should not be interpreted as a “dumbing down” of higher education (something which I’m all too cautious of – we should challenge our students in their degree studies). Audience response software should be used as a means of promoting learning and keeping students on their toes!

Finally, my top tip for encouraging participation in Kahoot! quizzes – prizes! Whether you offer a printed certificate, a free pen or some give-away chocolate (I managed to stash some leftover Freddos from a recent departmental event, which my Head of School hadn’t found and eaten… thanks Pete), make sure that you reward those students who came top in the quiz and praise all students for participating. If students answered a question incorrectly but then understand what the correct answer is, and why that is a correct answer, that is the real prize. Also it’s amazing what a bit of friendly competition between students, plus the offer of a mystery prize to those finishing first, can do!

Dr Amy Burton: Training Health Professionals in Pain Management

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AB Pain Management PictureIn January 2015 Dr Amy Burton (Senior Lecturer in Health Psychology) delivered a training session for pain management professionals in the Birmingham Community Healthcare (BCHC) Pain Team. The session covered an introduction to culturally competent communication and practical tools to help health care professionals to communicate more effectively with patients from different cultures.

One activity encouraged the attendees to practice the ‘teach-back’ technique involving delivering small chunks of information to the patient and then checking understanding before moving on to additional information. The health care professionals practiced through role play by explaining an everyday concept to a partner – practice examples included: the offside rule, how to bake a cake, and how to ride a motorbike!

The training was well received:

“One of the biggest clinical challenges facing the BCHC pain team is the provision of care to culturally diverse patients. The training delivered by Dr Amy Burton has helped to increase open-mindedness and cultural awareness, as well as enabling the Pain Team to develop its ability to communicate more meaningfully with people from minority backgrounds” (Dr Laura Chipchase, Specialist Health Psychologist in Pain)

The training was informed by Dr Burton’s recent review paper entitled “pain management programmes for non-English-speaking black and minority ethnic groups with long-term or chronic pain” published in Musculoskeletal Care. The health care professionals are now planning to incorporate techniques from the training within their pain management programmes illustrating the direct link between research conducted in the Centre for Health Psychology at Staffordshire University and real world health care practice.

StaffsPsych Student Blog: Mentoring GCSE Students

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Anthony Miller, a second year Sport & Exercise Psychology student at Staffordshire University, blogs on his experience working as a mentor with GCSE students:

An opportunity was advertised via the Psychology department’s Blackboard website to be a mentor at a high school in Stoke-on-Trent under the supervision of Penny Vincent. At first I was apprehensive, I had never done anything like this before! I plucked up the courage and realized how beneficial this could be for my professional development, so I decided to go for it!

I went to mentor some Year 11 students at Haywood Academy prior to the Easter break. Doing this really helped me realize what it takes to work in education, and how challenging it can be. For me, going into that situation blind (so to speak) really was difficult, but once the day was finished, I felt confident and competent. I gained the skills to help in a school setting and now I would not hesitate in doing more mentoring sessions.

A Miller Mentoring (March 2015)

Anthony mentoring Year 11 Haywood Academy students

What I actually did was indirectly help the students answer mock exam questions, by finding ways to help them get to an answer without directly feeding the answer to them. At first this was hard, especially without in-depth course knowledge. I also realized that each student is different, and adaptation to the needs of such students is key. Some are quiet, some are loud, and some just really struggle to listen, but this where experience comes in and I am glad I have started with this mentoring role now rather than later. The primary gain from doing this was the students realizing their potential, and learning through my guidance, making a genuine difference to their capabilities.

If you are interested in acting as a mentor please contact Penny Vincent at P.E.Vincent@staffs.ac.uk.

Keep up-to-date with regular student blogs and news via the Psychology Department’s blog and twitter feed.

Psychology Careers Fair 2015 – Improving students’ employability!

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Heather Semper, Senior Lecturer in Health Psychology & Employability and Careers Tutor for Psychology, reports on a successful Psychology Careers Fair:

Careers Fair (March 15)

A very busy fair!

The Psychology Department hosted a very successful annual careers fair on Monday 16th March 2015 in the Science Centre. A number of organisations attended the fair, including the British Psychological Society, the Samaritans, Think Ahead, Saltbox, In Mind, Challenge UK, and the Staffordshire University Careers team. Stalls were set out with information about careers, jobs and volunteering opportunities and postgraduate courses available at Staffordshire University.

Students had the opportunity to discuss their career options with the exhibitors, and collect some freebies at the same time. There were talks given by current postgraduate students studying Psychology related postgraduate courses at Staffordshire about their experiences in postgraduate study.

Careers Fair 2 (March 15)

Stalls at the Careers Fair

Students welcomed the chance to speak with current postgraduate students to get a real feel for what it is like to study at postgraduate level and enjoyed speaking with organisations about opportunities available to them.

The event had some really positive feedback from exhibitors who said that they were very impressed by our range of students and their enthusiasm for psychology related careers. The event was also well received by students who tweeted: “Found the careers fair really useful & informative today! Thank u team staffs!!!”.

Keep updated with the latest news and events from the Psychology department via the @StaffsPsych twitter feed!