Dr Daniel Jolley (Senior Lecturer in Social Psychology, Staffordshire Centre for Psychological Research) was featured on BBC Radio Stoke’s Stuart George Radio Show discussing conspiracy theories in relation to a recent story about the Indian Army posting a photo of ‘Yeti footprints’.
You can listen to Dr Jolley’s interview via the BBC Sounds website, see below:
By Dina Grinsted, Schools & Colleges Champion for Psychology
Some of the Department of Psychology in attendance at last year’s Big Bang Fair
In June 2018, Staffordshire University welcomed the Big Bang West Midlands for the first time, celebrating STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Maths) subjects. Over 2000 students and teachers visited the campus throughout the day, and enjoyed a wide variety of STEAM activities, including nine psychology stands!
Ahead of the return of the Big Bang Fair to Staffordshire University in 2019, here is a brief review of the Department of Psychology’s presence at the 2018 fair:
Dr Emily Buckley, Judy David, and Masters student Charlotte Stock try on the VR headsets
The ‘Virtual Reality in Psychology’ stand allowed visitors to experience dinosaurs in VR, and learn about how we can use virtual environments in psychology. This was a very popular stand, with many people trying out the dinosaur experience! Guests also had the chance to test their memory, and learnt how to improve it through techniques such as the Method of Loci and mnemonics on our Memory Test stand.
Third year BSc Psychology student Jaime-Lee Cunningham and Dr Andrew Edmonds on the ‘Memory Test’ stand
The event was a great success, with a huge number of visitors taking part and enjoying the activities. Staffordshire University has been confirmed as the home for the 2019 event, which will take place on Tuesday 18th June 2019. Come along to find out about all things STEM, including Psychology activities. Book your free visit here.
On the ‘Detecting Stress Responses’ stand, guests were connected to a BioPac, and had their Galvanic Skin Response tested whilst doing moderately stressful activities. This measures the level of sweat on the fingertips as an indicator of stress, so the aim was to attempt to keep your stress levels down.
One student advocate who helped to run this stand said
“I was particularly happy to see so many young girls expressing enthusiasm and engagement with some of the scientific principles that we were demonstrating to them on the Detecting Stress Responses stand. Great to see that STEM engagement with girls is improving.”
Dr Sarah Rose (Senior Lecturer in Psychology & Child Development, Award Leader – BSc (Hons) Psychology & Child Development) was featured in The Sentinel commenting on the Momo Challenge hoax. Dr Rose, who has conducted research into the effects of viewing TV on children’s creative play, comments on the possible effects of viewing the Momo hoax on both children and their parents, and the implications for children’s online behaviours.
You can read the reports of the Momo hoax, including Dr Rose’s comments, via The Sentinel website:
The Department of Psychology recently hosted the Psychology Teacher Forum, an event aimed at psychology teachers in the West Midlands and surrounding areas. The aim of the Forum was to create a networking opportunity for teachers working in Further Education, alongside workshops focussed on teaching some of the core areas of psychology led by subject specialists at the University.
The Psychology Department welcomed 23 delegates who teach psychology on a range of different qualifications (e.g., A Levels, BTEC and Access courses). Judy David opened the event with a brief history of the Psychology Department at Staffs before Mel Hall delivered the first workshop where top tips and ideas for teaching Research Methods were shared, including happy and sad graphs!
Our Psychology technicians, Paul and Sarah, then led a tour of the Department facilities with an opportunity for delegates to take part in some demonstrations of our specialist equipment, such as the pain lab cold pressor tank.
Dr Jade Elliott then delivered a session on biological psychology, demonstrating interactive activities such as the 3-D brain app and the Wisconsin Sorting Task.
After a bit of light refreshment and networking supported by current PhD student Tanya Schrader, the final workshop covered courses and careers in Psychology delivered by Dr Claire Barlow and Dr Heather Semper.
We received some really positive feedback after the event, one attendee commented:
“thank you to all of the academic and support staff who made yesterday’s Teacher Forum such a wonderful event. My team and I all left with some brilliant ideas and we were so impressed with the facilities and knowledge of both the staff and technicians. We are now looking into bringing our students along to see how much is on offer locally for L3 provision and beyond”
Dr Claire Barlow was involved in the organisation of the event alongside Dina Grinsted (Schools & College Champion for Psychology), Claire commented:
“it was great to welcome so many fellow teachers of Psychology to the Department. One of the most positive aspects was the sharing of our experiences of teaching this fascinating subject area as well as the connections we have made. We hope to build on this event and create further opportunities to work together in the future”
Dr Sarah Rose (Senior Lecturer in Psychology & Child Development, Award Leader – BSc (Hons) Psychology & Child Development) was briefly featured on BBC Radio Stoke commenting on the Momo Challenge hoax and the effects of the hoax on children and parents.
You can listen to Dr Rose’s interview via BBC Sounds:
Dr Daniel Jolley (Senior Lecturer in Social Psychology & member of the Staffordshire Centre for Psychological Research) was featured on BBC Radio Stoke’s Saturday Breakfast show discussing the Department of Psychology’s Psychology and Me event held in February 2019.
You can listen to Dr Jolley’s interview via the below link:
Dr Rose and the undergraduate students will be hosting a number of activities and demonstrations for families who are interested in finding out more about the human mind. The Potteries Museum is situated in Hanley city centre, Stoke-on-Trent (click here for a map). The hands-on psychology-related activities to be demonstrated on Saturday 2nd March will be suitable for anyone aged two years and older, and for people with any level of interest in psychology and the mind!
Come along and make a brain hat, find out how new skills are learnt, improve your memory and learn about emotions!
The Department of Psychology at has been featured as one of Staffordshire University’s hidden gems as part of the University’s #SecretStaffs campaign.
The Department’s industry-standard facilities, labs and equipment is featured in the below #SecretStaffs as part of a tour of the Science Centre hosted by Dr Daniel Jolley and Dr Nikki Street. Watch the video, below, to see why our Department of Psychology is a #SecretStaffs hidden gem!
Do you teach psychology in a school or college? Would you like the opportunity to connect with other psychology teachers in the local area and hear about ideas for teaching different areas of psychology?
As part of our expanding schools and colleges provision, the Department of Psychology at Staffordshire University are running a Psychology Teacher Forum event on Wednesday 27th February 2019. The event will run from 2:00-5:30pm and will include practical workshops focussed on sharing ideas for teaching practice, will enable us to share student progression information (i.e., current content and expectations when studying for a Psychology degree and psychology careers information) and also to provide an opportunity to meet other teachers/lecturers of psychology. We have various sessions planned which include:
Teaching Research Methods
Tour and Demonstrations
Teaching Biopsychology
Networking and Refreshments
Psychology Degrees and Careers
This event will be followed by our Psychology and Me public event, which you are also invited to attend. This event runs from 6:00-8:30pm, and will involve a series of short talks from our academics, followed by demonstrations of our psychological equipment and research.
If you would like to book a place on the Psychology Teacher Forum Event please visit the following link and complete the short booking process: https://psychologyteacherforum19.eventbrite.com
We look forward to welcoming you to the Department of Psychology!
Both researchers have a background in research looking at body image and peoples’ thoughts and feelings about their appearance, for example Dr Owen has carried out work looking at body image in Girl Guides (click here for further information), and Dr Taylor has carried out work exploring peoples’ views on sun tanning and their appearance (click here).
Dr Owen and Dr Taylor are expanding their body image research and exploring what beauty therapists/beauticians think and feel about their appearance, as well as how working within the beauty industry may impact upon these thoughts and feelings. Their study involves an online questionnaire that will ask participants about their feelings about their appearance and their work.
If you currently work as a beautician then please click on the following link to complete the questionnaire and take part in the study: https://tinyurl.com/ybbx8aro
Keep updated with the latest Health Psychology news from Staffordshire University via following us on @StaffsPsych and via the #HealthPsychStaffs hashtag.
For further information about Health Psychology courses and research at Staffordshire University please visit the following webpages:
