Dr Daniel Jolley is the Conspiracy Psychologist in the Museum!

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As part of The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery’s Friday Twilight Series, Dr Daniel Jolley (Senior Lecturer in Social Psychology, Staffordshire Centre for Psychological Research) on Friday 9th November will be giving a free public talk on the psychology of conspiracy theories.

Conspiracy theories are associated with almost every significant social and political event, including the theory that the U.S. government orchestrated the 9/11 attacks, that the U.K Government murdered Diana, Princess of Wales, or that the harms of vaccines are being covered up so that pharmaceutical companies can continue to make huge profits. Belief in these types of conspiracy theories is blooming in the 21st century: millions of people subscribe to them.

A basic understanding of logic, rationality, and probability tell us, however, that most of these conspiracy claims are probably false. So why then do so many people believe them? What makes them so attractive and compelling to people? And, anyway, what’s the problem, aren’t they just harmless fun?

In this talk, Dr Jolley will take you through the psychology of conspiracy theories. You will learn why people subscribe to conspiracy theories and discuss some of the misconceptions (including whether all conspiracy believers wear tin-toil hats!)

Dr Jolley will also uncover some of the potentially damaging consequences of conspiracy theories; maybe they are not just harmless after all!  There will also be an opportunity for a Q&A session at the end.

Book your place! The talk is free and takes place on, Friday 9th November, 7 – 8.30pm.  Further information about the talk can be found via: http://www.stokemuseums.org.uk/pmag/whats-on/events/page/2/?event=EVENT591450

The Department of Psychology at Staffordshire University offers a range of undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in Psychology at the University’s £30 million Science Centre in Stoke-on-Trent. The department is home to the Staffordshire Centre for Psychological Research, a large and active group of psychologists, PhD students and researchers conducting work into a variety of psychological disciplines and topic areas.

Interested in a Psychology degree? Come to an Open Day – for further details and to book your place at an open day please click here.

For more information about the Psychology degrees on offer at Staffordshire University please visit the below pages:

New research into the role of Registered Intermediaries in court cases involving child witnesses

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Dr Sarah Krahenbuhl (Senior Lecturer in Psychology & Course Leader – BSc Forensic Psychology, Staffordshire Centre for Psychological Research) has had a new study accepted for publication in the journal Psychology, Crime and Law. Sarah blogs about her new study below:

The new paper, titled ‘Mock jurors’ perceptions of a child witness: The impact of the presence and/or intervention of a Registered Intermediary during cross-examination’, featured students from Psychology and Law departments who took the parts of barristers, court clerk, child witness, and Registered Intermediary as part of a mock trial. The students, who volunteered their time for the time, are named in the acknowledgements for the publication and were given a useful insight into the research process and experience of research in Forensic Psychology. The University’s mock court room was used for the study and the cross-examination of the child victim was video recorded and shown to mock juror participants.

The findings of the study showed no effect of the presence or intervention of the Registered Intermediary on mock juror perceptions, which supports their neutral role in court proceedings. However, rather concerning was the way in which one factor, the likelihood of a guilty verdict, was affected by which professional gave an intervention – if the Registered Intermediary was present and included an intervention (to support communication with the child witness) then the likelihood of a guilty verdict was lower than if the Registered Intermediary was absent and the judge gave the same intervention – the converse was found when no interventions were included. This raises the question as to mock juror perceptions of what is an appropriate role for professionals to take – but that this has an impact on their guilty verdicts is highly concerning.

This new study has recently been accepted for publication in the journal Psychology, Crime and Law, and the full text of the article can now be accessed via the journal’s website:

The Department of Psychology at Staffordshire University offers a range of undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in Psychology at the University’s £30 million Science Centre in Stoke-on-Trent. The department is home to the Staffordshire Centre for Psychological Research, a large and active group of psychologists, PhD students and researchers conducting work into a variety of psychological disciplines and topic areas.

 

Interested in a Psychology degree? Come to an Open Day – for further details and to book your place at an open day please click here.

For more information about the Psychology degrees on offer at Staffordshire University please visit the below pages:

Job Opportunity for a Research Assistant at the Staffordshire Centre for Psychological Research

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Dr Daniel Jolley (Senior Lecturer, Staffordshire Centre for Psychological Research) is seeking to appoint a highly organised and enthusiastic Research Assistant to work on an exciting project funded by the British Academy/The Leverhulme Trust.

The project aims to develop and validate a conspiracy belief questionnaire suitable for adolescents and involves a collaboration between Staffordshire University (Dr Daniel Jolley), University of Kent (Prof Karen Douglas) and Keele University (Dr Yvonne Skipper).

The primary role of the Research Assistant will be to manage data collection; this will involve recruitment of 1,270 school pupils (aged 11 – 18) from across four schools in the local area of Staffordshire. You will liaise with schools to arrange testing; travel and administer questionnaires and run focus groups with school pupils on site; and assist when required with additional tasks relating to the everyday running of the project, e.g. transcription, data analysis etc.

To be suitable for this role, you will have a good honours degree in Psychology or related subject, or equivalent experience. You will have experience of collecting data with pupils in schools, with a thorough understanding of how psychological research is conducted. You should be flexible and well-organised; able to set and keep to work priorities, work to deadlines and problem solve and have excellent communication skills. This role will require you to obtain a DBS check.

The closing date for applications is the 11th November 2018 and interviews will be held week commencing 19th November 2018.

For more information – and details on how to apply – please see: https://www.unitemps.com/Search/JobDetails/20470

The Staffordshire Centre for Psychological Research is home to research activity in the Psychology Department at Staffordshire University. The Centre is home to a number of research-active psychologists who are engaged in research across a wide range of psychological subdisciplines

For more details about the Centre, its research activities, events and consultancy, please visit our website (click here).

New study seeking participants for an alcohol-related appearance intervention

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Dr Alison Owen

Dr Alison Owen, a lecturer in Health Psychology and a member of the Staffordshire Centre for Psychological Research has carried out a series of pieces of research looking at the impact of appearance-focussed interventions on a person’s health choices. Previous research has found that health-focussed campaigns can often fail to motivate many young people to change their behaviour, with many people feeling that health-related threats are too long- term to concern them and not relevant to them. However, it is known that for many young men and women, their appearance is a key priority for them (Grogan, 2012).

For her PhD, carried out at Staffordshire University, Dr Owen therefore decided to focus on interventions that showed people the impact of health choices on a person’s appearance, as opposed to the more traditional health-focussed interventions. Dr Owen used a piece of computer software called AprilAge, which shows participants projected images of themselves up to the age of 72 years, and allowed them to compare images of themselves after exposing their skin to the sun without using protection with those where they have been protecting their skin from the sun. Dr Owen and her PhD supervision team (Professor Sarah Grogan, Professor David Clark-Carter and Dr Emily Buckley) found some really positive findings, with participants reporting significantly higher intentions to use sun protection after viewing the intervention. The software has also been used at Staffordshire University by Dr Keira Flett and Prof. Clark-Carter, showing people the impact that smoking can have on a persons’ appearance, again with very promising findings.Dr Owen and Dr Flett, alongside Professor Grogan (Manchester Metropolitan University) have now expanded their research to look at another health behaviour – drinking alcohol. Along with software designer Auriole Prince, the researchers came up with a piece of software called Change My Face, that like AprilAge, is able to show people from their current age up to the age of 72, but this time, showing them the impact that moderate and high alcohol consumption can have on their skin, compared to if they have been drinking within the recommended limits.

The researchers are currently recruiting participants for a study investigating the effectiveness of the software, in comparison with an intervention that informs people of the possible health impacts of alcohol consumption. If you have any questions about the research or are interested in taking part in the study then please email Dr Alison Owen at Alison.owen@staffs.ac.uk or research assistant Alex Morley-Hewitt at m014871b@student.staffs.ac.uk.

Staffordshire University – The Home of Health Psychology

Staffordshire University has a history of excellence in teaching and research in Health Psychology, and is home to Staffordshire’s BPS Accredited Stage 1 MSc in Health Psychology and Stage 2 Professional Doctorate in Health Psychology. The Staffordshire Centre for Psychological Research has active team of Health Psychologists who conduct research and provide consultancy in a range of health-related issues.

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:

Dr Sarah Rose featured on BBC One’s Inside Out discussing the need for more men to work in childcare

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Dr Sarah Rose (Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Staffordshire Centre for Psychological Research) was  featured on BBC One’s Inside Out West Midlands TV programme discussing the need for more men to work in early years childcare. Around 2-3% of childcare workers are men but local nurseries in the Stoke-on-Trent region have been attempting to increase the number of men working in their nurseries.

Dr Rose was interviewed for the programme (a link can be found below) and discussed the benefits of having more men working in childcare, including challenging some of the gender stereotypes and gender role assumptions which young children may be learning.

BBC iPlayer: Inside Out (West Midlands) 15th October 2018 (from 20 mins, 40 seconds in)

The Department of Psychology at Staffordshire University offers a range of undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in Psychology at the University’s £30 million Science Centre in Stoke-on-Trent.

Interested in a Psychology degree? Come to an Open Day – for further details and to book your place at an open day please click here.

For more information about the Psychology degrees on offer at Staffordshire University please visit the below pages:

Psychology featured at Staffordshire University’s Big Biology Day 2018!

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Staffordshire University held its annual Big Biology Day on Saturday 13th October 2018, a free public engagement event where families from the local community and beyond came to learn about the different aspects of biology, including its applications to psychology, the environment, forensic investigation and education.

As part of this event, psychologists Dr Michael Batashvili and Dr Robert Dempsey demonstrated a number of biological psychology activities to visiting children and their parents, showing how psychology and biology can be integrated to better understand how people live, think and behave. Demonstrations included the use of Augmented and Virtual Reality to show the workings of the brain, its structures and neuronal connections to children of a wide variety of ages.

Dr Michael Batashvili testing the Virtual Reality headset at the Big Biology day

Over 500 visitors from the Staffordshire county and beyond visited the University’s Science Centre in Stoke-on-Trent for the Big Biology Day. The Science Centre was buzzing with families enjoying the activities and taking part in the Great Biology Bake Off cake competition.

The Psychology stall was particularly popular, with children enjoying using VR to explore the brain, finding out about what makes a healthy brain using our augmented reality apps, and testing their brain’s adaptability using our mirror drawing task! The mirror drawing task drew out some competitions between parents and children to see who could draw the best shapes when relying on the mirror to guide their pencil (with children usually winning!).

Visitors using the VR and mirror drawing equipment at the 2018 Big Biology Day.

The Big Biology Day is an annual event organised as part of the Royal Society of Biology‘s Biology Week (click here for more information about the Royal Society and Biology Week).

The Department of Psychology at Staffordshire University offers a range of undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in Psychology at the University’s £30 million Science Centre in Stoke-on-Trent.

Interested in a Psychology degree? Come to an Open Day – for further details and to book your place at an open day please click here.

For more information about the Psychology degrees on offer at Staffordshire University please visit the below pages:

Meet the StaffsPsych Graduates – Szilvia (MSc & Professional Doctorate in Health Psychology)

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As part of our series of StaffsPsych Graduate Success Stories, we are pleased to introduce Szilvia who completed her MSc in Health Psychology and her Professional Doctorate in Health Psychology here at Staffordshire University. Find out about Szilvia’s experiences at on her course and her plans for the future:

Before studying at Staffordshire, I had completed previous Psychology-related courses and obtained various certificates, such as a BSc in Psychology (in Hungary), PGDip in Psychodrama and Creative Counselling. I then worked as a health care assistant in Staffordshire before starting my Health Psychology studies here at Staffordshire.

What attracted you to studying Psychology at Staffordshire University?

I was interested in Health Psychology, and Staffordshire University offered the MSc and Professional Doctorate courses in Health Psychology which other universities in the region didn’t offer.

What were the best parts of your experience at Staffs?

I really loved the interactive aspects of teaching; we received a great amount of support from the lecturers. The lecturers were always friendly, very well prepared and made the sessions enjoyable. I learned a lot about research methods during the MSc in Health Psychology, and because of that I felt confident to continue with the Doctorate in Health Psychology. Thanks to these good foundations, my critical analytical thinking and problem-solving skills have further developed during the doctorate. I found that these things are super important for people who work in health-related jobs, as science and societies are changing constantly. Also, the other major ‘best part’ was being with like-minded students, I made some friends for life at Staffs.

What was the biggest challenge(s) that you overcame whilst studying at Staffs?

To work and study at the same time, but I was given lots of support and advice how to work with these difficulties (e.g. book blocks of time off), so it all worked out at the end.

What have you done since leaving Staffs?

Because I became very interested in health behaviour interventions and I worked with insomnia patients during the doctorate, I enrolled into a graduate part-time course in Sleep Medicine at Oxford. Through this course I met Prof. Colin Espie (who is one of the directors of the Sleep Medicine Centre at Oxford) who developed the evidence-based CBTi – cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia patients. We talked about a possible research project in which I could utilise his CBTi approach and apply it to develop a new form of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for insomnia patients. Also, I’ve spent a week training retreat in Massachusetts with Jon Kabat-Zinn (the developer of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction programme). In terms of work, currently I’m working bank hours for an agency, which is part of the NHS, I’m in the process of relocating to New York.

What are your plans for the future?

In about five years I would like to take the ‘somnologist’ exam (sleep medicine specialist). Also, I would like to write a book about how to use Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for sleeping difficulties.

What advice would you give to someone thinking about applying to study Psychology at Staffordshire University?

There are lots of different kinds of support to help with literally anything. For example, there are lots of materials and even seminars to help with academic writing. Make sure to use those and listen to tips about time management and so forth.

Staffordshire University – The Home of Health Psychology

Staffordshire University has a history of excellence in teaching and research in Health Psychology, and is home to Staffordshire’s BPS Accredited Stage 1 MSc in Health Psychology and Stage 2 Professional Doctorate in Health Psychology. The Staffordshire Centre for Psychological Research has active team of Health Psychologists who conduct research and provide consultancy in a range of health-related issues.

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:

Stoke Psychology in the Pub returns on 3rd October 2018!

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We are pleased to announce the return of the Stoke Psychology in the Pub series of talks for the 2018/19 academic year.

The Psychology in the Pub series features a range of talks about various aspects of psychology but in the setting of The Glebe Pub in Stoke-on-Trent. The talks are open to anyone with an interest in psychology, including staff and students from Staffordshire University as well as the general public. Talks typically take place on the first Wednesday of the month and start at 6pm (although it is recommended to arrive by 5:30 to get a seat and refreshments from the bar).

This year’s series features a range of talks delivered by researchers from Staffordshire and Keele universities, including:

3rd October 2018 Dr Rachel Povey (Staffordshire University): Urghh, I’m not eating that!” Why children don’t eat their greens and what we can do about it.
7th November 2018 Dr Yvonne Skipper (Keele University): How mindset can lead to success
5th December 2018 Dr Mike Batashvili (Staffordshire University):  “Do You Fear What I Fear?”: Maths Anxiety and Christmas Shopping

For further details of the Psychology in the Pub series please click here.

Directions to The Glebe Pub can be found via this link.

We look forward to seeing you at the talks – no booking is required for the talks, just turn up on the day!

The Department of Psychology at Staffordshire University offers a range of undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in Psychology at the University’s £30 million Science Centre in Stoke-on-Trent.

Interested in a Psychology degree? Come to an Open Day – for further details and to book your place at an open day please click here.

For more information about the Psychology degrees on offer at Staffordshire University please visit the below pages:

Visiting Speaker Series Research talks returns on 27th September 2018

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The Staffordshire Centre for Psychological Research is pleased to announce the first in the 2018-19 series of Visiting Speaker Research Talks.

The talks feature a variety of speakers from both within and external to the University who will be presenting their latest research findings to staff and students from the Department of Psychology. The talks are open to all staff and students from across the University, as well as to members of the public with an interest in psychology.

The 2018-2019 series starts with a Showcase Seminar on Thursday 27th September (4pm, R002 Science Centre Lecture Theatre) featuring short talks delivered by members of staff from the Staffordshire Centre for Psychological Research, including:

The #StaffsVSS series of visiting speaker talks are open to everyone (no need to book; just turn up) and take place throughout the academic year. For details of the other talks in the 2018-19 Visiting Speaker Series please visit our Centre webpages:

The Staffordshire Centre for Psychological Research is home to research activity in the Psychology Department at Staffordshire University. The Centre is home to a number of research-active psychologists who are engaged in research across a wide range of psychological subdisciplines

For more details about the Centre, its research activities, events and consultancy, please visit our website (click here).

Nuffield Placement Blog: Investigating the impact of TV viewing on children’s creativity

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We have recently hosted a local college student on a Nuffield Research Placement. The student worked with Dr Sarah Rose (Senior Lecturer in Psychology & Director of the Children’s Lab, part of the Staffordshire Centre for Psychological Research) to develop a project investigating the impact of watching TV on children’s creativity. Here Manvir writes about his experience.

After a rigorous application process, I  was pleased to have been granted a 4-week placement at Staffordshire University in Psychology, provided by the Nuffield Research Foundation. My placement consisted of carrying out research within the field of child development, where I had to plan and set up a pilot study on the effects of television on 3- to 5-year-old children’s creativity.

My first week was very welcoming, I got a tour around the campus and got to meet many people such as members of staff, IT technicians, whom all aided me through my placement by providing me with the appropriate equipment, guidance etc. I received my workspace and received all the information I needed from my supervisor on the history and aims of my project.

The first couple days were just a matter of settling into the University and summoning the psychologist inside me! My first tasks were to plan out the step-by-step procedures we would use to collect the data. This involved me finding and editing suitable TV episode and audiobook which would appeal to the children at the nursery, writing a script, gathering relevant materials and creating data scoring sheets. Since the research involved working with young children, parental consent was required. The staff at the University Nursery, who were very kind and welcoming, distributed the forms to the children.

The two weeks of preparation flew by and before I knew it, it was time to begin the first day of the experiment! Me, Sarah and 3rd year Psychology Student Charlotte headed to the nursery where we set up and began the experiment in a separate quiet room. One by one children were introduced and taken through various fun activities such as naming everything they can think of that makes a noise, finding as many uses as they can for paper cups, acting like different animals, the list goes on. This was all done to measure their creativity prior and after either listening to or watching a magical story from CBeebies. The children all reacted differently, some thought hard, some laughed, some were confused, but nevertheless they all came up with some great ideas and just watching the children actively engage in the tasks was so thrilling to watch as a researcher. All the procedures went to plan, phew!

After three days of conducting the experiment, it was then my job to score and tally the results and present them on a chart. Finally, on my last week of the placement my task was to write up and create a poster on everything I done in my placement, this included the aims, methodology, results, references, etc. I found it so difficult to sum up such an action packed few weeks in one poster that I struggled to fit everything in!

Overall, I am very grateful for the opportunity to work with Staffordshire University, I am proud to of been a part of the research and grateful for Nuffield Research on providing me with the placement and if possible, I would do it all again!

The Department of Psychology at Staffordshire University offers a range of undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in Psychology at the University’s £30 million Science Centre in Stoke-on-Trent.

Interested in a Psychology degree? Come to an Open Day – for further details and to book your place at an open day please click here.

For more information about the Psychology degrees on offer at Staffordshire University please visit the below pages: