Andrew Bayliss
My research is primarily concerned with aspects of social-cognitive processing, in particular interactions between attention, emotion and action in social contexts.
Dr Neil Cooper
Use of interpretative research techniques such as grounded theory, discourse analysis and narrative analysis to understand the relationship between individuals lived experiences and their historical and sociocultural environments; the psychosocial experience of higher education; interprofessional practice and intervention; the impact of technology and digital culture on professional and family life.
Example PhD projects: Conflict and cooperation in interprofessional practices; family relationships and technology; socio-cultural categories (such as gender, sexuality, ethnicity, religion, and generation) and their interconnections with diversity, marginalisation and exclusionary processes.
Professor Philip Corr
Personality and individual differences research covering two principal areas: (1) fundamental emotion and motivation neuropsychological systems, including the ways in which individual differences in these systems give rise to the foundations of personality, vulnerability to various clinical disorders (e.g., anxiety and depression), and everyday cognition and behaviour (e.g., economic decision-making); and (2) the schizophrenia spectrum and underlying predisposition in terms of psychosis-proneness and schizotypy. The application of personality and individual differences in the workplace (e.g., selection, performance and satisfaction).
Example PhD project outlines: I am interested in supervising doctoral students in the following two main areas. (1) Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory (RST) of personality in relation to: (c) vulnerability to various clinical disorders (e.g., anxiety, depression, suicide): (b) everyday cognition and behaviour (e.g., economic decision-making; gambling); and (c) workplace applications (motivation; stress). (2) The schizophrenia spectrum and underlying predisposition in terms of psychosis-proneness and schizotypy. I am also interested in supervising project ideas centred on personality and individual differences, and their implications.
Helen Dodd
Research examining the development of anxiety disorders in children. In particular:
- Understanding the role of parents in children’s anxiety.
- Delineating the role of information processing biases in the development of anxiety.
- Understanding the presentation and development of anxiety is special populations.
Possible PhD projects include: The role of story-telling by parents in children’s anxiety; The relationship between cognitive development and information processing biases in young children; The causal status of information processing biases associated with child anxiety; The dissociation between emotion and behaviour in individuals with Williams syndrome.
Dr Piers Fleming
Rational and emotive processes in decision-making and risk judgement; Individual differences in decision-making and risk judgment.
Example PhD project outlines: Understanding psychological processes in Behavioural Economic games; Heuristics and biases in risk judgements; Information framing effects on risk judgments
Dr Simon Hampton
Reproductive technologies and their impact on family planning; the effect of biological ways of thinking about and explaining behaviour on folk psychology.
Dr Laura Hoppitt
Cognition and emotion: the relationship between threat related cognitive biases and emotional vulnerability; causal role that biases might play in enhancing emotional vulnerability; developing techniques that could be used (potentially in a clinical setting) to directly reduce negative bias.
Example PhD project outlines: 1) Cognitive Bias Modification: developing a novel therapeutic tool. Cognitive bias modification (CBM) is a technique in which negative cognitive biases (for example as might be associated with clinical anxiety) are directly targetted and modified using computer based tasks. This project will assess the mechanisms underlying successful CBM and develop it further as a therapeutic tool to be used in clinical conditions. 2) Attachment and bias modification. Insecure attachment is associated with biased processing of emotional information. This project will target these maladaptive processing styles using Cognitive Bias Modification, training positive information processing and enhancing secure attachment behaviour.
Dr Gavin Nobes
Moral development; development of antisocial behaviour; children's understanding of science, especially astronomy, physics, biology, health and illness.
Example PhD project outlines: Family and peer influences on the development of morality and / or antisocial behaviour; the development of understanding intentions; children's understanding of science, including the Earth and climate change, biology, health and illness.
Professor Margaret O'Brien
Fatherhood and work-family policy; fathers, parenting and family support; children, families and communities; children’s well-being; fathers and premature infants.
Neil Rutterford
EEG Biofeedback research, including using EEG related information to aid individuals to reach their optimum level of functioning.
Dr Vicky Scaife
Aspects of substance use in relation to aspects of family life: parental substance misuse; risk and protective factors for the development of problematic substance misuse; optimistic bias in relation to substance misuse; young people's substance use decision-making; professional decision-making processes about people who have substance use problems.
Example PhD project outlines: Social-psychological antecedents of binge drinking by young people; peer and parental influences on adolescent substance use; expanded theory of planned behaviour models of substance use.
Charles Seger
Experimental social psychology, particularly social cognition, implicit attitudes, prejudice, and social embodiment.
Dr Judi Walsh
Attachment and caregiving in adults; parental-foetal relationships; relationships and psychological wellbeing.
Example PhD project outlines: Understanding the structure and content of affectional bonds in the prenatal period in fathers and mothers; The role of attachment security in the provision and evaluation of emotional support in adult relationships; The role of reciprocity in relationship satisfaction; Attachment and bias modification. (Insecure attachment is associated with biased processing of emotional information. This project will target these maladaptive processing styles using Cognitive Bias Modification, training positive information processing and enhancing secure attachment behaviour.)
