PSYCHOLOGY
Nationally the discipline of psychology is in an extremely healthy state, and its research quality bears comparison with the best in the world. The South West is very well represented in this discipline, with departments having particular strengths in applied cognition and cognitive neuroscience and social, economic, clinical and health psychology. GWR are funding 17 Psychology PhDs and 4 Research Fellows in the South West, and this 'critical mass' will allow institutions to make a real step-change in training in these areas. This funding has already led to further Research Council and Charity funding for research training (MRC, ESRC, EPSRC, BBSRC, Wellcome, Leverhulme) and project grant funding (with associated studentships).
GWR are organising a series of seminars in the South West on broad topics within 'Psychology'. These seminars can viewed 'live' at Exeter, Bath, Bristol, UWE and Plymouth via Access Grid nodes in these universities.
Forthcoming seminars 2010/11
23rd Feb., Michael Hyland (Plymouth), Explaining unexplained data and phenomena in medicine and psychology
Archived seminars
16th Feb., Diana Harcourt and Nicky Rumsey (UWE), Why we study appearance
2nd Feb. 2011, Paul Salkovskis (Bath), In sickness and in health: Understanding and treating health anxiety
17th November, Jackie Andrade (Plymouth), The role of mental imagery in healthy and unhealthy behaviour
The causes and consequences of short term memory deficit in Down’s syndrome, Chris Jarrold (University of Bristol)
'Developing quality criteria for using photography in research dissemination', Dr Sarah Riley (University of Bath)
'Paradigms: War and Peace', Emma Dures (UWE)
'In those shoes?: Exploring women's identities through footwear', Dr Vivien Burr (University of Huddersfield),
'Introduction to Mathematical modeling', Dr. Chris Kent, GWR Research Fellow (University of Bristol, Plymouth University)
An introduction to the basic principles of modeling in psychology, with a particular emphasis on mathematical models of cognition. The seminar will cover all aspects of modeling, from construction, through parameter estimation, and model evaluation. The seminar assumes basic knowledge of statistics and experimental design.