Psychology Research Seminar Series
We are pleased to welcome the following guest speakers to Aberystwyth for the first seminars of the 2012/2013 academic year. The seminars are open to colleagues and students from across the University.We look forward to seeing you there.
Seminar 1: Thursday 25th October 5.10-6pm, Physics B
Lance Workman Bath Spa University
Title: Development of lateralized pattern of response on the Universal Chimeric Faces Task
Abstract In his book of 1872 Darwin suggested that humans recognise a number of universal facial expressions. This was disputed until a century later when in 1971 Ekman and Friesen published work that supported Darwin's view - by studying the emotional expressions of quite isolated people in New Guinea the South Fore tribes people (and later other cultures). They proposed that there are 6 universally used and recognised emotional expressions: Happiness, Sadness, Surprise, Anger, Disgust and Fear. Over the last twenty years a number of researchers have conducted studies into the lateralised pattern of response to emotional facial expressions. One method of studying this is via the response to emotional 'chimeric faces'. This involves the splitting of a picture of a neutral facial expression down the midsagittal axis and recombining this with a neutral half-face then presenting this picture with its mirror image. Participants have to choose which picture is most emotive. Such studies regularly reported a left hemiface (RH) perceptual bias for the judgment of emotional intensity providing support for the 'right hemisphere hypothesis' (i.e. a left visual field/right hemisphere bias). Some studies have however suggested a 'valence hypothesis', that is, whilst the right hemisphere is specialised for negative emotions, the left hemisphere plays a central role for the positive emotions. Until 2000 such 'chimeric faces' studies were restricted to 1 or 2 emotional expressions. In 2000 however, by making use of all 6 universal facial expressions, we published evidence that the valence hypothesis may be superimposed onto the right hemisphere advantage as part of the adaptive response developed by each hemisphere to visually evoked emotional stimuli along an approach-avoidance dimension. These findings are discussed in addition to the lateralized pattern of development in children and the abnormal pattern found in autistic children within an evolutionary framework.
Seminar 2: 20th November, 5.10-6pm, 0.01 Edward Llwyd
Craig Evans, University of Bath
Title: Using multi-media methods
Abstract: Multi-media methods provide social researchers with a wealth of exciting opportunities. These may range from photographing the indescribably vivid colours of a sunset, to recording the chaotic sounds of a bustling London market, to disseminating your research to millions of people via YouTube. The lecture will focus on the theoretical and methodological challenges of producing, analysing, representing and disseminating multi-media data. In the first half of the lecture illustrations will be drawn from Craig’s PhD research. This explores the performance of masculine identities in capoeira and Latin and ballroom dance classes. In the second half, attendees will engage with a range of innovative media including cartoons, stand-up comedy, Lego, photography, a song by the artist formerly known as ‘Prince’, and more!
Biography: Craig Owen is a PhD student in the Department of Psychology at the University of Bath. His current ethnographic research explores the performance of embodied masculinities in capoeira and Latin and ballroom dance classes. Craig teaches ‘Visual Methods’ and ‘Multi-media Methods’ on the MRes qualitative methods modules at the University of Bath. Craig graduated from Loughborough University with a BSc (Hons) degree in Sport and Social Science and an MSc degree in Sociology of Sport.
This talk should be of interest to all Psychology students as part of your research methods training. It is also part of the 21st Century Self module.
Past Research Seminars
| Guest Speaker | Title | |
|---|---|---|
| Dr Guillaume Thierry (Bangor University) | The face of dispute: When does the human brain distinguish between visual object categories? | |
| Dr Adrienne Evans (Coventry University) | The Pleasure Pursuers: Examining new female sexual subjectivities | |
| Dr Michael Forrester (Kent University) |
Studying emerging musicality during the early years: A consideration of some methodological challenges |
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| Dr Charlotte Greenway (Trinity St David's College) | The use of the microgenetic methodology to measure analogical development in pre-school children | |
| Dr Peter Malinowski (Liverpool John Moore's University |
Mindfulness practice for well being and psychological change |
To access a recording of this lecture, please click here |
| Dr Lewis Bott (Cardiff University) | Inferences in language comprehension: The Psycholinguistics of Gricean implicatures | |
| Prof Ian Thornton (Swansea University) | Motion can amplify the face inversion effect | |
| Dr Hannah Hale (Cambridge University) | The Margins of Hegemonic Military Masculinities | |
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Dr Rachel Taylor (Glamorgan University) |
Deception and Strategic Decision-Making |
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Prof Paul Bennett (Cardiff University) |
Living with Genetic Risk of Cancer: Some Problems, Some Solutions |