SOPRG seminar: Join us for a research presentation on emotion regulation by DECRA Fellow Dr Kalokerinos

The Social and Organisational Psychology Research Group (SOPRG) is proud to host a talk by Dr Elise Kalokerinos. Elise is our new psychology member of staff and DECRA fellow. Come and offically welcome Elise!


WHEN: Tuesday 10th April, 12-1pm.


WHERE: Keats reading room, Aviation building AVLG17, Callaghan Campus. VC link to Ourimbah campus Science offices' seminar room.


TITLE: Putting Emotion Regulation in Context

 ABSTRACT
Research often characterizes emotion regulation strategies as either “good” or “bad” for psychological functioning. However, outside the lab, the context in which emotion regulation is enacted changes dynamically, and in response to these changes, both “good” and “bad” strategies are used to achieve a wide variety of goals. Thus, effective emotion regulation cannot be understood without an understanding of context. In this talk, I will provide an overview of the work I have done thus far in building a contextual model of emotion regulation. My research suggests that effective emotion regulation depends on who is involved (social factors), when the strategy is deployed (temporal factors), and why a strategy is chosen (motivational factors). I will briefly cover several studies I have conducted in the lab and using experience sampling methods, and highlight the work I am planning as part of my DECRA project at Newcastle.

BIO
Elise Kalokerinos is a Lecturer and DECRA fellow in social psychology at the University of Newcastle. She was previously a Marie Curie postdoctoral fellow at KU Leuven, Belgium. Her research centres on emotion regulation, which refers to the variety of processes through which people influence their emotion. She investigates how contextual features influence 1) the strategies people choose to regulate their emotions, and 2) how successful those strategies are in both the short-term (in changing emotion) and the longer-term (in shaping psychological well-being). Her work uses multiple methods, including traditional lab experiments and experience sampling studies using smartphones to investigate these phenomena in daily life.

JUST PUBLISHED: Special issue on 'Dynamics of Cognitive Control' edited by UoN Prof Frini Karayanidis with collaborators Fabiani and Gratton

Frini Karayanidis and her collaborators, Professors Monica Fabiani and Gabriele Gratton, from the University of Illinois’ Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology jointly edited a special issue on "Dynamics of Cognitive Control: A View Across Methodologies" in Psychophysiology (March 2018, Vol. 55(3)), the flagship journal of the Society for Psychophysiological Research.

This special issue emerged from the ICON-XII Satellite Meeting on Cognitive Control that was chaired by Karayanidis with support by HMRI and UON. The work was progressed during Karayanidis’ visit to Fabiani and Gratton’s lab as the 2016 Beckman Senior Beckman Fellow.

The special issue takes a broad, multimethod perspective on the topic of cognitive control. It is a substantial volume that includes two comprehensive reviews (temporal dynamics of cognitive control, frontal control networks), two theoretical papers presenting novel theoretical perspectives, and eleven empirical studies, each addressing a problem related to the dynamics of cognitive control using combinations of methodologies (eg., modelling, hemodynamic neuroimaging, electrophysiology) and/or analysis approaches (eg., time frequency, event-related potentials (ERPs). The aim is to stimulate further multi-modal research to enhance understanding of cognitive control processes.

To read the issue, go to http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/psyp.2018.55.issue-3/issuetoc.

Cognitive seminar by Prof Jim Townsend, Indiana University

Many of us know about Signal Detection Theory (SDT) and perhaps even use it in our research. It was historically important in separating the bias in human response from perceptual factors such as signal to noise ratio. There is much more we can do within this framework nowadays, and Prof Jim Townsend from Indiana University is one of the leading figures worldwide in the forefront of these advances. He will present recent advances in General Recognition Theory, which can be very crudely viewed as an extension of SDT to complex decisions that involve multiple dimensions. .

The Cognitive Research Group is proud to host a talk by Distinguished Professor James Townsend from the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University:

WHEN: Thursday 8 March, 12-1pm.

WHERE: Keats reading room, AVLG17. VC link to Ourimbah available on request.

TITLE: Response Time General Recognition Theory (RTGRT):  The Parallel Class of Systems.

ABSTRACT: GRT (Ashby & Townsend, Psych.Rev., 1986) is, like classical signal detection theory, static in the sense that there is no stochastic process defined on the perceptual detection process itself.  However, it still comprises the major theory-driven methodology for identification of multi-dimensional perception and classification in the field with hundreds of cited applications.  Nonetheless, its static quality is theoretically limiting because:

1. It cannot encompass exceedingly important observables such as probability correct conditional on response times (RTs).

2. As we have repeatedly argued and proven mathematically [e.g., Eidels, A., Townsend, J. T., Hughes, H. C., & Perry, L. A. (2015). Evaluating Perceptual Integration: Uniting Response Time and Accuracy Based Methodologies. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 77, 659-680.], accuracy rather than RTs is optimal for assessing independence of various types but RTs are optimal for identification of mental architectures such as parallel vs. serial processing.

Thus, by extending GRT to a stochastic environment, we simultaneously

1. Probe varieties of independence in terms of the RT dynamics as well as the overall probabilities of response patterns.

2. Set the stage for a grand unification of GRT and SFT, thereby permitting the assessment of independencies and invariances at the same time as identification of architecture and stopping rule.

3. Unify GRT also with A(t), the generalization of the capacity function, C(t) to data containing errors.

If time permits, the following readings will be beneficial preparation for Jim’s talk: 

Ashby, F. G., & Townsend, J. T. (1986). Varieties of perceptual independence. Psychological Review, 93, 154-179.

Townsend, J. T., Houpt, J., & Silbert, (2012). General recognition theory extended to include response times: Predictions for a class of parallel systems. Journal of Mathematical Psychology, 56, 476-494. 

We look forward to seeing you there!