SOPRG research seminar by Dr Kotryna K. Fraser on Performance & Psychology, Tue Sept 17, 12-1pm

The School of Psychology's Social and Organisation Psychology Research Group (SOPRG) is proud of inviting you to...

WHAT/WHO: a research presentation by Dr Dr Kotryna K. Fraser from UON Life Sciences

TITLE: Bridging the gap between performance and psychology: Sport, Exercise and Performance Psychology in Practice and Research

WHERE: School of Psychology, Keats room AVGL19, Aviation Building, Callaghan; zoom: https://uonewcastle.zoom.us/s/979950681

WHEN: Tuesday 17th September, 12-1pm

ABSTRACT: Have you considered why some people make it to the top and some don’t? Why some people crumble under pressure while others thrive? Why some athletes are super-champs and win an Olympic Gold while others are almost-champs and come second? Sport, Exercise and Performance Psychology may have more [scientific] answers for you to consider than you may expect. This presentation will offer a brief overview of key topics that are often discussed, practised and researched by Sport, Exercise and Performance Psychology researchers and practitioners. It will then offer an overview of research projects and key aspects of practical work as a means to bridge the mainstream psychology with domains of sport, exercise and physical performance.

'DISCLAIMER': This presentation is designed to showcase a range of topics, projects and ideas in Sport, Exercise and Performance Psychology rather than to turn you into a super-athlete.

BIO: Kotryna K. Fraser is an Associate Lecturer in Exercise and sport Sciences (Sport Psychology) at the School of Environmental and Life Sciences, The University of Newcastle. She is an earlier career researcher with a strong passion and background in Sport and Performance Psychology. Kotryna has MSc in Performance Psychology and a PhD in Education and Sport from The University of Edinburgh, Scotland where she taught and supervised undergraduate and postgraduate students. Kotryna is an accredited Sport and Exercise Scientist in Psychology Support under British Association of Sport and Exercise Scientists. Her research interests lie within the areas of feminism and equity in sport, applied interdisciplinary practice, practitioner and coach development, mental skills training, and positive youth development through sport.   

E&D NEWS: Psych Researchers Secure Funding from Department of Education to Research Student Success at University

What kind of student do you picture when you think of a successful student? Chances are your idea of a successful student is one who gets HDs, passes all their courses and graduates as quickly as possible. From the perspectives of governments and universities, success at university generally boils down to these kinds of statistics.


However, research has found that when you ask students to define success they have very different indicators and ideas about what they are trying to achieve at university. From a student’s perspective, success takes on an array of meanings ranging from tangible outcomes such as CVs and careers, to personal growth and achievement, to developing the ability to change the world for the better. This is especially true for students from non-traditional backgrounds. In particular, research has shown that students from low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds come to university with different motivations and have different ideas about what they are trying to achieve. Thus, it is possible that the current limited definitions of success held by institutions may undermine low SES students’ own feelings of their success.

A/Prof Mark Rubin and Dr Olivia Evans from the School of Psychology, along with a team of researchers from the University of Newcastle, the University of Wollongong, the University of the Sunshine Coast, Western Sydney University, the University of Queensland and La Trobe University, have received a Higher Education Participation and Partnerships Program National Priorities Pool grant to investigate these issues of SES and success at university.

The project will use quantitative and qualitative research methods to produce a comprehensive, integrative understanding of perspectives to success in higher education and when and how it is predicted by SES. The project will develop our understandings of student success in terms of both (a) objective definitions and measurements and (b) subjective experiences of success and being ‘successful’. The project will also provide insight into which factors contribute to success in terms of broader trends and students’ own attributions of their success. 

To find out more about the grant, follow the link here.
For any questions or to discuss further, contact Mark at: Mark.Rubin@newcastle.edu.au | Twitter: @RubinPsyc
or Olivia at: Olivia.Evans@newcastle.edu.au | Twitter: @Oliviosa

School HDR candidates deliver at the University of Newcastle 3-minute-thesis final

Last week was a great week for UoN research students and general public alike:
The University of Newcastle had its annual Three-Minutes-Thesis competition finals at the Newcastle Conservatorium.

Finalists from multiple faculties had to qualify through earlier rounds and compete to represent the University at the Australia-Asia finals.

All presentations were of superb quality, heralded by both spectators and judges. Two of the 15 finalists were from the School of Psychology at the Faculty of Science: Korinne Nicolas and Alix Woolard presented their research on  'keen brain' and 'baby-talk'. respectively. Alix won the popular vote prize. In addition, Ashlea Rendell from the Faculty of Engineering, who is co-supervised by Psychology staff, went on to win the third overall prize.

E&D NEWS: Psych Researchers Secure Funding from Department of Education to Research Student Success at University

What kind of student do you picture when you think of a successful student? Chances are your idea of a successful student is one who gets HDs, passes all their courses and graduates as quickly as possible. From the perspectives of governments and universities, success at university generally boils down to these kinds of statistics.

However, research has found that when you ask students to define success they have very different indicators and ideas about what they are trying to achieve at university. From a student’s perspective, success takes on an array of meanings ranging from tangible outcomes such as CVs and careers, to personal growth and achievement, to developing the ability to change the world for the better. This is especially true for students from non-traditional backgrounds. In particular, research has shown that students from low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds come to university with different motivations and have different ideas about what they are trying to achieve. Thus, it is possible that the current limited definitions of success held by institutions may undermine low SES students’ own feelings of their success.

 A/Prof Mark Rubin and Dr Olivia Evans from the School of Psychology, along with a team of researchers from the University of Newcastle, the University of Wollongong, the University of the Sunshine Coast, Western Sydney University, the University of Queensland and La Trobe University, have received a Higher Education Participation and Partnerships Program National Priorities Pool grant to investigate these issues of SES and success at university.

The project will use quantitative and qualitative research methods to produce a comprehensive, integrative understanding of perspectives to success in higher education and when and how it is predicted by SES. The project will develop our understandings of student success in terms of both (a) objective definitions and measurements and (b) subjective experiences of success and being ‘successful’. The project will also provide insight into which factors contribute to success in terms of broader trends and students’ own attributions of their success.  

To find out more about the grant, follow the link here. 
For any questions or to discuss further, contact Mark at: Mark.Rubin@newcastle.edu.au | Twitter: @RubinPsyc
or Olivia at: Olivia.Evans@newcastle.edu.au | Twitter: @Oliviosa

Psychology students and researchers at the CBMHR annual research day

Students and staff from the School of Psychology participated and presented their research at the annual post-graduate research day of the Center for Brain and Mental Health Research (CBMHR) at the HMRI, last week.

Among the many excellent talks and posters, some of our HDR students also secured prizes for the top presentations. These include Rebekah Bolton (runner-up, best poster; photoed below with Prof Chris Dayas), Annalisa Cuskelly (winner, best blitz talk), and Laura Wall (runner up, best bliz talk). In addition, Gavin Cooper won a prize for the 'audience best question.' 

E&D NEWS: Newcastle Herald spots UON Psychology research about the critical link between social class and sleep

PhD candidate Romany McGuffog was interviewed this week by the Newcastle Herald about her research on the important link between social class and sleep, following Romany’s contribution to the Newcastle Pint of Science in May.

As the news article highlights, Romany’s research shows that people from lower social classes tend to have poorer mental and physical health, and that sleep can partly explain this relationship. The research also informs the types of sleep interventions that can be implemented: People from lower social classes may find having a regular sleep schedule harder to implement if they have multiple jobs with different work times. Therefore, sleep interventions aimed at improving mental health need to be applicable to people from a variety of social class background.
Social class is a relevant and important issue for Australians to discuss. Previous literature however shows that the impact of social class on health is not restricted to Australia but has been found in various countries around the world.

To read the article about Romany’s research from the Newcastle Herald, follow the link here.

The article provides a great insight to the research that Romany has been working on, and is a wonderful example of research dissemination to a wider audience. Both the presentation at the Pint of Science and the news article were excellent ways to share research to a non-academic audience.

Romany is set to submit her PhD thesis on the 22nd August, under the supervision of A/Prof Mark Rubin, A/Prof Stefania Paolini, and Dr Kylie McIntyre.

For any questions or to discuss further, contact Romany at:
Romany.McGuffog@uon.edu.au | Twitter: @RomanyMcGuffog

School of Psychology research seminar, Wed Aug 7, 12-1pm: Prof Thomas Denson, UNSW

UPCOMING SCHOOL WIDE

RESEARCH SEMINAR

ONE WEEK TO GO!

WEDNESDAY 7th AUGUST 2019

GUEST SPEAKER: Professor Thomas F. Denson

AFFILIATION: School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

TITLE: Four psychological manipulations that (sort of) reduce anger and aggression

Location: Room-L326 in Auchmuty Library and via Zoom link to Ourimbah HO-173

Zoom link:https://uonewcastle.zoom.us/ j/257709588

Date: Wednesday 7th August 2019

Time: 12:00pm - 1:00pm

No rsvp required

Light refreshments will be provided

Thomas F. Denson is a Professor in the School of Psychology at UNSW. He is an experimental social- personality psychologist. His primary interests are anger- driven aggression, the social, cognitive and affective neuroscience of anger and aggression, and psychoneuroendocrinology. Tom received his PhD in 2007 from the University of Southern California, after which he received a lectureship at the School of Psychology. He has won several awards for his research including the Association for Psychological Science’s ‘Rising Star’ Award, the NSW Young Tall Poppy Science Award, and the Society for Australasian Social Psychologists’ Early Career Researcher Award. He is a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science and a Fellow of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. He has received over $3 million in funding from the Australian Research Council (ARC) and National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). He was an ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award Fellow and an ARC Future Fellow. He is also an associate editor at Aggressive Behavior and has published over 95 articles and book chapters. In his spare time, he enjoys cooking, playing guitar, and walking his fluffy white dog.

Anger-driven aggression is difficult to prevent. This talk will review recent experimental basic science research on four interventions designed to reduce anger and reactive aggression: cognitive reappraisal, self-control training, cognitive control training, and mindfulness meditation. Cognitive reappraisal involves thinking about a provocation in a less personal, more objective manner. Self-control training involves practicing small acts of self-control over an extended period, usually for two weeks or more. Cognitive control training involves repeat practice of response inhibition tasks tailored to hostile situations. Mindfulness involves acceptance of angry feelings and not reacting to these feelings.

Although my initial review concluded that results were promising for all four strategies (e.g., Denson, 2015), subsequent work from my own laboratory found that cognitive reappraisal and mindfulness are likely to be the most effective in reducing anger and aggression. The data for self-control training are mixed and the evidence is weak to non-existent for cognitive control training. Interestingly, the two strategies which rely on higher-order, abstract cognition (cognitive reappraisal and mindfulness) were most effective. These findings suggest that using these strategies in anger-prone and violent populations may prove challenging as they often lack the requisite abilities to engage in these strategies