Public Lecture at Maitland City Library

What is happiness anyway? A psychological and personal perspective.

Associate Professor Ross Wilkinson, PhD MAPS MCCLP

Date: 21^st March 2017

Time: 6:00pm

Venue: Maitland City Library

Overview:

What it is to be happy has been a topic of philosophical debate for over 2500 years. In this talk I will briefly outline the history of this debate and then focus on the recent contributions of psychology to this question. With the upsurge of interest in ‘positive’ psychology, research attention has turned to happiness and the factors that influence it. I will present an overview of the psychological approach to happiness as ‘wellbeing’ and show how subjective happiness varies around the world. The major factors that research has identified as contributing to both current happiness and a deeper and longer-lasting well-being will be discussed. Evidence-informed, practical strategies for increasing your own happiness and that of others will be presented.

Biography:

Associate Professor Ross Wilkinson is an academic and clinical psychologist based in the School of Psychology at the University of Newcastle where he is the Head of the Health and Clinical Psychology Research Group. He has over 25 years’ experience in both research and practice in psychology and has a long-standing interest in positive psychology. He has a research program focussed on the link between relationships and mental health and runs the Relationships and Psychological Health Laboratory (RaphLab). His other research interests include attachment, mindfulness, and perinatal mental health.

UoN School of Psychology ranked among the top 150 world-wide (QS ranking)

Well done to us!.. our report card should say ‘consistent improvement, highly promising’!

In 2014, we were 19^th in the Top 50 Under 50, but then we grew up and had to start playing in the big kids sandpit.

In 2015, we didn’t make it into the Top 200.

We crawled into the scale in 2016, when we were ranked in the Top 200 (151-200 range).

And, 2017 saw us jump up a notch into the Top 150 – really in there with the big kids now!

http://www.newcastle.edu.au/about-uon/qs-rankings/psychology

SOPRG PRESENTATION on trauma, self-growth, and social identity resources on Tue 21/03/17

The School of Psychology's Social and Organisational Psychology research group is proud of inviting you to a research presentation by Prof Orla Muldoon, University of Limerick, Ireland., on Tuesday 21st of March, 12-1pm, Keats reading room, Aviation building, Callaghan (video conferenced to Ourimbah Science Offices Seminar room).

PRESENTATION TITLE: ‘Healing ourselves’:  Negotiating psychological stress & trauma using shared social identities 

ABSTRACT: Conceptualisations of stress and psychological trauma largely rely on individualistic models of resilience and vulnerability.  This presentation will briefly outline the conceptual model that highlights a collective approach to stress and trauma. Specifically the role of  shared social identities and associated identity resources on adjustment to stress and trauma is outlined.  Using data from lab work, the impact of group membership on cardiac reactivity during the Trier Stress test it outlined.  Subsequently the role of identity resources in ameliorating post-traumatic stress in  post-conflict Northern Ireland and post-earthquake Nepal is outlined.  Finally the potential for identity resources to promote adjustment and adaptation to trauma is considered. First by considering role of social identity resources in promoting post traumatic growth  and  second  by presenting evidence of the positive  consequences of a collective crowd experience for those bereaved by suicide.  Discussion of the findings orient to the potential for this approach to support recovery and adjustment for those affected by trauma.


BIOGRAPHY: Orla Muldoon is Professor of Psychology at University of Limerick Ireland where she is also Director of the Centre for Social Issues Research.  She has a long standing interest in the role of group related experiences and identities on health and social development. She has published more than 70 papers on this topic subsequent to completing her  PhD on the impact of political violence n childhood in Queens University Belfast, Northern Ireland.  She is current editor of Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology and Co-editor of Political Psychology.  She is currently on sabbatical in Brisbane and Is keen to meet Australian colleagues as this is her first visit here.

If interested in a one-to-one meeting with Prof Muldoon around her visit, please contact her SOPRG host at emina.subasic@newcastle.edu.au to make arrangements.

JUST PUBLISHED: Age, Cognitive Decline, and Brain's White Matter

New research at UON’s Functional Neuroimaging Laboratory (FNL) has been featured in the latest issue of Research Australia’s online magazine, which showcases health and medical research (Insight, 2017, Issue 4, p. 14-15). 

Dr Todd Jolly’s PhD research indicates that the effects of cardiovascular health on cognition may be greater than the effects of age per se. This work was performed under the supervision of Associate Professor Frini Karayanidis within UON’s Priority Research Centre for Stroke and Brain Injury. The findings suggest the relationship between age and cognitive decline could be explained by brain white matter health. Moreover, older people who reported one or more cardiovascular risk factors show greater decline in brain white matter health and cognition than older adults with no risk factors. This work has implications for prevention of cognitive decline and theories of cognitive ageing. 

http://researchaustralia.org/inspire-magazine/

If Collectivists like Social Groups, and Cities are Social Groups, do Collectivists like Cities?

Do you like the place where you live? Maybe it's got great architecture, it's clean and crime free, the housing is cheap, and/or the nightlife is good? But maybe your liking for the place is also related to something else - your own tendency to identify with social groups? In some recent research, my colleagues and I investigated this issue by considering the relations between collectivism, city identification, and city evaluation.

Collectivism is a sociocultural orientation towards perceiving the self and others as belonging to social groups, and it influences the extent to which people identify with social groups. The more collectivist you are, the more strongly you identify with social groups.  Prior research has found that people who identify strongly with a place tend to like that place more. Hence, it is possible that people who are relatively high in collectivism identify strongly with the place that they live and, consequently, evaluate that place more positively.

To investigate this possibility, my colleagues and I sampled 1,660 residents of four cities in three countries: Newcastle, Australia; Sydney, Australia; Paris, France; and Istanbul, Turkey. Participants completed an online survey containing measures of collectivism, city identification, and city evaluation. We found that, within each city sample and across the combined samples, a specific measure of collectivism called collective interdependent self-construal was positively related to city evaluation. We also found that city identification mediated this relation. Hence, people's general tendency to construe social groups as part of their self (collectivism; e.g., “The groups I belong to are an important reflection of who I am”) predicted their level of identification with their city (city identification; e.g., "I identify with other people living in Sydney"), which in turn helped to explain their positive appraisal of that city (city evaluation).

A key limitation of our research is that it employed a cross-sectional correlational design, which prevented us from drawing clear conclusions about the causal direction of the relations that we observed. Future research should employ a longitudinal research design in order to provide clearer conclusions on this issue.

The present research results imply that the social psychological group processes that are responsible for people's identification with and evaluation of social groups based on gender, ethnicity, nationality, etc. may also apply to cities because, at their base, cities are social groups.

For further information please see the following journal article:

Rubin, M., Badea, C., Condie, J., Mahfud, Y., Morrison, T., & Peker, M. (2017). Individual differences in collectivism predict city identification and city evaluation in Australian, French, and Turkish cities Journal of Environmental Psychology, 50, 9-16 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvp.2017.01.007

For a self-archived version, please click here.  

EQUITY&DIVERSITY SERIES: Benefits and risks of positive and negative intergroup interactions (Tue, 14/3, 12-1pm)

The School of Psychology's Social and Organisational Psychology research group is proud of inviting you to a research presentation by Dr Lydia Hayward, UNSW, on Tuesday 14th March 12-1pm, Keats reading room, Aviation building, Callaghan (video conferenced to Ourimbah Science Offices Seminar room). This presentation is part of our Equity and Diversity Series.

PRESENTATION TITLE: When and how does negative contact with outgroup members harm intergroup relations more than positive contact helps it?

ABSTRACT: Over 60 years of research has shown that positive interactions between members of different groups can reduce prejudice, however recent evidence suggests that negative contact may be having a stronger impact on intergroup relations, increasing prejudice more than positive contact is reducing prejudice (positive-negative contact asymmetry). In this talk, I will discuss several studies investigating: 1) the causal nature of these relationships; 2) whether this asymmetry also exists for racial minority group members; 3) how negative contact might work to increase prejudice; 4) whether negative contact has a potentially constructive influence on social change; and 5) how past contact experiences may colour the lens through which current real-world conflict is perceived. Results' implications for recent debates over prejudice reduction as a method of social change.

BIOGRAPHY: Lydia Hayward completed her PhD at the University of Queensland in 2016 and is now a postdoctoral researcher at UNSW working with Associate Professor Lenny Vartanian. She studies the predictors and consequences of prejudice and stigma. Currently, she is investigating how weight stigma experiences affect body image and motivation to engage in weight loss behaviours among people who are overweight and obese. During her PhD, she focused on the predictors of prejudice, understanding how positive and negative interactions with people from other racial groups predicts racism, intergroup emotions, and participation in collective action among members of advantaged and disadvantaged groups.


If interested in a one-to-one meeting with Dr Hayward around her visit, please contact her SOPRG host at Stefania.Paolini@newcastle.edu.au to make arrangements.

UoN to host the Experimental Psychology Conference (EPC) 2017

EPC is the annual meeting of the Australasian Society for Experimental Psychology. This meeting provides a forum for presenting new research across the broad spectrum of experimental psychology.

EPC has been held annually since the first meeting at Monash University in 1974. In large part, both the meeting and the Australasian Society for Experimental Psychology owe their existence to the leadership of Emeritus Professor Ross Day. This debt is acknowledged by the naming of the annual plenary lecture, given by a luminary of the society.

This year, EPC will be hosted by the School of Psychology of the University of Newcastle. The conference will take place in the Ramada Resort Shaol Bay, Wed 19/4 - Sat 22/4. Abstract deadline is coming very soon, March 10, 2017.

The organizing committee is delighted to announce that the plenary lecture will be given by Prof Andrew Heathcote, currently at the University of Tasmania, but a novocastrian at heart. Prof Heathcote is a world leader in the study of memory and decision-making models. He held full time positions at the UoN School of Psychology since 1991, and had been awarded the lucrative Australian Professorial Fellowship. He holds positions at both UTas and UoN.

Further details, links, and contacts can be found in the formal EPC-2017 webpage, here.

Researchers from UoN presented their work at the annual Mathematical Society meeting

Students and Staff from the School of Psychology at the University of Newcastle presented their research last week, at the annual meeting of the Australian Society of Mathematical Society, hosted in Brisbane by the University of Queensland.

Laura Wall, Zach Howard, and Paul Garrett from the University of Newcastle were among Research Higher Degree students from all over the world, presenting their research and furiously debating about LBA, SFT and other acronyms.  

HMRI Rare Diseases Public Seminar, Tuesday, 28 February 2017

Living with a rare disorder: Not such a rare experience

To mark Rare Disease Day 2017, HMRI and the Priority Research Centre GrowUpWell are hosting the HMRI Rare Diseases Public Seminar, Tuesday 28 February 2017. The event starts at 5:15pm, is FREE of charge, and offers FREE PARKING. 

Speakers and topics:

Dr Tracy Dudding-Byth | Matching faces: How using computer vision can help diagnosis of children with undiagnosed intellectual disability

Miss Jane Goodwin | A different but not so rare parenting journey: Exploring parents’ experiences of having a child with a rare disorder

Dr Aniruddh V. Deshpande | Surgeons and rare diseases in Newborn Children: Where we are and where we want to be

Dr Elizabeth Kepreotes | Rare disorders and advocacy in Australia today

The Hunter is home to many leading researchers and clinicians focused on improving the diagnosis, treatment and management of range of rare disorders. Research areas include: 

·         rare genetic diseases, and inherited forms of intellectual disability for which the genetic basis remains unknown; 

·         developmental disability (such as 22q11.2 deletion syndrome/VCFS);

·         kidney diseases and complex surgical diseases on lung function of growing children; and

·         factors that influence and impact upon parents' ability to cope and adjust to having a child with a diagnosed rare disease.

The seminar will be chaired by Dr Linda Campbell and Associate Professor Alison Lane, and will be followed by light refreshments.

Cost: FREE
Food: Sandwiches will be provided, with an optional gold coin donation always appreciated. Tea/coffee along with biscuits and fruit will also be provided.
Car Parking: Free car parking is available at the HMRI Building. If you require a Disabled Parking spot, or have special access requirements, please advise via registration below.

Event Schedule

·         5.15 pm – 5.30 pm: Arrival and refreshments

·         5.30 pm – 7.00 pm: Welcome and Researcher Presentations

·         7.00 pm – 7.30 pm: Informal question time, networking and refreshments (end of event)

To register please go here: https://hmri.org.au/events/hmri-public-seminar-rare-diseases

JUST PUBLISHED: Haven’t You Heard! Vowel Perception Involves an Evidence Accumulation Process.

As children, part of learning English involved uttering the proverbial ah, eh, ee, oh, oo – the vowels, which along with consonants, form the building blocks of the English Language. Overtime, we learn to easily distinguished between different vowels in speech. To make this discrimination we need to process a wealth of continuous information, such as the pitch, the duration, or the loudness of the sound and then make a discrete choice about what vowel we have heard. Researchers have found it difficult to reconcile the fact that listeners make discrete choices based on continuous information.

Graduate student Gabriel Tillman and Professor Scott Brown from the University of Newcastle along with Titia Benders (Macquarie University) and Don van Ravenzwaaij (University of Groningen) developed a cognitive process model that describes how continuous acoustic information leads to discrete phoneme decisions. In a nutshell, the model posits that people sample evidence from the sounds and this evidence accumulates until a decision threshold is crossed, which triggers an overt response.

The model accounted for choice and response time data from an experiment where Dutch listeners discriminated between Dutch vowels. With the model, the researchers could examine unobserved processes involved in the perception of Dutch vowels. They found that sound frequency information contributes more to the perception of vowels than duration information, that frequency was more important for some of the Dutch vowels than others, and that longer durations did not delay when participants started using information from the sound.

Read more about this study here:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/310442605_An_Evidence_Accumulation_Model_of_Acoustic_Cue_Weighting_in_Vowel_Perception

Health and Clinical Psychology Research Group Seminar

START Caring for Carers: A psychological intervention for carers of people with dementia

Dr Michelle Kelly

When: Wednesday 7th December 12 noon
Where: Keats Room (AVLG17) - Psychology Building, Callaghan Campus (video to Ourimbah Science Offices)

Abstract: There are an estimated 1.2 million people involved in the care of a person with dementia and 7% of all Australians identify as being a carer for family or friends suffering from dementia. Whilst there are many challenges that carers face, increasing dependence and challenging behaviours associated with dementia are unquestionably difficult. Thus, the development of an effective intervention to support carers and optimise their capacity and opportunity to care is vital. Not only may this lead to an improvement in quality of life for the carer, but also for the person with dementia. This presentation will cover the development of a feasibility and acceptability study of an 8-session individualised psychological intervention for carers of people with dementia. The proposed study will take place within the University of Newcastle Psychology Clinics with interventions being delivered by students on placement. The research team hopes to receive feedback on the study with regards to study design but moreso, the challenges and ethical considerations of running such a project within a student training facility.

Bio: Dr Michelle Kelly is a Clinical Psychologist and a Senior Lecturer in the School of Psychology. Her research focus is on social functioning in clinical groups including dementia and traumatic brain injury. Michelle’s research also covers other areas of care in dementia such as the management of the behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia and the effects of these on carers.

Animal cognition in a human-dominated world: Dr Andrea Griffin and co-editors from the University of Vienna bring to fruition the first special edition of the journal Animal Cognition.

A team of three co-editors led by Dr Andrea Griffin from the UoN School of Psychology has just completed the first special edition of the journal Animal Cognition on the topical issue of animal cognition in a human-dominated world. The special issue features 11 new studies showcasing new research findings and ideas within the field of animal cognition & Human induced fast environmental change (HIREC), introduced by an editorial piece by Griffin and her co-editors highlighting the current state of the field. Although all the papers are now available online, the issue will receive an ‘official’ launch in January 2017 by the publisher Springer.

The special issue arose as a consequence a symposium entitled Human impact: Behavioural and cognitive responses to human-induced environmental change co-organised by a team of six national and international researchers including Griffin at the 2015 International Ethology Conference (IEC), one of the biggest scientific gatherings of behavioural biologists worldwide.

The special issue pays tribute to current changes in the field of animal cognition. Traditionally focused on studying general mechanisms in a handful of model lab species, the field is currently mutating to one examining how a diverse range of animal species use their mental capacities in real-life contexts. As questions about how animals perceive, process, store and use information they extract from their environment begin to capture the fascination of biologists, so too is the growing desire to study cognition in the context of fast environmental change. Most telling of this growing trend is the observation that the symposium organised by Griffin and her colleagues on behavioural and cognitive responses to human-induced environmental change was one of the two largest 2-15-IEC symposiums alongside another dedicated to Avian Cognition.

As human populations expand and spread, they change surrounding landscapes both near and far. Whereas some animals go extinct, unable to adjust to new challenges, others thrive in these new ecosystems, taking advantage of myriad novel, yet unoccupied ecological, opportunities. Whether animals adapt or disappear is strongly influenced by their mental machinery, argues Griffin et al. in their editorial piece, urging biologists versed in animal cognition to play a prominent role in future wildlife management research.

The special issue describes how species from butterflies, amphibians, fish, to birds, used their cognitive abilities to adjust to environmental change, including research undertaken in the School of Psychology on the learning abilities of the introduced common myna. The issue figures research on how cognition and brain development can be affected by pollution and temperature rise, but also how researchers can harness animals’ cognitive abilities to help them adjust.

Griffin and her co-editors predict a rich future of interaction between fundamental research in cognition and applied HIREC-related research. The 11 featured articles will provide a catalyst for further advancement in the field of cognition and HIREC in the years to come.

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10071-016-1051-9

Public forum, Mon 28/11 6:30pm, John Hunter Hospital: "Can we benefit from technology without being driven to distraction?"

Centre for Brain and Mental Health Research Public Forum

Royal Newcastle Lecture Theatre, JHH Hospital

Monday, 28th November 2016

6.30pm to 8.30pm (Light refreshments provided)

Completely FREE!

The title of the forum is Can we benefit from technology without being driven to distraction? We have two speakers, David Strayer from the University of Utah and Keith Nesbitt from the University of Newcastle discussing their research and the implications of their research.

Feel free to circulate the information to any friends, family or groups who you think may be interested in attending. For more information, please contact Annalese Johnson – annalese.johnson@newcastle.edu.au

Professor David Strayer

Why talking to your car may be hazardous to your health 

Professor David Strayer is a cognitive psychologist at the University of Utah, and Director for the Prevention of Distracted Driving. Prof. David’s interests lie in examining the effects of distraction in numerous situations, such as using cell phones while driving. Prof David’s research has also been featured in Discover Magazine’s 100 Top Science Stories in 2003 and 2005.

Dr Keith Nesbitt

Future Training - Simulations, Serious Games, Ambient technologies, Augmented and Virtual Reality – How will the next generation learn to make decisions?

Dr Keith Nesbitt is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Design, Communication and IT at the University of Newcastle, Australia. Dr Keith’s main areas of expertise include Human Interface Design and Information Visualisation with a particular focus on Perception and Cognition related to Computer Games and Virtual Reality.

EQUITY & DIVERSITY SERIES: presentation on social cohesion and workshop on research & industry engagement

Join us for a research presentation and a research-industry workshop by Prof Kate Reynolds, Australian National University, on Thursday 24th of November.

RESEARCH PRESENTATION: From alienation to contact and inclusivity norms: Building social cohesion in ethnically diverse communities 
by Katherine J. Reynolds, Benjamin M. Jones, Kathleen Klik & Sarah McKenna (The Australian National University); Luisa Batalha (Australian Catholic University) & Emina Subasic (University of Newcastle)

Thursday 24th November, 10-11am: Keats reading room, Aviation building, Callaghan (video conferenced to Humanities room: HO1.43, Ourimbah)


With communities becoming increasingly diverse, governments are focused on the need to strengthen social cohesion. Recent "home-grown" terrorist events have re-energised debates about the consequences of discrimination, alienation and beliefs that the system is illegitimate (not working for "us" or "we" do not belong here). Social and political psychology have progressed our understanding of the dynamics of intergroup conflict and co-operation and its consequences for (il)legitimacy, prejudice, violence and social cohesion. Drawing on these insights an Australian Research Council Linkage grant in partnership with the Australian Department of Social Services investigated the predictors of social cohesion (e.g., community ethnic diversity, positive contact, sense of threat) and the impact of community-based interventions on social cohesion. Key findings are that (i) contact and threat mediate the relationship between neighbourhood ethnic diversity and social cohesion (offering an extension to Putnam, 2007) and (ii) inclusivity norms and social identity processes play an important role in explaining the impact of community programs. Implications of the findings for theory, research and community and national-level efforts to build social cohesion will be outlined.

WORKSHOP: Research and industry engagement: Psychology, behaviour and public policy
by Katherine J. Reynolds



Thursday 24th November, 12-2.30pm: Keats reading room, Aviation building, Callaghan (video conferenced to Humanities room: HO1.43, Ourimbah)

In this workshop new developments at the interface between psychology and public policy will be outlined such as increasing use by governments of behavioural insights or "nudge" units. The strengths, limitations and challenges of such developments will be examined. The implications for researchers who are increasingly being encouraged to consider the wider impact of their work will also be discussed.

BIOGRAPHY:
Kate Reynolds is a Professor of Psychology at ANU with over 20 years experience in teaching and research supervision in social and organisational psychology. The broad research question that frames her work concerns the impact of groups and group norms on individual’s attitudes, well-being and behaviour. A group could be a team at work, an organisation such as a business or school, or an ethnic or national group so this research is relevant to many areas of psychology (education, organisational, political and social). 

Kate's research increasingly involves naturalistic settings such as organisations and community groups and she has lead several projects with Government in areas of ongoing school improvement through staff and student school climate and school identification (ARC Linkage with ACT Education Directorate), building community cohesion (ARC Linkage with Department of Social Services and formerly Department of Immigration and Citizenship) and the role of community norms in Cape York Welfare reform (Advisory role with Indigenous Affairs). 

She has experience in a number of leadership roles including as Associate Director (Engagement) in the Research School of Psychology (2015-2017), President of the International Society of Political Psychology (2016-2017), a member of journal Editorial Boards (e.g. Associate Editor, 2010-2012, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Co-editor Political Psychology, 2013-2015), and Chair of the ACT Education and Training Directorate Safe Schools Roundtable (2012-ongoing). She is also the incoming President of the Society of Australasian Social Psychologists (SASP 2017-2019). 

JUST PUBLISHED: Could I, should I? Parenting aspirations and personal considerations of five young women with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome

Miss Lisa Phillips is a Clinical Psychologist who did her Masters of Clinical Psychology at the University of Newcastle in Australia with Dr Linda Campbell and Dr Martin Johnson from the School of Psychology. Recently her Masters research was published in collaboration with Miss Jane Goodwin, and is available here: http://bit.ly/2egsx0G

Establishing relationships and considering parenthood can present both challenges and joys for any young adult. However, young people with an intellectual disability (ID) can encounter extra obstacles on the road to achieving their aspirations. This phenomenological study explores the perceptions, hopes, and dreams of relationships and parenting of women with a genetic intellectual disability, 22q11.2 deletion syndrome.

After significant analysis four main themes emerged from the interviews, that is patterns in the data that was shared between the participants: (a) challenges and acceptance of having 22q11DS, (b) desire for social acceptance and normality, (c) welcoming of emotional and practical support, and (d) individuation. The themes describe the discordance between the challenges and acceptance of having a genetic disorder, the need to be “normal,” the importance and appreciation of social support, and the women’s aspirations for independence.

Overall, the conclusions from the study highlight that these young women with 22q11DS approaches their adulthood with a sense of optimism and personal competence yet recognise their unique challenges. Parental support is valued despite the need for independence. The findings provide insight into the lived experience of women with 22q11DS.

Citation: Phillips, L., Goodwin, J., Johnson, M. P., & Campbell, L. E. (2016). Could I, should I? Parenting aspirations and personal considerations of five young women with 22q11. 2 deletion syndrome. Journal of Intellectual & Developmental Disability, 1-11.

JUST PUBLISHED: The experiences of women who have accessed a perinatal and infant mental health service: a qualitative investigation

Eliza Davis recently graduated with a Master of Clinical Psychology from the University of Newcastle. She undertook her research with Dr Linda Campbell and Dr Dominiek Coates at the Perinatal Infant Mental Health (PIMH) service in Gosford. The research was recently published online: http://bit.ly/2dZ6D6K

Client feedback is an essential part of service evaluation and can aid both the development and delivery of client-centred services. The current study is an investigation into the experiences of women who have accessed a perinatal infant mental health (PIMH) service. The purpose of the perinatal infant mental health (PIMH) service in Gosford, Central Coast (Australia) is to support vulnerable women to connect with and care for their infant, however it is not well understood how effectively the service supports the needs of the consumers.

Overall, it was found that trusting therapeutic relationships with a regular clinician facilitated a safe environment conducive to counselling, which allowed for reflections on trauma, mental health and parenting. Implications: Findings from this study highlight the positive impact of PIMH services on consumers with a particular emphasis on the importance of the consumer–clinician relationship. Importantly, it was also found that dealing with past trauma was critically important for the women to enable them to move on with their lives as mothers.

Citation: Coates, D., Davis, E., & Campbell, L. (2016). The experiences of women who have accessed a perinatal and infant mental health service: a qualitative investigation. Advances in Mental Health, 1-13.

SCAN PhD Students win awards at PRC-Brain and Mental Health Post-graduate Conference

Students from SCAN’s Cognitive Control group headed by A/Prof Frini Karayanidis excelled at the recent Priority Research Centre for Brain and Mental Health Post-doctoral and Post-graduate conference that was held at HMRI on Wednesday 12 October. 

Patrick Cooper was awarded the prize for best oral presentation, Olivia Whalen was awarded the prize for best poster and Montana McKewen was a runner up for the poster prize. The titles of their presentations are listed below; readers interested in more details concerning these presentations are invited to contact the authors via the email addresses listed below.

Functional gradients of prefrontal cortex organisation have corresponding oscillatory hierarchies. 

Patrick S. Cooper, Frini Karayanidis, Francisco Barceló

patrick.cooper@newcastle.edu.au

The methodology behind eye tracking in early infancy.

Olivia Whalen, Frini Karayanidis, Linda Campbell, Alison Lane

Olivia.Whalen@newcastle.edu.au

Rapid adjustments of frontoparietal networks underpin proactive cognitive control.

Montana McKewen, Patrick S. Cooper, Aaron S. W. Wong, W. Ross Fulham, Patricia T. Michie, & Frini Karayanidis

Frini.Karayanidis@newcastle.edu.au

Health and Clinical Psychology Research Group Seminar

Prosocial attitudes as mediators of the attachment and psychological health relationship: The case for self-compassion and gratitude.

Associate Professor Ross Wilkinson
School of Psychology, University of Newcastle

Date: 26th October
Time: 12 noon
Place: Keats Reading Room (video to Ourimbah Science Offices)

Abstract: There is an increasing interest in the link between prosocial attitudes and psychological health from both a ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ psychology perspective. In this talk I will present data examining the extent to which a prosocial construct (gratitude) and a quasi-prosocial construct (self-compassion) are related to interpersonal expectancies (attachment) and psychological adjustment (depression, anxiety, stress). A model is proposed in which both gratitude and self-compassion partially mediate the link between attachment and psychological (ill-)health. Participants were 506 (397 women) university students and members of the general public who completed an online survey. Ages ranged from 18 to 82 years (M = 31.4, SD = 14.2). Correlations between all variables investigated were significant. Using structural equation modelling, the hypothesized mediational model was evaluated and supported, with some modifications based on whether psychological health was indicated by anxiety, stress, or depression. In the models evaluated attachment anxiety was more related to self-compassion while attachment avoidance was more related to gratitude. Overall, the pattern of direct and indirect effects indicate that a self-compassionate attitude plays a greater role in psychological adjustment than dispositional gratitude both directly and as a mediator of attachment insecurity. Limitations of the research are discussed and implications for clinical practice explored.

SCAN seminar hosting Prof. Jakob Hohwy from Monash, Monday Oct 24

The SCAN seminar on Monday 24th October will be delivered by Prof. Jakob Hohwy from Monash University at 12:00 noon in the Keats Reading Room.

Title: "Better believe the free energy principle"

Abstract:

Many believe that an important part of brain function is to form predictions of sensory input. Fewer believe the free energy principle, which is an extreme version of the idea that the brain is predictive. So it ought to be reasonable to believe that prediction is an important part of brain function while not believing the free energy principle. Using simple considerations from philosophy of science, I argue that if one begins with the idea that prediction is an important part of brain function, then it is reasonable to also believe the free energy principle.

Bio:
Jakob is Professor of Philosophy at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. He studied in Aarhus, Denmark, obtained his masters from St. Andrews, Scotland, and did his PhD at the Australian National University. Jakob has established the Cognition & Philosophy Lab at Monash University, which conducts empirical experiments and theoretical explorations in consciousness science. His approach is highly interdisciplinary, and he collaborates with neuroscientists, psychologists, and psychiatrists on topics such as the neural correlates of consciousness, bistable perception, multisensory integration in autism, and bodily self-awareness. Jakob is the author of The Predictive Mind (OUP, 2013), which seeks to unify many aspects of consciousness under the notion of prediction error minimisation.

Jakob will be available to meet with staff and students after 2pm on Monday. Please contact Dr. Bryan Paton (bryan.paton@newcastle.edu.au) if you wish to meet with Jakob.

JUST PUBLISHED: new paper examines whether mental health problems in high school students vary by socio-demographic factors

PhD candidate Julia Dray and A/Prof Jenny Bowman of the Health and Clinical Psychology Research Group and colleagues, recently published a study which investigated prevalence of mental health problems in high school students, and how such prevalence varies by age, gender, Aboriginal status, remoteness of residential location and socio-economic disadvantage.

The recently published paper relates to one of three studies presented last month by Julia at the 22nd International Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions World Congress, Calgary Canada, which Julia attended as one of twenty international early career researchers to be awarded a place in the Donald J Cohen Fellow program at the World Congress.

The research team surveyed a regional sample of almost 7,000 high school students… so what did they find?

Almost 1 in 5 students scored in the ‘very high’ range for general mental health problems, with girls more likely to have mental health problems overall and in particular internalising problems (e.g. emotional symptoms), and boys more likely to have externalising problems (e.g. hyperactivity). Aboriginal students consistently scored higher for mental health problems than non-Aboriginal students.

A particular strength of the study, the research team developed the paper through a cultural advice process which involved an internal cultural advice group within the research team, an external cultural steering group and external Aboriginal researchers and community members to ensure that results relating to Aboriginal students were correctly interpreted embedded in the context of multi-generational trauma for Aboriginal people in Australia. The paper highlights the need for the development and validation of culturally appropriate measures of mental health for use with Aboriginal young people, and the equal importance of considering resilience and strengths within Aboriginal individuals and communities including strong family and interpersonal relationships, maintenance of a unique cultural identity and connection, and the development of coping skills.    

You can read the full paper at:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/308107177_Mental_health_problems_in_a_regional_population_of_Australian_adolescents_association_with_socio-demographic_characteristics

Health and Clinical Research Group Seminar

Applications of positive psychology to psychotherapy and clinical practice

Presenter: Professor Stephen Joseph (University of Nottingham)

Time: 19th October, Noon

Location: Keats  Room (AVLG17), Callaghan Campus (video to Ourimbah Science Offices) University of Newcastle

Abstract:

In this seminar Stephen will discuss his research interests in the field of positive psychology. It was in the late 1980’s as a new researcher in the field of posttraumatic stress he observed that survivors of disaster reported positive changes in their outlook on life. Changing the course of his career to focus on how adversity can be a springboard to higher levels of psychological functioning he was one of the pioneers of the field of study now known as posttraumatic growth. Posttraumatic growth attracted much research interest in the subsequent two decades becoming one of the flagship topics of the positive psychology movement. It offered clinicians new ways of thinking about psychotherapeutic practice with survivors of trauma. More recently, as a positive psychologist concerned not only with the alleviation of suffering but also the promotion of well-being, and curious as to how these ideas can be applied more widely, he has gone on to develop new research into the psychology of authenticity. Can helping people to live a life that is true to themselves be a road to a fully functioning life?

Bio:

Stephen Joseph, PhD, is a professor at the University of Nottingham where is convenor of the human flourishing research group. Known internationally as a leading expert in positive psychology, he is the editor of the ground breaking book Positive Psychology in Practice: Promoting human flourishing in work, health, education and everyday life. He studied at the London School of Economics, before going on to gain his doctorate from Kings College London Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience for his pioneering work in the field of psychological trauma. His previous book What Doesn’t Kill us: The new psychology of posttraumatic growth is available in translation across the world. His most recent book is Authentic. How to be yourself and why it matters (www.authenticityformula.com)

Two PhD students submitted their theses

Two SCAN PhD students from the FNL, Patrick Cooper and Alex Conley, recently submitted their PhD theses.  Both students were supervised by Frini Karayanidis and submitted their theses within 24 hours of each other  – 12th and 13th Sept respectively.  A huge effort by everyone.  Alex has been offered a postdoc at Vanderbilt University in Nashville.  Patrick will be leading the EEG program for the Priority Research Centre in Stroke and Brain Injury.  

Patrick Cooper – thesis title “Oscillatory mechanisms of goal-directed control: A central role of frontoparietal theta”

Adjusting our behaviours and thoughts in line with current contextual demands is a key part of daily living. Decades of neuroimaging have reached a consensus that these top-down, cognitive control processes rely on extensive frontoparietal networks. Yet, how information is adjusted within these networks is still poorly understood. That is, we know where in the brain control arises from but not strictly how. My thesis explored the role of low frequency oscillations (known as theta) within frontoparietal networks during cognitive control tasks. I report novel evidence that theta oscillations are ubiquitous with cognitive control, facilitating communication between frontal and parietal cortices, promoting integration of distinct neural frequencies and oscillate over both short and long time-scales to achieve flexible control over behaviour. These factors suggest that theta may serve as a functional scaffold for goal-appropriate information to be propagated within frontoparietal networks. 

Alex Conley - thesis title “Effects of anodal transcranial direct current stimulation over the motor cortex on response processes.” 

The neuromodulatory technique transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has been proposed as a beneficial intervention for stroke patients, with the goal of improving upper limb function. However, despite over a decade of research in healthy and clinical samples, there is still little knowledge of how tDCS might produce these benefits in motor performance. My thesis investigated the effectiveness of tDCS over the motor cortex to enhance the cognitive processes that occur in the lead up to the execution of a motor response. I examined these processes in healthy younger and older adults, as well as in chronic stroke patients. I report a consistent pattern of results across all three groups showing no improvement following tDCS over the motor cortex on responding. These findings indicate that tDCS may not be a reliable option for enhancing response processing in stroke patients.

We wish them both well in their future careers!

JUST PUBLISHED: paper by UoN PhD student examines if people are as good as they think at basic tasks

If you’re anything like most people, you’re probably extremely good at performing basic tasks while making very few errors. Although it’s very important to be able to make very few errors on a task - such as in an important test or exam - this is not always the requirement of the task. For example, when playing a timed arcade basketball game, going faster will lead to more overall chances, even if some baskets are missed. This means that the best performance in the task would require the most efficient one, which is making the most baskets in the quickest time possible. However, can people also perform extremely well at maximizing efficiency in basic tasks?

This was the exact question of interest for PhD studnet Nathan Evans and Dr. Scott Brown of the Newcastle Cognition Lab, who aimed to explore how efficiently people could complete basic perceptual tasks when they were explicitly given this goal. Interestingly, people naturally failed to perform with extreme efficiency, with their performance favouring accuracy over efficiency. However, when people were given more explicit feedback on how they could change their performance to be more efficient, their performance closely matched that of the most efficient performance possible.

For those who are interested, the full paper can be found at:
http://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/s13423-016-1135-1?wt_mc=Internal.Event.1.SEM.ArticleAuthorOnlineFirst#App1

APS awards UON honours student with APS Peace Prize and formally apologises with First Australians

At the 2016 International APS congress in Melbourne last week, Fatima Azam, UON psychology honours student was awarded the 2016 APS Peace prize. This in recognition of her research on the social psychological factors that make some people open to approaching diversity in society and others avoidant of these groups.  Under the supervision of Dr Stefania Paolini, Fatima investigated these dynamics in non-Muslim women’s responses to an educational Muslim-led hijab stall run on university campuses.

Researchers at the APS psychologists for peace symposium praised the uniqueness of Fatima’s study design which incorporated a peace-making initiative building bridges between Muslims and non-Muslims within the community with a research team of 30+ individuals of varied backgrounds. They see this design and partnership model as the way forward in psychological research and encouraged other researchers to incorporate peace-making initiatives as part of their future study designs.

Fatima has been invited to drive with Stefania’s help the establishment of a NSW Psychologists for Peace interest group.

 

 At the 2016 International APS congress in Melbourne last week, Peacemaking was very much a theme of this year’s APS conference. Its annual meeting is likely to make history for a milestone in the Reconciliation process. The society formally apologised with First Australians for psychologists contributing to the exploitation or mistreatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with misplaced research, past use of assessment tools, or silence.  

To learn more about this significant development, click here.https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/sep/15/psychologists-apologise-to-indigenous-australians-for-decades-of-mistreatment

Health and Clinical Psychology Research Group

The Curious, Collaborative, Courageous Challenge of Sabbatical! 

Dr Lynne McCormack PhD 

What is the purpose of research if we don’t pass on our findings for others to use and expand for the good of humankind? I couldn’t wait to go on sabbatical because I knew so much of what I had done as a researcher in the last 6 years was still needing a voice. So my sabbatical in the first six months of this year was a great time for forging and securing links with my international research colleagues and getting down to co-writing and future projects, freeing my mind from the everyday administrative and interruptive nature of academic work, and spending endless hours closeted away writing and thinking and submitting to various journals. Though the focus of my overall research is complex trauma and subsequent psychological growth, mostly with veterans, military, and humanitarian personnel, the lot of children whose early and secure sense of self has be thwarted by parental mental health problems, unspeakable abuse and sexual violence, Out-of-Home care cumulative trauma on first-family trauma, are growing research interests thanks to many of my students. In light of the many commissions of enquiry into child abuse throughout the western world, this perhaps, is timely. And so from time out for thinking and writing on sabbatical 10 papers are now in press, 2 are resubmitted with minor corrections, 6 are submitted and under review and 4 others are in preparation for submission. I think this is a grand achievement for my students who tolerate my passion for getting our work published and thus influencing evidence-based practice, their willingness to play-act and squirm learning to interview not counsel so that good rich data is the outcome of their efforts, allow me to undo everything they know about lab report writing for very personal phenomenological investigations, and their humility as I critique their writing and turn them into published psychologists. Out of my sabbatical a further 10 former students are now published, two others are passed the second hurdle, and another 10 should be published sometime in 2017. The VC’s call for a Curious, Collaborative and Courageous new future for our University requires the think tank of Sabbatical.

Emeritus Professor Pat Michie to receive a prestigious award

Emeritus Professor Pat Michie from the School of Psychology at the University of Newcastle has been awarded the APS Distinguished Contribution to Psychological Science Award for 2016.

The Distinguished Contribution to Psychological Science Award recognises outstanding theoretical or empirical contributions to psychology at the mid or later career stage, and Pat's achievements have been recognised by the Division of Psychological Research, Education and Training (DPRET) of the Australian Psychological Society (APS).

This latest award joins an already-crowded trophy room, and we hope there are more yet to come.

Congratulation Pat for this fantastic recognition of her achievements.

to read more about Pat's research intrests:
http://www.newcastle.edu.au/profile/pat-michie

SENSORY, COGNITIVE AND AFFECTIVE NEUROSCIENCE RESEARCH GROUP (SCAN) seminar 19 September

Dr. Duncan Sinclair:  NHMRC CJ Martin Early Career Fellow, NeuRA.

12 – 1 pm: 19 September,
Keats Room, Psychology.

Title: Using the senses to study brain disorders- an avenue to personalized treatment?

Abstract
Sensory systems, such as audition and olfaction, can be leveraged powerfully and non-invasively to gain insight into brain function. In a disease context, this approach has been valuable for neurodevelopmental disorders such as Fragile X syndrome, Autism Spectrum Disorder and schizophrenia, all of which are characterized by abnormal behavioural responses to sensory stimuli. Interrogation of auditory sensory processing in these disorders (and their relevant rodent models) using electroencephalography (EEG) has shed light on underlying circuit dysfunction and its behavioural correlates. EEG measures such as auditory event-related potentials and neural oscillations have also been useful for evaluation of candidate drugs in preclinical studies, such as GABA-B agonists in the Fmr1 knockout mouse model of Fragile X syndrome. Promising findings from these studies have prompted the question “Could we plausibly use EEG to identify treatment-responsive clinical subtypes, or monitor treatment response?”

Brief Bio
Dr. Duncan Sinclair completed his PhD in 2012 with Professor Cyndi Shannon Weickert at Neuroscience Research Australia and the University of New South Wales. He then moved to the US to work as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania, in the laboratories of Associate Professor Chang-Gyu Hahn and Professor Steven Siegel as part of an NHMRC CJ Martin Early Career Fellowship. After three and a half years, Duncan returned to Australia at the beginning of 2016, resuming his postdoctoral research in Cyndi's laboratory. Broadly speaking, his research has focused on understanding risk factors for psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders, and how they exert their effects at the molecular, cellular and neural circuit levels.

Hosted by Dr. Lauren Harms, Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Psychology.

Seminar by Prof John Endler on bird courting habits, Thur 12-1

The Cognitive Research Group is proud to host a seminar by Professor John Endler. Professor Endler is visiting from Deakin University, hosted by Dr. Andrea Griffin.

TITLE: Visual tricks and illusions used by great bower birds when courting females.

WHEN: Thursday September 8, 12-1pm.

WHERE: Psychology / Aviation Building, Keats Reading Room (AVLG17).

ABSTRACT: 
Bowerbird males build and decorate bowers which are used only for attracting mates and mating, and they steal from and destroy each others' bowers.  This and the fact that bird vision is fairly well understood gives an unparalleled opportunity for experimenting with various aspects of signalling in undisturbed wild birds. Using principles of bird colour vision physiology we can show that they choose coloured objects which significantly contrast with their own plumage, the bower and the visual backgrounds.  We can also show that the choice of colours is innovative; the idea of bowerbirds choosing colours which elaborate their own plumage is an artifact of biases in human vision. Great Bowerbird males make a 0.6m long bower avenue opening up to 1 m courts at each end. The courts are covered with gray and white objects and coloured objects are displayed on or over them.  The coloured objects are outside the female's field of view until he displays them and then tosses them outside her view again, further increasing colour contrast.  The courts consist of gray and white objects which increase in size with distance from the female within the bower avenue and this creates forced perspective which gives the illusion of a very regular pattern.  This pattern regularity could be a direct target of female choice but also generates further illusions with the coloured objects. The quality of the forced perspective illusion significantly predicts female mating preferences.  Bowerbirds also create illusory effects by painting the inside of the avenue, resulting in chromatic adaptation. Finally, they present colours and shapes as "now you see it now you don't", and also without repeating, which prevents other forms of sensory adaptation.  Given that almost all visual displays of almost all animals are presented from a predetermined direction and orientation relative to the receiver this raises the possibility that illusions may be used in communication in a wide variety of species.