Staff Profiles
| Name and Contact Details | Research Interests |
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| Professor David Bunce Role: Professor in Psychology Phone: +44 (0)1895 267242 Email: david.bunce@brunel.ac.uk Office: GB230 |
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| Dr Survjit Cheeta Role: Senior Lecturer in Psychology Phone: +44 (0) 1895 266530 Email: survjit.cheeta@brunel.ac.uk Office: GB 268 |
Psychopharmacology and epidemiology of depression and anxiety disorders. My research interests are within the field of psychiatric illness, with a particular focus on the disease states of depression and anxiety. My research has aimed to understand these conditions from a multi-disciplinary perspective (molecular to clinical and social policy) Within the pre-clinical sciences i have used models of these disease states to understand their neurobiological underpinnings. Currently I am using epidemiological data and psychological paradigms of emotion and cognition to identify markers for normal and abnormal brain function. I have also been involved in policy development for the treatment of drug and alcohol addiction at a local and national level. I have worked on a number of projects including investigating issues concerning access of women and black and ethnic minority groups to drug services, alcohol use and presentations to Accident & Emergency departments and substance misuse in individuals with learning disabilities. Most recently, I was involved in the National Alcohol Needs Assessment project. This project was funded by the Department of Health, with the aim of supporting the National Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy for England, which was published by the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit, 2004. This work has resulted in the publication of a national policy document which will be used by the government to fund alcohol treatment services in England. |
| Dr Andrew Clark Role: Lecturer Phone: +44 (0) 1895 265127 Email: andrew.clark@brunel.ac.uk Office: GB159 |
I am broadly interested in the process of sexual selection and in a variety of topics that typically fall within its purview, including mating systems, sexual conflict, direct and indirect sexual competition, mating strategies, mating effort allocation and mechanisms of mate preference and choice. I am also interested in social consequences of human mate choice, with the prediction that such consequences may prove to be important in regulating the strength and nature of choice, and in developing predictive models of human mate preference and mating tactics. |
| Dr Rachel Crockett Role: Lecturer Phone: 01895 267584 Email: rachel.crockett@brunel.ac.uk Office: MJ141 |
My main research interests concern why we find it difficult to change our behaviour in ways that promote our health, even when we are want to be more healthy. I am therefore interested in both individual and environmental influences on our behaviour and the use of population level interventions to promote better health. Currently my work focuses on healthy eating behaviour and the impact of nutritional labelling on food purchasing and consumption. Additionally, as we frequently fail to behave in the ways that logic would predict, I am also interested in the possible unintended effects of population level interventions paradoxically resulting in less, rather than more, healthy behaviour. I am also interested in the communication of health-related information to patients, specifically how complex information about the likelihood of the possible outcomes of medical interventions can be communicated in ways to promote understanding and informed choices. |
| Dr Bridget Dibb Role: Lecturer, School Senior Tutor, Touch Point Leader Phone: +44 (0) 1895 266564 Email: bridget.dibb@brunel.ac.uk Office: MJ148 |
As a Health Psychologist my research interests cover many aspects of health and illness, my main areas of interest include posttraumatic growth after illness; the influence of social comparison on perceptions, adjustment and rehabilitation; illness beliefs; quality of life and adjustment to chronic illness; fear-avoidance beliefs. Current studies include:
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| Dr Liory Fern-Pollak Role: Associate Research Fellow Phone: Email: liory.fern-pollak@brunel.ac.uk Office: GB262 |
Neural mechanisms of language processing, Multilingualism, Reading, Dyslexia |
| Dr Stanley Gaines Role: Senior Lecturer Phone: +44 (0)1895 265485 Email: stanley.gaines@brunel.ac.uk Office: GB269 |
Personality influences (eg attachment styles, cultural values) and demographic influences (eg gender, ethnic group membership) on personal relationship processes (eg accommodation, interpersonal resource exchange) |
| Professor Fernand Gobet Role: Professor in Cognitive Psychology Phone: +44 (0) 1895 265484 Email: fernand.gobet@brunel.ac.uk Office: GB263 |
My research is centred around the development of the CHREST (Chunks Hierarchies and REtrieval STructures) architecture. In particular, I'm trying to understand the mechanisms underlying the acquisition of expertise, with a special focus on learning, memory, perception and attention processes in skilled individuals. CHREST is also applied to concept formation, the acquisition of multiple diagrammatic representations, and the acquisition of syntax and of vocabulary. My research uses experimental investigations, computer simulations, and theoretical investigations. |
| Professor Robin Goodwin Role: Professor of Social Psychology Phone: +44 (0)1895 265470 Email: robin.goodwin@brunel.ac.uk Office: GB203 |
Social change and its impact on personal relationships, relationships and culture, values and value change, sexual disease, perceptions of terrorism. |
| Dr Stephen Johnston Role: Lecturer Phone: +44 (0) 1895 267878 Email: stephen.johnston@brunel.ac.uk Office: GB 167 |
Object recognition, attention, emotion processing and the processes involved in affective stimulus evaluation. |
| Dr Gustav Kuhn Role: Lecturer Phone: +44 (0) 1895 267759 Email: gustav.kuhn@brunel.ac.uk Office: GB162 |
Visual Cognition, Attention, Awareness and the Science of Magic. For more information go to http://www.gustavkuhn.com |
| Dr Tara Marshall Role: Lecturer Phone: +44 (0) 1895 267096 Email: tara.marshall@brunel.ac.uk Office: 161 Gaskell Building |
My research examines the influence of culture, gender, and attachment style on romantic relationships. Recently, my studies have investigated topics such as the acculturation of migrant couples to the United Kingdom; coping with relationship break-ups; reactions to romantic rejection threats; and the role of social networking websites in relationship satisfaction. More information is available on my website.
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| Professor Lynn Myers Role: Professor of Health Psychology Phone: +44 (0) 1895 265879 Email: lynn.myers@brunel.ac.uk Office: MJ143 |
All aspects of the repressive coping style. Many areas of health psychology including: adherence/compliance to treatment, inhibition of emotion and disease, risk perception, stress and dentists, social cognition models and health-related behaviours. Culture and health. Romantic adult attachment styles. Inhibitory processes in memory. |
| Professor Dany Nobus Role: Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Strategy, Development and External Relations Phone: + 44 (0)1895 265944 Email: dany.nobus@brunel.ac.uk Office: A117, Wilfred Brown Building |
Psychoanalysis, history of psychiatry, epistemology, philosophy of science |
| Dr Justin O’Brien Role: Lecturer Phone: +44 (0) 1895 265475 Email: justin.obrien@brunel.ac.uk Office: GB207 |
Developmental Disorders – I study visual deficits in autism, dyslexia and dyspraxia. This includes visual form and motion coherence processing as well as higher level processes in biological motion and object recognition. Infant Vision – At the Centre for Research in Infant Behaviour, we have looked at the development of motion processing in infancy and are currently investigating perception of the Hollow Mask Illusion, as featured on a recent BBC Horizon documentary. Neuroimaging – fMRI projects include form and motion processing in developmental disorders. Emotion in Facial Expressions – How the dynamics of facial expression influence perception of emotion and personality. Eye Witness Testimony – I have supervised a number of student projects on eye-witness testimony, including investigation of sex differences in recall and implanting false memories. |
| Dr Andrew Parton Role: Lecturer/Deputy Head of Psychology Phone: +44 (0) 1895 267326 Email: andrew.parton@brunel.ac.uk Office: GB256 |
In order to survive we have to rapidly identify and select relevant the information from the world to guide our behaviour. This requires the encoding of relevant sensory information into memory and its use to control motor responses. My research attempts to understand the cognitive and neurological bases of these processes using behavioural experiments, neuroimaging and examination of the effects of neurological disease (esp. Parkinsons Disease and Stroke). Current projects include examinations of motor sequence learning, the role of neural oscillations in coding cognition, and early cognitive deficits in Parkinsons. |
| Dr Nicholas Pound Role: Senior Lecturer Phone: +44 (0) 1895 266311 Email: nicholas.pound@brunel.ac.uk Office: GB 103 |
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| Dr Michael Price Role: Lecturer Phone: +44 (0) 1895 266974 Email: michael.price@brunel.ac.uk Office: GB158 |
Evolutionary social psychology. Cooperation and moral systems. The effects of physical condition (e.g. muscularity, attractiveness) on personality and social cognition. Collective action, punishment, and the free rider problem. The evolutionary psychology of business and organisational behaviour. Long-term mating preferences. |
| Dr Martina Reynolds Role: Senior Lecturer in Psychology Phone: +44 (0)1895 265482 Email: martina.reynolds@brunel.ac.uk Office: Gaskell Building 160 |
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| Dr Toby Robertson Role: Lecturer Phone: +44 (0) 1895 265945 Email: toby.robertson@brunel.ac.uk Office: MJ139 |
Group Processes, Intergroup Relations, Social Influence, Identity. |
| Dr Charlotte Russell Role: Lecturer in Psychology Phone: +44 (0)1895 266366 Email: charlotte.russell@brunel.ac.uk Office: GB102 |
Visual attention, awareness and integration across saccades in the healthy brain. Neuropsychology of these processes and associated disorders eg, visuo-spatial neglect and constructional apraxia. Current projects
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| Dr Noam Sagiv Role: Lecturer in Psychology Phone: +44 (0) 1895 265341 Email: noam.sagiv@brunel.ac.uk Office: GB168 |
Synaesthesia and cross-modal interactions; Face Perception; Neural Correlates of Consciousness.g |
| Dr Marvin Schiller Role: Research Fellow Phone: +44 (0)1895 267487 Email: marvin.schiller@brunel.ac.uk Office: GB259 |
Cognitive Modelling, Problem Gambling, Reasoning, Problem Solving, Artificial Intelligence, AI in Education |
| Dr Achim Schuetzwohl Role: Lecturer Phone: +44 (0) 1895 266367 Email: achim.schuetzwohl@brunel.ac.uk Office: GB211 |
Understanding the structure and functioning of the mechanisms underlying surprise and jealousy. |
| Dr Isabel Scott Role: Lecturer Phone: 01895 265907 Email: isabel.scott@brunel.ac.uk Office: GB257 |
My interests include facial perception, mate choice, and moral psychology. My research applies an evolutionary, cross-cultural perspective to existing questions in the field of social cognition, such as why individuals differ in their sexual preferences, or in their norms about resource distribution. I am interested in how ancestrally relevant features of the environment, such as social inequality, hunger and disease, contribute to modern variation in these aspects of social cognition. |
| Dr Lynda Shaw Role: Part time lecturer Phone: +44 (0)1895 267654 Email: lynda.shaw@brunel.ac.uk Office: GB230 |
As an undergraduate in Psychology and Social Anthropology my first dissertation investigated contrast sensitivity and copy drawing performance in patients with cortical lesions. My PhD, which was funded by Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), used fMRI and behavioural studies to explore the Neuropsychology of consciousness and emotion. My interests continue in Cognitive Neuroscience studying consciousness and emotion and in particular positive emotion. I am also very keen to address the disturbing increase in depression in our society. |
| Dr Janine Spencer Role: Lecturer Phone: +44 (0) 1895 265474 Email: janine.spencer@brunel.ac.uk Office: GB206 |
Developmental Disorders – I study various visual deficits in children and adults with autism, Asperger’s syndrome, dyslexia and dyspraxia. These include the lower lever processes of visual form and motion coherence processing and higher level processes such as face perception and biological motion. I am also interested in the psychological affect a clinical diagnosis has on self esteem. Communication: How different types of communication aids understanding in children with autism. Infant research – At the Centre for Research in Infant Behaviour, we study the development of biological motion perception in general and facial motion processing in particular. We are also investigating whether infants can perceive the Hollow Mask Illusion, which has been featured in a recent BBC Horizon documentary. fMRI – Using Neuroimaging I study visual form and motion processing in autism and dyslexia. Emotion in Facial Expressions – I study the dynamics of facial expression and how this influences perception of emotion and personality. |
| Dr Nicola Start Role: Lecturer Phone: +44 (0)7533 164997 Email: nicola.start@brunel.ac.uk Office: MJ156 |
Clinical Psychology |
| Dr Maria Uther Role: Senior Lecturer Phone: +44 (0) 1895 267342 Email: maria.uther@brunel.ac.uk Office: GB258 |
My interests are in the area of language, speech and auditory perception and auditory perception. This includes topics such as how we learn new languages, how we learn music; how the brain processes different kinds of sounds and how we can use technology to help language learning. I use a range of techniques in my research, such as behavioural and psychophysiological (ERP, MEG) measures. |
| Dr Matei Vladeanu Role: Lecturer Phone: +44 (0) 1895 267760 Email: matei.vladeanu@brunel.ac.uk Office: GB208 |
My primary research interest is in face processing. I am particularly interested in the processes involved in the perceptual and associative learning of unfamiliar faces, the neurobiological substrates of face processing and face learning (e.g. brain lateralisation), as well as individual differences in face processing (e.g. personality, clinical traits, hormonal exposure). |
| Dr Adrian Williams Role: Lecturer Phone: +44 (0) 1895 265452 Email: adrian.williams@brunel.ac.uk Office: GB105 |
My research interests are broadly in the area of sensory perception, but with a primary focus on vision and the organization of the visual brain. I'm interested in gaining a deeper understanding of the underlying anatomy and functional organization of the visual brain that facilitate our sense of vision, primarily through the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), but also utilising behavioural/psychophysical approaches. |
| Dr Linda Williams Role: Part-time lecturer Phone: +44 (0)1895 265946 Email: linda.williams@brunel.ac.uk Office: MJ140 |
My interests are primarily in mental disorders, psychiatry, gender and power relations but I am also broadly interested in social psychology where it meets discursive and constructionist approaches (critical social psychology). I am an experienced discourse analyst (particularly the discursive psychology strand) and I also have experience with Grounded Theory, Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) and Thematic Analysis. |
| Professor Michael Wright Role: Professor Phone: +44 (0) 18952 65957 Email: michael.wright@brunel.ac.uk Office: GB204 |
Brain Imaging (fMRI, EEG), perceptual skills in sport, visual attention and change blindness, expertise and the brain, mirror neuron system, fMRI and emotions, facial expressions and ERPs, Consciousness. |
| Dr Barlow Wright Role: Senior Lecturer in Psychology Phone: +44 (0)1895 267327 Email: barlow.wright@brunel.ac.uk Office: GB163 |
My research takes a broadly experimental approach within three main themes: Lifespan development, disadvantage and ethnicity. Studies tend to be underpinned by methodologies from Cognitive Psychology and are often quantitative or based on computer designs. Example specific foci are:
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| Professor Taeko Wydell Role: Professor in Psychology, Co-Director of CCNI Phone: +44 (0)1895 265473 Email: taeko.wydell@brunel.ac.uk Office: GB205 |
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