News
A new PhD Studentship in collaboration with Grant Thornton LLP in the Psychology of Debt has become available. Closing date for applications is 21st October 2013.
The Psychological Society of Ireland (PSI) and the Northern Ireland Branch of the British Psychological Society (NIBPS), along with their Divisions of Counselling, Clinical and Health Psychology, are delighted to announce an evening lecture hosted by The School of Psychology, Queen’s University Belfast to mark World Mental Health Day 2013. Our three speakers will discuss the diverse range of approaches used by Psychologists to understand and work with mental health difficulties. The public will gain an understanding of important topics. This event is free to attend.
Date: Thursday 10th October 2013
Time: 5pm - 7:30pm
Venue: Room LG 115, David Keir Building, Queen’s University Belfast 18-30 Malone Road, Belfast BT9 5BP.
To book your place at this lecture, please visit the following link:
https://response.questback.com/britishpsychologicalsociety/psychologicalunderstandings/
The 4th Annual Postgraduate Conference in the School of Psychology will be held on Friday 27th September, 2013.
The keynote speaker will be Prof. Aidan Moran from University College, Dublin, with presentations by Dr. John Rolison, Dr. Kinga Morsanyi and postgraduate students from QUB.
The event will be held from 10.00 to 17.00 and is free to attend.
Lunch, refreshments and an evening's wine reception will be provided.
Professor Rhiannon Turner’s work on nostalgia has been featured in Metro.co.uk. Professor Turner suggests that "Nostalgia is a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past". Although nostalgia can be bittersweet, she said it is a positive emotion because it allows us to think of past events which have some kind of meaning to us and bring us pleasure. This, in turn, leads to benefits for those around us, she argues, having conducted studies which revealed that people have more positive attitudes to others when feeling nostalgic.
To read more, please click: http://metro.co.uk/2013/08/28/nostalgia-aint-what-it-used-to-be-it-used-to-be-a-disease-3939205/
Dr Daniel A. Hughes
The Northern Ireland Branch of The British Psychological Society (NIBPS) and the Psychological Society of Ireland (PSI) are delighted to be working with the Northern Ireland Branch of The Division of Clinical Psychology (DCPNI) for the Societies’ first lecture in the 2013/2014 public lecture series, which is a follow up to the 2012/2013 series that attracted almost 800 delegates.
The 2013/2014 public lecture series begins on 4th September with a free public lecture presented by Dr Dan Hughes. The lecture will benefit both professionals and carers who are working with children and young people with attachment difficulties.
‘Why are you doing that?
Questions asked by parents/carers and children about the behaviour of their children and parents/carers: Creating doubts about negative assumptions’.
Dr Daniel A. Hughes
Quittie Glen Centre for Mental Health, Annville, Pennsylvania
Whitla Hall
Queen’s University Belfast
Wednesday 4th September 2013
6.30-8pm
Dan is a clinical psychologist who specialises in child abuse and neglect, attachment, foster care and adoption. He developed Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP) - a relational therapy that integrates research in the areas of the neuro-biology of trauma, early child development and attachment theory. He is the author of several ground-breaking books including his most recent publication entitled ‘Brain-Based Parenting: The Neuroscience of Caregiving for Healthy Attachment’, which he co-authored with Dr Jonathan Siegel (UCLA) and published last year.
To book a place please click on the following link before Monday 2nd September 2013 and complete the brief online booking form:
https://response.questback.com/britishpsychologicalsociety/publiclecturesep2013/
Orlagh McCarthy
The School of Psychology wish their final year student Orlagh McCarthy good luck on the Study China Programme. Orlagh will be in China for three weeks and will follow a timetable of activities and classes designed to develop Chinese language skills, knowledge of current economic climate, arts, history and culture. Before leaving, Orlagh told us:
“As a Psychology student, I feel that this programme will give me the opportunity to explore Psychology in a cross-cultural context. I have always had a keen interest in modules and topics relating to culture and multi-culturism. This has especially been the case in second year, where I got to study it in more detail specifically the differences between indvidualistic cultures such as our own and collectivist cultures such as that in China. I would also hope to base my third year module and thesis choices around these areas”
To follow Orlagh’s adventure in China, please visit: http://orlaghmccarthy.wordpress.com/
Or to learn more about international opportunities within the School of Psychology, please contact Dr Joost Dessing at j.dessing@qub.ac.uk
Dr Donncha Hanna received his award from Vice-Chancellor Professor Sir Peter Gregson
The School of Psychology would like to congratulate Dr Donncha Hanna on receiving his QUB Teaching Award at our summer graduation ceremony.
Donncha received the award for his approach to teaching statistics in a way that makes the learning accessible to all his students. His use of real examples and data motivates students’ interest. This, with his instant feedback approach to assessment, promotes confidence in their ability to understand statistics.
His nominating students commented that:
- He helped me overcome my fear of statistics by making it simple and has shown me how useful it is in the field of Psychology. His classes are interactive and easy to follow, even for students with no prior knowledge
- He makes statistics comprehensible but actually fun to study and learn. As a Grad student, I have gone through a myriad of statistic classes but it was not until now that I felt thoroughly prepared to carry out all kinds of statistical analysis knowing exactly why and how to do it.
- As a foreign student, I can compare the teaching methods first-hand, and I have to admit, that throughout my studies I have never experienced such a passionate teaching method and teaching style.
- I have been both delighted and motivated as a student while in Donncha's class. I find his teaching methods to be extremely clear, and concise, and his personal manner is very approachable
- He is the best statistics lecturer I have ever had.
On receiving his award, Donncha said
“I would like to sincerely thank all the PG students who nominated for this award. It means a lot to be recognised for the time and effort that goes into teaching quantitative methodology. I will continue to attempt to teach statistics in accessible and easy to understand way without dumbing down the content; maybe one day I will succeed!”
The School of Psychology congratulates our four final year prize winners, who received their awards after graduation on Wednesday 3 July.
The School extends its congratulations to all Psychology graduates from the Class of 2013 and wishes them every success in their future pursuits.
Pictured from left to right:
Deborah Preshaw, Highest Performing Student – 2nd place
Rachel McAllister, Highest Performing Student – 3rd place
Dr Aidan Feeney - Director of Education
Prof Cathy Craig - Head of School
John Sproule – Best Thesis
Taylor Lyons – Highest Performing Student – 1st place
Pictured at the award ceremony in Titanic Belfast are Nevin Ringland, Praxis Care Chief Executive; John Eakin, Programme Director DECAP and Academic Supervisor; John McMullen; and Jim Wells, MLA, Member of the NI Assembly Committee on Health, Social Services and Public Safety.
The School of Psychology was delighted to learn about our alumni Dr John McMullen winning the annual Praxis Care research prize. John collaborated with his fellow alumni, Dr Paul O’Callaghan on five interventions for war-affected children, young people and their communities in Africa.
About John
Dr John McMullen
John enjoys the challenge of this role and the wide variety of experience that it brings in working with pre-school children up to adolescents. He is hoping to develop his expertise in working with young people with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties including those who are in alternative education.
John is a regular visitor to Africa and would like to combine his work in the BELB with further research and practice in assisting young people who have been affected by war and conflict in lower income countries.
About Paul
Dr Paul O'Callaghan
In 2012, he graduated from the Doctorate in Educational, Child and Adolescent Psychology in Queens and currently works as an Educational Psychologist in Dungannon, Co Tyrone.
In 2013, Paul joined the School of Psychology as an honorary research fellow. His research interests include literacy difficulties and dyslexia, as well as interventions for war-affected children and children growing up in adversity e.g. street children, child soldiers, children working in the sex industry, children accused of witchcraft and children exploited as child labourers.
About the research
This research with former child soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo showed that a combination of trauma-focused Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and psychosocial methods can significantly improve the mental health and social adjustment of young people affected by conflict.
Working collaboratively
John and Paul worked together on four mental health and psychosocial intervention research projects with children and young people in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. These interventions provided educational, vocational, mental health and psychosocial assistance to child soldiers, children involved in the sex industry, child miners, children accused of witchcraft and street children. This research was supervised and supported by Ciaran Shannon (Doctorate in Clinical Psychology), Dr Harry Rafferty and Mr John Eakin (both Doctorate in Educational, Child and Adolescent Psychology) and Dr Alastair Black (Futures NI).
Benefits of the DECAP course
The DECAP course provides the training and practical experience required to work on complex cases that Educational Psychologists face on a daily basis. The DECAP course allows students an opportunity to pursue a special research interest. Training is provided to help students with their research project as well as allocated time with academic staff.
Publications
John’s paper, “Group trauma-focused cognitive-behavioural therapy with former child soldiers in DR Congo: a randomised controlled trial” has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.
Paul’s doctoral thesis, “A Randomized Controlled Trial of Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Sexually Exploited, War-Affected Congolese Girls” was published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychology in April 2013.
John and Paul have had papers published in the Irish Journal of Psychology (2003), the Journal of Educational and Child Psychology (June 2012) and the Journal of Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology (September 2012).
Next steps for John and Paul
“We aim to continue working with children in adversity throughout the world. A key focus of this will be researching the voice of child soldiers, street children, child labourers and children in the justice system. In addition to research, we hope to continue to design and implement mental health and psychosocial interventions for children who have been exposed to war, community violence, sexual abuse, poverty, HIV/AIDS, parental death and loss and children accused of witchcraft”.
Contacts
Dr John McMullen jmcmullen01@qub.ac.uk
Dr Paul O’Callaghan pocallaghan02@qub.ac.uk
To highlight the publication of Men and Suicide: Why it's a social issue Samaritans invite you to attend a free public lecture supported by NIBPS and Psychology at Queen's.
Why disadvantaged men in mid-life are at excessive risk of suicide by Professor Rory O'Connor, University of Stirling.
Thursday 30th May 2013, 7pm - 8pm.
Venue
Lecture Theatre LG.115
Queen's University Belfast
David Keir Building
Stranmillis Road
Belfast
To book your place please complete the online registration form by Monday 27 May 2013.
Overview
"Men and Suicide: Why it's a social issue" is a new publication from Samaritans
This research examines the reasons why, exploring the social, gender, economic and psychological factors that contribute to the high risk of suicide in this group of men and how we can go about reducing it.
Professor O'Connor will provide an overview of the research, including the role of masculinity; the challenges of mid-life; difficulties in relationships; and socio-economic strains in suicide. He will focus on his own contribution to the report.
He will dispel the myth that there is a 'suicidal personality' and examine the way personality traits and mind sets can interact with social factors to produce suicidal feelings, and when these feelings are likely to be translated into suicidal behaviour. He will conclude by considering the implications of the research for suicide prevention in Northern Ireland.
Our Speaker
Professor Rory O'Connor, University of Stirling
Professor O'Connor leads the Suicidal Behaviour Research Laboratory (SBRL) at Stirling, the leading suicide/self-harm research group in Scotland. He has published extensively in the field of suicide and self-harm, specifically concerning the psychological processes which precipitate suicidal behaviour and self-harm. He is also co-editor of the International Handbook of Suicide Prevention: Research, Policy and Practice, with Professor Steve Platt & Jacki Gordon, and the Routledge Major Works Collection on Suicide, with Professor Keith Hawton, and co-author of Understanding Suicidal Behaviour with the late Professor Noel Sheehy. He is also the UK National Representative for the International Association for Suicide Prevention and a fellow of the International Academy of Suicide Research. He serves on the Scientific Review Board of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and the editorial boards of Suicide and Life-Threatening Behaviour, Suicidology Online, Psychology & Health and Journal of Behavioural Medicine. He regularly advises national and international bodies on suicide prevention including the Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Assembly.
Links
The PDF flyer for this event: Samaritans Public Lecture Programme PDF
Read the full report on the Samaritans website
Movement Innovation Lab - Motion Capture
Movement Innovation Lab - Golf Simulator
Newly opened, the Movement Innovation Lab, Queen’s University Belfast offers an innovative new motion capture facility in the heart of Belfast. In collaboration with Image Studio, we offer a comprehensive service from definition and design through to final product for your entertainment, sporting, industry or research needs.
The lab is fully equipped with 22 high resolution Qualisys motion capture cameras which can be used in-house or on-location. These high-precision cameras allow efficient capture of multiple characters, both human and non-human for use in animation, TV, film or research. Combined with our state of the art virtual reality system and a team of highly qualified professionals the lab offers a unique service to define, develop and deliver your project.
Image studio based at South West College, provides resources and services for the design and development of digital animation using industry standard software applications. With a dedicated render server Image Studio can provide rapid production of high end sound and visual effects to support digital animation.
We would like to invite you to an open day in the Movement Innovation Lab on the 29th of April.
There will be two slots, morning and afternoon where the team will outline the service with a live demonstration of the facilities.
Date: 29th April, morning (10am-1pm) or afternoon (2pm-5pm) session.
Location: Movement Innovation Lab, Queen’s University Physical Education Centre, Botanic Park, Belfast BT9 5EX
To book a place on the day, please contact us at: mil@qub.ac.uk detailing numbers and a preferred time-slot of either morning or afternoon.
Also please find attached a flyer with full details of the services and facilities available.
Patricia Castle
This week, Mrs Patricia Castle has joined our School Team. Her role is School Administrator and her responsibilities include communications, marketing, employability and recruitment of students.
Patricia has come from PricewaterhouseCoopers working as a Consultant within their Capability & Training Centre of Excellence and has broad experience of working across public and private sector clients, primarily in GB and Ireland but as far afield as Iraq. Patricia’s last project was setting up a successful training business for Professional Service Apprenticeships in Consulting, Audit and Tax.
The School wishes Patricia the warmest of welcomes.
22nd March 2013 Unfortunately, due to the very adverse weather conditions, the School of Psychology has taken the difficult decision to cancel the Open Day planned for tomorrow (Saturday 23rd March 2013). We are concerned that travelling conditions are already very poor and they are expected to deteriorate overnight. In addition, as a lot of your time tomorrow would have been spent walking between venues on the campus, the poor weather conditions would make this a very unpleasant and potentially dangerous experience.
Because of when Easter falls this year we are unsure whether we will be able to arrange an alternate date for the Open Day before most people make their decision about which offer to accept. Our aim for the Open Day was to provide you with information to help you make your decision. We will be in contact next week with the details about our degree and the facilities at Queen’s that we had intended to share with you at the event tomorrow.
We know that deciding which offer to accept can be a very difficult decision so we are very disappointed to be forced to cancel our Open Day. We hope that the information we send out next week will be helpful to you in making your decision about where to study.
Best wishes
Dr Aidan Feeney
Director of Education
50 million pilgrims will attend the Kumbh Mela
Every year millions of pilgrims attend the annual Magh Mela religious festival by the banks of the Ganges at Allahabad. Pilgrims of all ages travel from across India brave cold and hardship to bathe in the icy waters of the holy river in the expectation of spiritual benefits. Hundreds of thousands live by the banks in a makeshift city of tents for the full month of 'Magh' in conditions of extreme cold, noise and overcrowding.
Dr Clifford Stevenson (Centre for Research on Politicial Psychology, QUB) along with ESRC project leader Dr Nick Hopkins Dundee and colleagues at the Universities of St Andrew's, Exeter and Allahabad have been investigating how social psychological processes among pilgrims at the event allows them to endure these harsh conditions and even to experience them as serene and blissful. Their work shows that a 'shared sense of identity' among the faithful provides social and emotional support as well as the psychological resilience necessary to overcome the hardships and to even accrue health benefits from this collective experience. These findings have implications for the study of the positive psychological and health benefits of large-scale collective gatherings across the world.
This year is the 12-yearly Kumbh Mela at which over 50 million pilgrims will attend the festival. On the 24th January Dr Stevenson and his colleagues will launch the results of the project at a two day media and academic event at the University of Allahabad.
Prayag Magh Mela Research Group Press Pack
Enquiries about this research should be directed to:
Dr Clifford Stevenson, Centre for Research on Political Psychology, School of Psychology, Queen’s University Belfast
Tel: +44 (0) 2890974545 Email: clifford.stevenson@qub.ac.uk
Psychology at Queen's invites applications from suitably qualified individuals to study for a PhD in the School of Psychology beginning September 2013. The School has secured funding for full-time PhD studentships on a number of specific topics. The School considers applications in all areas that fall within the interests of its staff. A full range of the School’s research interests can be found on our Staff Profile pages.
Potential applicants must contact their proposed Supervisor before submitting an application.
Consult our Postgraduate Research pages for further information on funded topics and the applications process.
The School of Psychology is seeking applicants for the September 2013 intake of the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (DClinPsych).
Application forms, inserts and associated documentation can be downloaded from the DClinPsych web pages.
The deadline for receipt of aplications forms is 4pm on Friday 8th February.
5th December 2012
1.00pm – 5.30pm
Room LG024
(Stranmillis Road Entrance to David Keir Building)
This event is presented by the British Psychological Society Northern Ireland branch and is supported by School of Psychology at Queen's. It is open to QUB and UU Psychology students. At this event, designed for second and third year undergraduate students, you will hear from speakers about what professional psychology training courses are available, about research opportunities and masters courses in psychology, what you can do with your degree in the graduate job market outside of psychology and have an opportunity to question our presenters. We will wrap up the day with an informal wine and cheese reception and there will also be exhibition stands at the reception.
Booking Essential. Please book before 12pm on Tuesday 4th December 2012 http://response.questback.com/britishpsychologicalsociety/nibpscareersevent/
Programme
| 1.00pm | Welcome & Opening Address | Prof Carol McGuinness, School of Psychology QUB, Chair NIBPS |
| 1.10pm | Research | Prof Carol McGuinness |
| 1.30pm | Health | Dr Martin Dempster, QUB |
| 1.50pm | Counselling | Dr Edel McMenamin, Independent Practitioner |
| WHAT TO DO WITH YOUR PSYCHOLOGY DEGREE? Overview followed by individual presentations from a number of psychology graduates on the routes they took to their current employment | ||
| 2.10pm | Overview from | Prof Ronnie Wilson, UU |
| 2.25pm | Creative Coaching Associates, | Ms Alison Clarke |
| 2.40pm | Fleming Fulton School, | Mrs Anne Marie Gallen |
| 2.55pm | Police Service NI | |
| 3.10pm | NI Statistics & Research Agency, | Ms Alana Green & Mr Iain Bryson |
| 3.25pm | Coffee Break | |
| 3.40pm | Educational | Dr Hannah Jane Braiden, SEELB |
| 4.00pm | Forensic | Dr Bill Lockhart, Lockhart Consulting |
| 4.20pm | Sport | |
| 4.40pm | Clinical | Dr Ciaran Shannon, QUB |
| 5.00pm | Occupational | Mr Mark McCrory, UU |
| 5.20pm | Refreshments & Career Opportunities Exhibition | |
An open invitation session for the Doctorate In Educational, Child & Adolescent Psychology will be held on:
Friday, 30th November 2012 at 4.00 pm
David Keir Building, Queen's University Belfast
Malone Road entrance
Room 0G.533
This session will advise prospective candidates of the DECAP training. It is anticipated that the Doctorate in Educational, Child & Adolescent Psychology will have its seventh intake of students in September 2013.
For those who are unable to attend information packs and application forms are available online.
Powerpoint presentation from this talk:
Kate Russo, Eclipse Chaser
15th November 2012
A Queen’s psychologist was lucky to witness yesterday’s total eclipse in northern Australia and is pursuing research into the psychological effects of experiencing such a unique natural event.
Dr Kate Russo, who teaches on the School of Psychology’s Doctorate in Clinical Psychology, is currently visiting her native North Queensland where yesterday’s eclipse occurred. Kate was up before dawn chasing clear skies to find the best vantage point to experience the eclipse. On her Facebook page Kate has described how she was able to observe solar prominences and beautiful corona during one and a half minutes of totality at around 6:39 am.
Kate first experienced a total eclipse in 1999 when the path of totality crossed over northern Europe and the southern part of the UK. On that occasion Kate travelled to France to witness the eclipse merely out of curiosity, but her own account is testament to the power of a total eclipse, “I was speechless, I was shaking, I had goosebumps, I was in awe.” From that moment she was hooked and eclipse chasing became Kate’s passion. In the years that have followed Kate’s desire to see other eclipses has been a driving force which has taken her all over the world in order to be in the right place at the right time to stand in the shadow of the moon. Yesterday’s spectacle was the eighth eclipse that Kate has witnessed and was very special as it happened very close to where Kate grew up.
Lately Kate has turned her attention to the psychology of eclipse chasing and she has just published a book on the subject Total Addiction: The Life of an Eclipse Chaser. She discovered that two traits stood out prominently in interviews with other eclipse chasers:
- they prioritise things that make them feel happy and alive;
- they seem to have a positive outlook on life where they felt they were lucky
While she is in Australia Kate is lecturing on the psychology of eclipse chasing and promoting her book. At the same time she is working on her follow-up project dealing with the psychology of the eclipse experience. In the immediate post-eclipse period she is surveying and interviewing the locals of North Queensland about this unique moment of their lives. Kate plans to publish this work in a second book, currently under the working title Transformed by the Shadow.
Links
- Kate Russo’s Web Site
- Kate Russo on Facebook
- Russo, K. (2012) Total Addiction: The Life of an Eclipse Chaser. New York: Springer. ISBN 978-3-642-30480-4
Recent Media
- ABC News: 'Eclipse chaser' over the moon about phenomenon
- ABC National Radio interview: Solar Eclipse fan travels home for her 8th sighting
- Sky News Australia: Queensland witnesses solar eclipse
The School of Psychology is very pleased to invite you to Postgraduate Week, held 5th – 9th November, 2012. This week is aimed at encouraging postgraduate students to integrate personally and professionally into their research environments by taking part in both academic and social events.
The School of Psychology is hosting a number of events which we feel will be very informative and enjoyable experiences for all involved.
Tuesday 6th, 2.30pm, Room 03.504. - Prof. Tom Millar,Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, will be giving an introductory talk about the Impact factor of research projects. Prof. Cathy Craig, Prof. Roddy Cowie and Dr. Martin McPhillips have also kindly agreed to participate, and will be helping PG students understand Impact with a more specific Psychological focus. As the University is very interested in promoting Impact, we feel that this event will be a very useful experience and we would like to encourage all PG students to attend.
Friday 9th, 4.30pm, Room 0G.533 – Psychology debate. The topic is 'There is no such thing as human altruism'. There will be a food, wine and beer reception held in 0G.533 after the debate.
All events will be catered (tea/coffee and sandwiches).
If you have any questions regarding postgraduate week, you can contact the organising committee on any the following email addresses:
Ciara Laverty - claverty18@qub.ac.uk
Clare Carty - ccarty03@qub.ac.uk
Gerard Madden - gbreadenmadden01@qub.ac.uk
We hope to see you all at our PG week events
Thanks!
The PG week committee
The second in a series of British Psychological Society funded seminars on the new area of the Social Psychology of Citizenship will be hosted by Prof Evanthia Lyons and Dr Clifford Stevenson of the Centre for Research in Political Psychology. This seminar is the result of collaboration between QUB, the University of Winchester, the University of Dundee and the Open University and aims to bring leading academics from across the UK and Ireland to engage with government and non-government agencies on the topic of citizenship.
The presentations will run on Friday 9th November from 2pm – 4.30pm in the Old Staff Common Room in the Lanyon Building at Queen’s.
Further information is available here:
Foresight Sports GC2 Golf Simulator
The School of Psychology and Queen's Sport are offering golfers the opportunity to have their game scientifically analysed at affordable prices at Queen’s new Movement Innovation Lab based at the PEC.
Golfers can have a full shot analysis using the latest innovative golf simulator technology (Foresight Sports GC2) to help improve their game. The software will profile players performance to help improve their club selection and game.
Players can also choose to play a variety of computer simulated top professional golf courses such as Turnberry.
Players can use their own golf clubs or rent from the lab on the day.
There is a choice of price options - costs are dependent on the number of people taking part, if more people participate then it will less it will cost. Prices typically start from £10 per person based on four people playing golf for an hour.
Discounts are available for Queen’s staff and students and Queen's Sport members.
For further information download the
Movement Innovation Lab Flyer or visit the Movement Innovation Lab website: www.qub.ac.uk/mil
or contact Queen's Sport on 028 9068 1126 or email sport@qub.ac.uk
Drinking during pregnancy may harm an infant's ability to learn even before birth, according to new research led by the School of Psychology's Professor Peter Hepper. The study is the first to examine alcohol's effect on fetal learning in the womb. In the study, researchers measured how long it took fetuses to get used to a repeated sound - a process called habituation, which represents a basic form of learning. Fetuses of women who engaged in binge or heaving drinking during pregnancy took longer to get used to the sound than fetuses of mothers who did not drink.
"By identifying the presence of alcohol-induced problems before birth, it will be possible to implement better management strategies much earlier, and hopefully improve outcomes," said Professor Hepper. The study will be published in the December issue of the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.
The School of Psychology's latest newsletter has been published. A PDF can be downloaded via the following link:
Psychology Newsletter Summer 2012
Key Links
Contact Info
School of Psychology
Queen's University Belfast
University Road
Belfast , Northern Ireland , BT7 1NN UK
Email: psychology@qub.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0)28 9097 5445
Fax: +44 (0)28 9097 5486
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