School of Psychology

News

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

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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.

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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.

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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

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An open invitation session for the Doctorate In Educational, Child & Adolescent Psychology will be held on:

Friday, 30^th 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:

• DECAP Career Talk 30-11-12

 

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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

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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

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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:

Citizenship and the Practice of National Identity Flyer  

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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

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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.

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The School of Psychology's latest newsletter has been published. A PDF can be downloaded via the following link:

Psychology Newsletter Summer 2012  

 

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