Dr Poppy Watson (UTS)

Title: When Cues Drive Behaviour: Associative Mechanisms in Humans

Abstract:

Associative learning theories provide parsimonious explanation of how stimuli in the environment can trigger behavioural responses through both instrumental and Pavlovian mechanisms. Although much of this experimental work has been conducted using rodents, many studies have demonstrated similar associative mechanisms that underlie (at least some) human behaviour. I will provide an overview of some of this research and discuss a series of ongoing experiments investigating human S-R habits and Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer in both healthy and clinical populations. I will highlight some of the conceptual and methodological issues that have arisen along the way and outline some future plans.

Bio:

Dr Poppy Watson is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at University of Technology Sydney and an ARC Future Fellow. Her research examines how environmental cues influence attention and choice behaviour, with a particular focus on the tension between explicit goals and more reflexive responses shaped by reward learning and habit. Using behavioural experiments, alongside methods such as eye tracking and neuroimaging, she investigates the mechanisms that contribute to unwanted patterns of behaviour in both healthy and clinical populations, as well as how these insights can inform behaviour change interventions.

Originally from New Zealand, Dr. Poppy Watson completed her Master of Research and PhD at the University of Amsterdam. She worked at UNSW Sydney from 2017 to 2023 as a postdoctoral researcher and later an ARC DECRA Fellow. Since 2023, she has been based at University of Technology Sydney, where she has helped develop the undergraduate psychology program alongside her research as an ARC Future Fellow.