School of Psychology Events

Psychology Colloquium: Prof Virginia Slaughter (UQ)
2024-09-27 15:00 - 16:00 (Australia/Sydney)
Prof Virginia Slaughter (UQ)Title: Do humans imitate from birth?
Abstract: Imitation in human newborns is widely cited as evidence of an inborn Mirror Neuron System that underpins human social behaviour, even though its existence has been debated for decades. The possibility that newborns do not imitate was reinvigorated in recent years by research from our lab at the University of Queensland. In this talk I will present original data from the largest-ever longitudinal study of newborn imitation and the first-ever meta-analysis. I will also discuss findings from infant EMG experiments which further challenge the claim that newborn humans can imitate. All of this leads to alternative accounts of the development of imitation and its role in human sociality.
Bio: Virginia Slaughter is Professor of Psychology and Dean of the Graduate School at the University of Queensland, Australia. Her research focuses on social and cognitive development in infants and young children, with particular emphasis on social behaviour in infancy, theory-of-mind development and the acquisition of peer interaction skills. She is a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia and Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science.

Psychology Colloquium: Dr Will Ngiam (University of Adelaide)
2024-09-20 15:00 - 16:00
Dr Will Ngiam (University of Adelaide)Title: Multivariate decoding of visual attention and memory – is what we see, what we remember?
Abstract: The ability to select relevant information and maintain it in mind – our attention and working memory respectively in broad strokes – is central to perception and cognition. In hopes of better understanding of these processes, philsophers, cognitive psychologists and neuroscientists have been trying to model how inforation is represented in mind and brain.
My talk will focus on two deceptively simple questions: what is a visual object and how are they remembered? First, I will provide a brief overview of multivariate classification of neuroimaging data with machine learning – a trending analysis method that has shown promise in unveiling representations in the brain. I will present two EEG research projects using this method – the first involves understanding how the features of a moving object are remembered, and the second involves how our learning and experience influence how we represent items in mind.
Bio: Will is an alum of the School of Psychology, completing his undergraduate Honours degree here before his PhD with Alex Holcombe in 2019. He went abroad for his postdoc, working with Edward Awh and Edward Vogel at the University of Chicago, before recently returning back to Australia and joining the University of Adelaide as a Lecturer. Will has started the Perception, Attention, Learning and Memory (PALM) Lab, where he hopes to design novel psychophysical experiments to inform computational models of attention and memory and linking those models to patterns of neural activity – all in the hopes of better understanding human cognition.

Psychology Colloquium: Dr Will Harrison (University of the Sunshine Coast)
2024-09-13 15:00 - 16:00
Dr Will Harrison (University of the Sunshine Coast)Title: Seeing More with Less: Efficient sensory coding with and without eye movements
Abstract: It is often difficult to understand perceptual and cognitive processes from a scientific point of view. Unfortunately, I think we often mistake our difficulty in understanding a problem with the complexity of the problem itself. For example, it may feel intuitive to conclude that the brain must use complex algorithms to coordinate action and perception solely because we, as scientists, have difficulty understanding how such phenomena come about. But what if the brain is much simpler?
Recently I’ve been trying to understand the minimum computational requirements for various perceptual and cognitive tasks. Efficient coding theory tells us that nervous systems should use as few resources as possible to convey the most amount of information. Put differently, the brain is lazy: if one neuron can code two pieces of information with high fidelity, it would be wasteful to have this information replicated by a second neuron. By combining ideas from efficient coding with psychophysical experiments and computational modelling, I have found efficiencies within the mammalian visual system that promote perceptual inference, with and without eye movements.
Bio: Dr Will Harrison is a cognitive neuroscientist who is interested in how the brain transforms visual information into conscious thoughts and memories. He received his PhD in Psychology from the University of Queensland in 2013, and has completed postdoctoral fellowships at Harvard Medical School, the University of Cambridge, and the Queensland Brain Institute. He has published dozens of papers in top international journals, focusing on how people perceive and remember objects in their peripheral vision, how eye movements affect what we see, and how the human brain uses the structure of natural environments to guide perception. Dr Harrison uses a variety of methodologies, include psychophysics, neuro-imaging, and computational modelling.

Psychology Colloquium: HDR Prize Ceremony, with presentations by Dr Roslyn Wong, Dr Anastaia Suraev & Dr Kelly Dann
2024-09-06 15:00 - 16:00
H. Tasman Lovell Memorial Medallion for the Best PhD Thesis in the School of Psychology for 2023Awarded to Dr Roslyn Wong for Anticipatory prediction during online language processing.
Faculty of Science Prize for Outstanding PhD Thesis for 2023
Awarded to Dr Anastaia Suraev for From Prohibition to Prescription: The Role of Cannabinoids in Sleep.
2024 APS Award for Excellent PhD Thesis in Psychology
Nomination of Dr Kelly Dann for Cognitive Flexibility and Everyday Function in Anorexia Nervosa.
School of Psychology Publications Prize for 2023
Alexander Sulfaro
Baby Foo
Biya Tang
Cosette Saunders
Daelin Coutts-Bain
Hayley Donohue
Jessica Barker
Roberta Chen
Roslyn Wong
Sarah Barakat
Tessa Rooney

Psychology Colloquium: Prof Paul Rhodes (USYD)
2024-08-30 15:00 - 16:00
Prof Paul Rhodes (USYD)Title: Eco-psychology: a critical paradigm in the climate emergency
Abstract: This presentation makes the argument that mainstream psychological practice is not equipped to respond to distress associated with the climate emergency. This is because the field focusses on individual pathology, rather than ecological context. It remains reticent about activism and politics and is ontologically aligned with the Anthropocene, a new era in which the human species is creating an observable effect in the geological record, to the detriment of the planet and its life forms. An introduction is provided to ecopsychology, its history and philosophy, a movement that has sought to subvert and transform mainstream psychology over the last three decades. Ecopsychology still offers an opportunity for mainstream psychology to alter its approach in the face of the climate emergency. Six studies conducted by the Ecological Emotions Research Lab will be presented as exemplary of eco-psychological inquiry.
Bio: Paul Rhodes is a Professor in the Clinical Psychology Unit and co-leads the Ecological Emotions Research Lab with historian Dr Jamie Dunk. His research at present focusses on community-based responses to climate emotion, peer work and youth suicide prevention, arts translation and social prescription and issues related to cultural responsiveness and safety. Paul is also Chair of the Aboriginal Strategy Committee for the School of Psychology as a proud ally, and Coordinator of a new Unit of Study, Multiple Discourses in Mental Health co-designed and co-led by consumer/ex-patient/survivors of the mental health system. In his spare time he is a practising artist at Lennox St Studios and has exhibited extensively in Australia and the United Kingdom.

Psychology Colloquium: Dr Jelena Brcic (University of the Fraser Valley)
2024-08-23 15:00 - 16:00
Dr Jelena Brcic (University of the Fraser Valley)Title: Reported Psychological Growth Following Work in Extreme and Unusual Environments: Role of Perceived Stress and Coping
Abstract: There are psychological, biological, and sociological constructs that emerge within extreme and unusual environments (EUE) that cannot be studied elsewhere. Post-Experience Change (PEC), which is significantly modelled after Post-Traumatic Growth (PTG), is one such aspect. PTG it is defined as a positive psychological change as a result of psychological struggle ensuing trauma. Changes can be experienced in perceptions of self, changes in interpersonal relationships, and in the meaningfulness of life (Tedeschi & Calhoun, 1996; Triplett et al., 2012). We believe that prolonged experiences in EUEs, which are not traumatic but are meaningful, can have a positive impact and lead to life changes experienced by expedition members.
To understand the full deployment experience, growth possibilities, and to identify the situational impact on the personnel in EUEs, a study of stress perception and coping strategies is essential. Work in this domain of stress and coping has been plentiful across many EUEs (Leon, Sandal, & Larsen, 2011; Nicolas et al., 2013; Suedfeld et al., 2009, 2012, 2015).
This presentation will examine stress, coping, and PEC in expedition members from three different EUE groups: long-duration astronauts, winter-over crew working on an Environment Canada weather station in Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, and rescue teams from BC Search and Rescue and Royal Canadian Search and Rescue organizations. Discussion will be around the impact of mission duration, the extremeness and uniqueness of the environment, and the type of positive impact the experiences had on expedition members.
Bio: Dr. Jelena Brcic is an Associate Professor at the University of the Fraser Valley’s School of Business. She is an expert in the study of teams in extreme “workplaces”; among which are the International Space Station, the Canadian Artic, and the BC wilderness. Dr. Brcic is trying to understand how these extreme teams deal with adversity, maintain resilience, build their own culture, and solve problems. Informed by her research, she also teaches classes on how to build great teams in typical organizations and how to lead happy, satisfied employees. When she isn’t working, she is exploring the local beaches and mountains with her husband, two boys, and a Labrador Retriever named Buzz.

Psychology Colloquium: Prof Andrew Lawrence (Florey)
2024-08-16 15:00 - 16:00
Prof Andrew Lawrence (Florey)Title: Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptors as a Novel Treatment Target for Alcohol Use Disorder
Abstract: Despite the large socioeconomic burden of alcohol use disorders (AUD), therapeutic treatment options are limited. There is a need to characterise the underlying neurochemistry driving alcohol seeking to identify and evaluate novel treatment targets. To this end we conducted genome-wide RNA sequencing in the striatum from humans with AUD and healthy controls and concurrently examined receptor expression in the corresponding brain regions in rat following chronic alcohol consumption/withdrawal. In the brains from humans with AUD we found reduced expression of muscarinic M4 receptors, which was limited to the putamen. In line with this, expression of the same receptor was decreased in the rat dorsolateral striatum (plus other regions). These findings have been extended to mouse striatum by a collaborating laboratory. Further, administration of an M4 Positive Allosteric Modulator to target M4 receptors reduced alcohol self-administration and relapse, without effects on natural reward consumption or sedation. Collectively, our data identify a novel treatment target for AUD. We are in the process of trying to translate this finding.
Bio:
Professor Andrew Lawrence is a Senior Principal Research Fellow & Deputy Director at the Florey Institute of Neuroscience & Mental Health where he runs the Addiction Neuroscience laboratory. Andrew has published over 300 original articles & reviews, with >14,800 citations (H index 64). Andrew was Treasurer of the Australian Neuroscience Society (2002-2008), President of the Asian-Pacific Society for Neurochemistry (2014-16) & is currently President-elect of the International Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism. He is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Neurochemistry and an Honorary Fellow of the British Pharmacological Society for “sustained excellence and leadership in pharmacology”. To date Andrew has delivered 11 plenary lectures such as the 2017 Lawrie Austin lecture at Australasian Neuroscience Society and the 2021 Plenary at the Japanese Society for Neurochemistry. He was recently invited to speak at the 2024 Gordon Research Conference on Alcohol and the Nervous System. Andrew’s research leadership extends to being a passionate mentor, many of his students/postdocs are now in successful academic appointments around the world. He embraces diversity and inclusion and has striven to create a safe and supportive environment where people can flourish. As a behavioural neuropharmacologist, Andrew studies basic mechanisms relevant to addiction and motivated behaviour patterns. He is recognised for developing rodent models to understand the neurochemical basis of drug-seeking and drug-induced adaptations. His lab’s focus is to identify and validate new therapeutic targets for drug and alcohol abuse.

Psychology Colloquium: Prof Ben Newell (UNSW)
2024-08-09 15:00 - 16:00
Prof Ben Newell (UNSW)Title: The many uncertainties of climate change: A psychological perspective
Abstract: The one thing that is certain about climate change is that it is happening. The extent of its impacts, our ability to adapt, to mitigate and to plan are, however, all inherently uncertain. This is unfortunate because uncertainty can often cloud perception and undermine action. In this talk I will present work examining variants of uncertainty that have relevance for understanding psychological reactions to climate change. This includes experiments assessing how the projections of climate models are interpreted, how uncertain thresholds affect decisions in simulated climate negotiations, and how climate risk information affects judgments in simulated online property searches. The diversity of these problems highlights the challenges faced by any single discipline in addressing the challenges of climate change. I will advocate for the importance of interdisciplinary approaches and illustrate how such collaborations can precipitate policy, and ultimately behavioural change.
Bio: Ben Newell is Professor of Cognitive Psychology in the School of Psychology at UNSW Sydney, and Director of the UNSW Institute for Climate Risk & Response. His research focuses on the cognitive processes underlying judgment, choice and decision-making. His role in the new Institute is to drive an interdisciplinary research agenda bringing together expertise from behavioural science, climate science, economics, actuarial science, law and governance to address the risks and opportunities of climate change. He has published multiple articles at the intersection of psychology and climate change, with particular focus on the understanding of uncertainty and risk. Ben is lead author of the books Straight Choices: The Psychology of Decision Making, and Open Minded: A Search for Truth about the Unconscious Mind. Ben is a member of the Academic Advisory Panel of the Behavioural Economics Team of the Australian Government (BETA), and the Chief Medical Officer’s advisory group for the National Health and Climate Strategy.

Psychology Colloquium: Prof Michael Bowen (USYD)
2024-08-02 15:00 - 16:00
Prof Michael Bowen (USYD)Title: KNX100 and other small molecules that could: Developing prosocial compounds for disorders of the brain and mind
Abstract: Challenges with social motivation, interactions, and communication are central to many disorders of the brain and mind, and are major barriers to improved functioning in others. For example, in substance use disorders, impairments in social functioning can hinder successful engagement in programs where social factors are crucial, such as the Community Reinforcement Approach and Alcoholics Anonymous. Despite their pervasiveness, there are no approved pharmacotherapies specifically targeting social symptoms. KNX100 is a novel, now clinical-stage small molecule, discovered at the University of Sydney through a phenotypic screen that identified its prosocial effects and modulation of social circuits in the brain. KNX100 is being developed by the University of Sydney spinout company, Kinoxis Therapeutics, in close partnership with the University under a major multi-year research partnership. In preclinical models, KNX100 is showing transdiagnostic potential for treating substance use disorders, and for reducing agitation and aggression in neurological and psychiatric conditions. KNX100’s novel mechanism of action involves inhibiting neuronal hyperactivity in the nucleus accumbens shell and increased activity in the prodynorphin-dynorphin-kappa opioid receptor pathway in this brain region, a system at the nexus of motivation, socioemotional behaviour, and stress. Current programs are exploring KNX100’s clinical efficacy for treating several substance use disorders, and agitation and aggression in dementia. In its other major program, Kinoxis has partnered with multinational pharmaceutical company Boehringer-Ingelheim to discover and develop, in close partnership with researchers at the University, novel small molecules targeting the oxytocin receptor, one of the most important social systems in the brain.
Bio: Michael Bowen is Professor of Translational Neuroscience and Psychopharmacology in the School of Psychology and Brain and Mind Centre, University of Sydney, and co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Kinoxis Therapeutics, a biotech company developing novel therapeutics for disorders of the brain and mind. Michael was co-inventor of the Kinoxis lead compound, KNX100, which is being developed for the treatment of substance use disorders and agitation and aggression in dementia. KNX100 is in clinical development under a US FDA IND and has successfully complete phase 1 clinical trials. In addition to the KNX100 program, Kinoxis Therapeutics has a preclinical program developing novel small molecules targeting the oxytocin receptor. Michael’s team is supported by funding from industry, the US NIH/NIDA, Australian NHMRC, and philanthropy. In recognition of his work discovering and developing novel therapeutics and for his achievements translating and commercialising research, Michael has received numerous honours, including the 2021 Australian Prime Minister’s Prize for New Innovators, the 2016 Eureka Prize for Outstanding Early Career Researcher, the 2016 International Behavioral Neuroscience Society Early Career Award, the inaugural NSW Premier’s Prize for Early Career Researcher of the Year in 2015, and being inducted into the World Economic Forum’s Young Scientists Community in 2016.

Psychology Colloquium: James Bates, Dave Trudinger, Selena Ledger and Eva Koromilas
2024-05-24 15:00 - 16:00
Dr Dave Trudinger & Mr James Bates (NSW Department of Customer Service)Sludge: are there measurable psychological costs from administrative burden? A NSW and global perspective
Abstract
You’ve heard of nudges, but have you heard of sludge? The NSW Behavioural Insights Unit is leading the world on tackling sludge – the unnecessary and unjustified frictions that put a tax on citizen time and prevent equitable access to services. At this colloquium, we will present the NSW Sludge Audit Method – our approach to measuring and quantifying sludge which has now been adopted by the OECD. We will talk about how we developed and are expanding our method, and invite collaboration from academics on research opportunities to understand and measure the psychological costs of administrative burden.
Bios
Eva Koromilas – Eva Koromilas is a Manager in the NSW Behavioural Insights Unit with a background in behavioural economics. She leads the team’s sludge program of work which is aimed at measuring and reducing administrative burden and improving access to services. She has led the design and development of the NSW Sludge Audit Method and its application across NSW services.
Selena Ledger – Selena Ledger is a Senior Data Analyst in the NSW Behavioural Insights Unit with a background in psychology. She has specific skills in evaluation design and has contributed to the development of the NSW Sludge Audit Method as a tool to help practitioners measure sludge.
James Bates – James Bates is the Chief Data Officer and Executive Director of Customer, Data & Insights at the NSW Department of Customer Service. The NSW Department of Customer Service was formed in 2019 with a mission to put customers and community at the centre of government decision making and service delivery. James’ team supports that mission by using data, insights and evidence to improve community outcomes through more effective policy development, program design and service delivery. James has been with the NSW public sector for 15 years, working in a variety of implementation and policy roles.

Psychology Colloquium: Dr Eliane Deschrijver
2024-05-17 15:00 - 16:00
Dr Eliane Deschrijver (USYD)Unequal resource division occurs in the absence of group division and identity
Abstract
The seminal minimal group experiment has shown that discrimination can follow from intergroup relations and social identity. A large body of research evidenced that people discriminate against members of their out versus ingroup, even if groups and identities were assigned on the basis of one’s dot guessing style, aesthetic judgement or a chance outcome. But is group and social identity assignment required for unequal resource division to arise here? We show via Bayesian models in 6 pre-registered experiments (>900 subjects) that unequal resource division strategies persist against a single person that demonstrates a different versus the same quantity estimate, painting preference, or even coin flip (Experiments 1-3), with 43.1% more money awarded for sameness relative to difference conditions (Experiments 4-6). These findings open up the possibility that one key driver of discrimination may exist in a neural mechanism of interindividual comparison that treats difference more negatively than sameness. Theoretical implications, ongoing work, and future aspirations for understanding cognitive and brain systems of discrimination will be discussed.
Bio
Dr Eliane Deschrijver is a senior neuroscientist and a DECRA fellow at the University of Sydney. She works on the nexus of social neuroscience, experimental psychology, philosophy of mind and social psychology, and has an added interest in sociology. Over the past few years, her thinking has focussed on how the brain processes a difference between one’s own world view and that of another person, independent of what the disagreement is about. She has theoretically argued that such a difference may come with a conflict signal in the brain, which is negatively valenced and may lead to behavioral change. She is now investigating what this concept of “sheer difference” may mean for our understanding of discrimination. Breaking with the singular focus of social neuroscientists on the brain, she believes that the most thorny social-cognitive scientific issues deserve an exceedingly interdisciplinary future approach, in particular by enticing philosophers of mind and social psychologists into the debate.

Psychology Colloquium: Prof Carolyn MacCann
2024-05-10 15:00 - 16:00
Prof Carolyn MacCann (USYD)Emotional intelligence and emotion regulation
Abstract
The way we deal with emotions is important for our well-being, social relationships, and performance at work and school. This talk focuses on two key concepts that affect how we deal with emotions: emotional intelligence and emotion regulation. Emotional intelligence is a set of skills or capacities you have, usually defined as the ability to accurately perceive, understand, and regulate emotions. Emotion regulation is the process by which you influence the type and intensity of emotions that you or others feel and express. In this presentation, I will discuss evidence from meta-analyses and empirical studies linking emotional intelligence, emotion regulation, and life outcomes. This includes a large-scale meta-analysis on the relationship between emotional intelligence and academic performance (k = 1,246, N = 42,529) and emerging research on how people regulate others’ emotions (extrinsic emotion regulation). I will present a framework for the strategies people use to regulate others’ emotions, and consider cultural differences in these strategies and their effects.
Bio
Carolyn MacCann is a Professor in the School of Psychology at The University of Sydney. Her research addresses how emotion-related characteristics lead to work success, educational success, and greater mental health and well-being. Two major concepts in her research are emotional intelligence abilities and emotion regulation processes. She develops psychometric tests to assess these and other related concepts. She also focuses on the mechanisms and pathways by which emotional intelligence and emotion regulation lead to life success. Her research tends to be cross-disciplinary, cutting across psychology, education, and business.

Psychology Colloquium: Dr Erin Goddard
2024-05-03 15:00 - 16:00
Dr Erin Goddard (UNSW)Visual feature binding and colour constancy: similar processes?
Abstract
Different regions in visual cortex show specialisation for encoding different visual features, giving rise the question of how these features are ‘bound together’ to create a unitary percept of each object. I will show recent work based on classification of magnetoencephalography (MEG) data where we found that information about separate colour and shape information preceded information about their conjunction in occipital cortex. This may reflect feedback to occipital regions being required for feature binding, which would be consistent with a role for attention, as suggested by behavioural work (e.g. visual search). While this ‘binding problem’ has been investigated for at least 30 years, more recently I investigated whether a process similar to feature binding might be involved in the separation of surface and illuminant properties in colour constancy. I will present behavioural work where we tested this idea, and found that, like feature binding, the perceptual separation of surface and illuminant properties appears to rely on a slower, limited capacity process.
Bio
Erin Goddard is currently a Scientia Lecturer at UNSW, Sydney. She completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Sydney, including honours in physiology (rather than psychology, which meant that for years afterwards Sally Andrews greeted her as ‘the girl who made the wrong decision!’), then a PhD in the School of Psychology, completed in 2011. After postdocs in Sydney and at McGill University, Canada, she moved to UNSW in 2020. Her research focusses on visual perception, with a focus on colour vision. She uses a combination of behavioural and neuroimaging (fMRI, MEG, EEG) methods in her research.

Psychology Colloquium: A/Prof Vincent Laurent
2024-04-26 15:00 - 16:00
A/Prof Vincent Laurent (UNSW)Cholinergic regulation of fear by the basal forebrain
Abstract
The basolateral amygdala (BLA) and the infralimbic (IL) region of the medial prefrontal cortex are heavily implicated in fear regulation. These two regions receive dense cholinergic projections from the nucleus basalis of Meynert (NBM) and/or the horizontal limb of the diagonal band of Broca (HDB), which are both located in the basal forebrain. The present experiments examined whether these projections regulate the formation and extinction of fear memories, as well as the capacity of these memories to renew when context cues are manipulated. This was achieved by employing a Pavlovian fear protocol and optogenetics in transgenic rats. Silencing NBM-to-BLA cholinergic projections during fear conditioning weakened the fear memory produced by this conditioning and eliminated its renewal after extinction. A similar outcome was obtained when silencing HDB-to-BLA or HDB-to-IL cholinergic projections during extinction. These findings indicate that basal forebrain cholinergic signalling in the BLA and IL plays a critical role in fear regulation by promoting strength and durability of fear memories. This leads to the proposal that the function of basal forebrain cholinergic signalling is to protect fear memories from erasure when they are extinguished.
Bio
Vincent Laurent is an Associate Professor and ARC Future Fellow in the School of Psychology at the University of New South Wales. His general field of research is behavioural neuroscience, and he is interested in understanding how we learn about environmental stimuli that predict aversive or appetitive events, how the predictive relationships between these stimuli and events are updated when circumstances change, and how they are used to inform our choices and decisions. His work combines behavioural tasks in rodents and modern neuroscience tools to manipulate specific brain regions and neuronal populations.

Psychology Colloquium: Dr Llew Mills
2024-04-19 15:00 - 16:00
Dr Llew Mills (USYD)What works and why: two approaches to the treatment of addiction
Abstract
Addiction affects everyone, either directly through their own struggles or indirectly through the struggles of their friends and family. Yet it remains one of the most challenging disorders to treat. Medical addiction research tends to be pre-occupied with what treatments work and for whom, whereas theoretical addiction research attempts to ask why these treatments work. Dr Llew Mills from the Specialty of Addiction Medicine, University of Sydney discusses the pros and cons of these two different approaches, first via a tour through his more theroretical PhD work examining the cognitive processes that affect caffeine withdrawal, and second via a discussion of some of the studies he has run as a postdoc at the Faculty of Medicine: testing efficacy of a cannabis agonist drug for people with cannabis use disorder; determining what factors are associated with cannabis use disorder among medical cannabis users; and examining whether methamphetamine use at outset of treatment is associated with poorer outcomes among clients enrolled in an opioid treatment program.

Psychology Colloquium: A/Prof Lisa Williams
2024-04-12 15:00 - 16:00
A/Prof Lisa Williams (UNSW)Driving EDI with data: How data-driven approaches can advance equity in the STEM sector
Abstract
Advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion is a moral and operational imperative in today’s society, especially in the STEM sector. Establishing what to do to shift the dial in this space, and evaluating if it’s working, is essential yet often overlooked. This talk will cover several projects that leverage data to design, garner support for, and advance initiatives for equity, diversity, and inclusion at the university, sector, and national levels. These projects include data-driven design and evaluation of initiatives within the UNSW Faculty of Science, including the UNSW Women in Maths and Science Champions Program. Other examples include those conducted in A/Prof Williams’ capacity as Chief Investigator on the grants that fund Australia’s Women in STEM Ambassador initiative: (1) an analysis of 20 years of ARC and NHMRC grant outcomes data by gender of the lead investigator, (2) a trial of anonymising peer review for grant applications for access to scientific equipment, and (3) a series of systematic reviews on the efficacy of workplace initiatives to support gender equity, disability inclusion, and inclusion of sexual and gender minority populations. How such approaches can be effectively leveraged to advise on policy and practice at governmental and organisational levels will be discussed.
Bio
Associate Professor Lisa A. Williams is a social psychologist whose research explores the mechanisms of social and emotional wellbeing. Her current research projects address emotional experience in the context of close relationships, prosocial behaviour, and blood donation. She is an advocate for gender equity—particularly in STEM—and currently serves as Associate Dean Equity Diversity and Inclusion in the UNSW Faculty of Science. She is Chief Investigator on the grants that fund the Australian Government’s Women in STEM Ambassador initiative. To her advocacy for equity she brings her knowledge of the science of stereotypes, discrimination, and prejudice and is a staunch supporter of deploying best-practice initiatives using an empirically-backed approach.

Psychology Colloquium: Dr Christina Anthony
2024-03-22 15:00 - 16:00
Dr Christina Anthony (USYD)Bio
Dr. Christina I. Anthony is currently a Lecturer in the Discipline of Marketing at The University of Sydney Business School. Christina’s research uses experimental design to examine questions on the psychology of consumer behavior. She has a particular interest in studying interpersonal processes and relationship dynamics during social and marketplace interactions; including interpersonal deception and emotion regulation. She also seeks to understand the role of affect and motivation in goal pursuit. Christina obtained her PhD and Honours with the University Medal from The University of Sydney. She was the recipient of an ARC Discovery Grant Postdoctoral Fellowship. Christina’s papers have been published in top-tier (FT50) journals including the Journal of Consumer Research and have been featured in a range of media outlets including the Wall Street Journal, NBC News, The Atlantic, ABC News, and 2UE Radio.
Humorous Denials
Abstract
Every day people deny rumors and accusations of wrongdoing. Their denials typically take a serious tone (e.g. I did not have sexual relations with that woman – Bill Clinton), however some denials are intended to be humorous. From Chrissy Teigen’s hilarious clapbacks to photoshop accusations; celebrity surgeon Munjed Al Muderis jokingly dismissing claims about inflicting his patients with maggot–ridden wounds; to WWE champion Randy Orton laughing off claims of sexual misconduct, humorous denials have attracted significant attention. This paper introduces the concept of humorous denials and examines the benefits and dangers of being humorous when denying an accusation. Across five studies we show that in contrast to the belief that a humorous response will help make a denial seem more credible, a humor attempt in fact increases suspicion of wrongdoing. However, while using humor to deny an accusation may harm deniers by heightening suspicion of wrongdoing – we show that, ironically, it may also benefit the denier by reducing anger and subsequent punishment when the denial is subsequently exposed as a lie. This research not only establishes the novel role of humor in denials, but it is the first to examine the unexplored interplay between humor and deception. Our findings suggest a trade-off of implications for individuals and companies managing high-stake reputations and brand relationships.
This research is conducted in collaboration with Associate Professor Caleb Warren (University of Arizona) and Professor Peter McGraw (University of Colorado).
Authors:
Dr Christina I. Anthony* (University of Sydney Business School)
Associate Professor Caleb Warren (University of Arizona)
Professor Peter McGraw (University of Colorado)

Psychology Colloquium: Prof Ian Hickie
2024-03-15 15:00 - 16:00
Prof Ian Hickie (USYD)Bio
Professor Hickie is a Professor of Psychiatry and the Co-Director of Health and Policy, Brain and Mind Centre, University of Sydney. He has led major public health and health services developments in Australia, particularly focusing on early intervention for young people with depression, suicidal thoughts and behaviours and complex mood disorders. He is active in the development through codesign, implementation and continuous evaluation of new health information and personal monitoring technologies to drive highly-personalized and measurement-based care.
Circadian Depression: Testing a pathophysiological pathway to mood disorders
Abstract
Much of our everyday sense of well-being is driven by a well functioning 24-hour sleep-wake cycle, underpinned by the physiology of our body clock – or circadian system. Much progress has been made over the last two decades in unravelling the complex brain and body mechanisms that align the function of that clock with the external light-dark rhythms, and the changes in those rhythms that occur regularly across seasons and across the normal developmental life cycle. Our group at the Brain and Mind Centre actively investigates the ways in which dysfunction of those clock mechanisms may give rise to particular types of mood disorders characterized by low energy, prolonged sleep, weight gain and reduced motor activity. Of particular interest is the ways in which these states may also switch to an opposite phenotype of high energy, increased motor activity and low sleep. The importance of identifying these types of mood disorders, and designing specific behavioural and pharmacological approaches to care, will be discussed.

Psychology Colloquium: ECR Firetalk Presentations
2024-03-08 15:00 - 16:00
School of Psychology ECRs (USYD)Speakers
1) Nathan Cross
2) Sarah Ratcliff
3) Sarah Barakat
4) Jaimie Northam
5) Kristina Horne
6) Saoirse Desai
7) Nick Everett
8) Matt Davidson
9) Laura Sperl
10) Janelle Cleary

Psychology Colloquium: Dr Laura Corbit
2024-03-01 15:00 - 16:00
Dr Laura Corbit (University of Toronto)Bio
I received my PhD from UCLA where I worked with Bernard Balleine studying the neural circuits underlying goal-directed learning. I completed my postdoctoral training in the lab of Patricia Janak at the Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Centre where I studied how exposure to alcohol altered behavioural control. From there I moved to the School of Psychology at the University of Sydney where I was a Lecturer/Senior Lecturer until 2017 when I moved to the University of Toronto where I am currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology.
My lab continues to study the behavioural and neural control of instrumental learning and reward-seeking behaviours. We are particularly interested in the role of different types of behavioural control and how they are acquired, as well as how life experiences such as diet or exposure to drugs alters learning and behaviour.
Understanding the effects of diet on decision-making and the neural circuits underlying behavioural control
Abstract
Habits provide a rapid, efficient means for decision making however, this comes with a loss of behavioural flexibility. Although striatal circuits are involved in habit learning, little is known about how experiences that accelerate habit learning alter activity in these circuits to promote premature habitual control. Using the outcome devaluation task to distinguish flexible actions from habits, we have found that long-term access to an obesogenic diet promotes habitual behavioural control. I will present data that demonstrate changes to glutamate transmission and microglial activity following the obesogenic diet, pharmacological reversal of which restored goal-directed control. These results have important implications for understanding failures of behavioural control and strategies for improving behavioural flexibility.

Psychology Colloquium: Professor Emerita Phyllis Butow: How hard should we try? Evaluating implementation strategies for embedding an anxiety/depression clinical pathway into routine oncology practice
2024-02-23 15:00 - 16:00
Professor Emerita Phyllis Butow (USYD)Bio
Prof Phyllis Butow (BA(Hons), MPH, MClinPsych, PhD) is Emeritus Professor in the School of Psychology at the University of Sydney. She founded the Australian Psycho-Oncology Co-operative Research Group (PoCoG) and the Centre for Medical Psychology and Evidence-based Decision-making (CeMPED). Prof Butow has worked for over 30 years leading research in health professional-patient communication and Psycho-Oncology. She has conducted research on psychosocial issues in cancer genetics, doctor-patient communication, patient involvement in cancer consultations and decision-making (including informed consent), interventions to reduce fear of cancer recurrence, implementation of clinical pathways for anxiety and depression in cancer patients, and disparities in outcomes and needs of immigrants with cancer. She has won many awards, including the International Psycho-Oncology Society Bernard Fox award for outstanding contribution to Psycho-Oncology research in 2009, the Clinical Oncological Society of Australia Tom Reeve award for outstanding contribution to cancer care in 2011, NSW Cancer Researcher of the year in 2012, and an Order of Australia (AM) in 2014.
How hard should we try? Evaluating implementation strategies for embedding an anxiety/depression clinical pathway into routine oncology practice
Abstract
Background: Evidence on the efficacy of psychosocial oncology interventions is mounting, yet their inclusion in routine clinical practice remains low. Optimal strategies to facilitate implementation of evidence-based clinical pathways are unclear. Implementation science must guide the next wave of research in our discipline. We developed a clinical pathway for anxiety/depression (the ADAPT CP) and resources to support it, including health professional (HP) training, an online patient intervention and HP and patient portals to facilitate the process. We evaluated two implementation strategies (core versus enhanced) to facilitate implementation of the ADAPT CP in routine care.
Methods: Twelve cancer services in NSW Australia were cluster randomised, stratified by service size, to a core (standard) versus enhanced (more proactive, ongoing support by the research team) implementation strategy for the ADAPT CP over 12 months. All patients at participating sites were offered the ADAPT CP as part of routine care, and if agreeable, completed screening measures at regular intervals. They were allocated a severity step for anxiety/depression from one (minimal) to five (severe) and recommended management appropriate to their severity step. Staff completed questionnaires and interviews prior to, and at 6 and 12 months after implementing the ADAPT CP. Health economic data were collected.
Results: Of 1,280 registered patients, 696 (54%) completed at least one screening, and there were 1,323 screening events (883 in core and 440 in enhanced services) in total. Adherence was high for screening, moderate for referral and low for checking uptake and progress. Adherence was significantly higher when anxiety/depression step was less severe, and in the enhanced versus control arm (p=.02) for step 3 anxiety/depression and trending to significance for step 4. Anxiety/depression dropped significantly between screens. Health service costs (attending medical appointments, use of drugs) were lower in patients following registration on ADAPT CP. The cost of implementing ADAPT CP for individual services was approximately $12,000 a year. Staff perceived the CP as of high value, acceptable, appropriate, fit for purpose for services and a catalyst for change. However, timing screening was difficult, online screening was challenging and burdensome, and referral pathways were sometimes unclear.
Discussion: These results support ongoing implementation effort for the first year of implementation to ensure successful uptake of new clinical pathways in over-burdened clinical services. We need to understand the barriers and facilitators of uptake for psychosocial oncology interventions, and ensure that appropriate resourcing is allocated for this purpose.

Psychology Colloquium: Prof Carl Bergstrom : The impediments to high-risk, high-return research
2023-11-17 15:00 - 16:00
Prof Carl Bergstrom (University of Washington)
Abstract
Scientific researchers may be driven by curiosity, but they are constrained by the realities of the scientific ecosystems in which they operate and motivated by the incentives with which they are confronted. We can use mathematical models of the research enterprise to understand how scientific norms and institutions shape the questions we ask, the efficiency with which we work, and the discoveries we make about the world around us. In this talk I present a pair of mathematical models aimed at revealing why scientists are reluctant to propose and conduct high-risk research. In the first vignette we look at how peer review filters — ex ante review as for grant proposals and ex post review as for completed manuscripts — shape the types of questions that researchers pursue. In the second vignette, we develop an economic “hidden action” model to explore how the unobservability of risk and effort discourages risky research. Scientific norms and institutions are not god-given; we create and maintain them. If we can understand their consequences, we have the potential to nudge the norms and institutions in directions better tailored to our contemporary research questions and technologies.

HDR Symposium
2023-11-10 09:00 - 16:30
School of Psychology staff and postgraduate students are welcome and encouraged to attend.
Time
Given name
Surname
Presentation
Supervisor
9.00
Welcome

9.10
Adrienne
Turnell
Research Plan – PhD
Mark Dadds
9.30
He (Hester)
Xiao
Research Plan – PhD
Carolyn Maccann
9.50
Sarah
Walker
Final – PhD
Carolyn Maccann
10.10
Ellen
Shi
Research Plan – PhD
Fiona White
10.30
Yuan (Sue)
Ji
Research Plan – PhD
Ilan Dar-Nimrod
10.50
Break

11.00
Rachael
Yu
Research Plan – PhD
Sharon Naismith
11.20
Isabelle
Kaiko
Final – PhD
Muireann Irish
11.40
Federica
Conti
Final – PhD
Muireann Irish
12.00
Thomas
Nicholl
Final – PhD
Maree Abbott
12.20
Jordan
Martenstyn
Final – MCP/PhD
Caroline Hunt
12.40
Lunch

13.20
Esther
Chan
Research Plan – PhD
Suncica Lah
13.40
Arabella
Vaughan
Final – PhD
Damian Birney
14.00
Ming
Lim
Final – PhD
Damian Birney
14.20
Benjamin Kai
Ni
Final – PhD
Sabina Kleitman
14.40
Lillian
Darke
Final – PhD
Helen Paterson
15.00
Break

15.10
Shu
Chen
Final – PhD
Evan Livesey
15.30
Tessa
Rooney
Final – PhD
Benedict Colagiuri
15.50
Winston
Tan
Final – PhD
Benedict Colagiuri
16.10
Jacob
Coorey
Research Plan – MPhil
David Alais
16.30
End

Psychology Colloquium: Dr Mike Kendig: Effects of diet on cognition in animal models and humans
2023-11-03 15:00 - 16:00
Dr MIke Kendig (UTS)
Abstract
Processed foods rich in fat, sugar and salt now form a substantial part of the modern diet of most countries around the world, including Australia. Studies in human and rodents indicate that in addition to negative effects on physical health, high-fat, high-sugar foods are associated with an increased risk of cognitive impairment. However, such foods are rarely eaten exclusively, and more commonly form part of diverse diets that vary over the short- and long-term. The cognitive effects of high-fat, high-sugar foods eaten under these conditions are less well understood. Here I will review our work on the effects of intermittent access to (a) 10% sucrose solution, and (b) a high-fat, high-sugar ‘cafeteria’ diet on cognition and behaviour in rats, and the relationship of cognitive effects to changes in gut microbiota composition. The results of a clinical trial of sugar drink reduction in young healthy adults will also be presented.

Psychology Colloquium: Dr Karly Turner: Investigating the psychological and neural links between habitual, impulsive and compulsive behaviours
2023-10-27 15:00 - 16:00
Dr Karly Turner (UNSW)
Abstract
It has been suggested that habits spiral out of control to produce compulsive behaviours, such as those experienced in people with addiction and OCD, and this process has been associated with higher levels of impulsivity. However, studying habits in the lab has been challenging and there is limited preclinical evidence for specific stimulus-response associations. To facilitate the translational dissection of the psychological and neural underpinnings of habits, we recently developed a novel paradigm to measure explicit and specific stimulus-response behaviours in rats. Using this task, we can dissociate impaired goal-directed control from habits, which is critical for understanding behaviour relevant to mental health disorders. In addition, this behaviour is persistent despite negative feedback, reflecting a core feature of compulsivity. In a separate series of experiments, we have also established a link between habits and high levels of impulsivity. Using fibre photometry and optogenetics, we have begun examining the role of the nucleus accumbens in impulsive actions. By developing new knowledge about the psychological and neural processes that support habits, impulsive and compulsive behaviours, we hope to advance the development of more effective interventions.

Psychology Colloquium: Dr Kate Storrs: Learning about the world by learning about images
2023-10-20 15:00 - 16:00
Dr Kate Storrs (University of Auckland)
Abstract
Computational visual neuroscience has come a long way in the past 10 years. Deep neural networks can recognise objects with near-human accuracy, and predict brain activity in the ventral visual cortex better than any previous models. However, vision is far from explained. Our most successful models have been supervised to recognise objects in images using ground-truth labels for millions of examples. Brains have no such access to the ground truth, and must instead learn directly from sensory data. Unsupervised deep learning, in which networks learn statistical regularities in their data by compressing, extrapolating or predicting images and videos, presents a more ecologically feasible alternative. We have been using unsupervised deep learning, combined with computer-rendered artificial environments and psychophysics experiments, as a framework to understand how brains learn rich scene representations without ground-truth information about the world. I will explore how unsupervised networks trained on environments of 3D rendered objects with varying shape, material and illumination, spontaneously come to encode these properties of the environment in their internal representations. More strikingly, they can predict, on an image-by-image basis, patterns of errors made by human observers. Unsupervised deep learning may provide a powerful framework for exploring how perceptual dimensions and categories arise.

Psychology Colloquium: Dr Betty Luu: Confronting Whiteness in Developmental Psychology: Impacts on Ethnic Minority Families in the Australian Child Welfare System
2023-10-13 15:00 - 16:00
Dr Betty Luu (USYD)
Abstract
This talk considers the pervasiveness of Western models of thinking in relation to child development and parenting practices, and its impact on child welfare practices for ethnic minority families in Australia. It highlights key projects I have been involved in at the Research Centre for Children and Families that spurred my thinking about how culture and cultural diversity are conceptualised in the child protection and out of home care context. I first summarise the findings from a casefile review of adoptions from out-of-home care finalised by the Supreme Court in 2017 to show the critical role practitioners and adoptive parents play in shaping the attitudes of children and young people have toward ‘contact’ with their families of origin and their cultural identities. Alongside reflections of my experience as a second-generation Chinese-Australian working within academic research settings, these culminated in a co-written chapter in the Handbook of Critical Whiteness to critique the discipline of psychology with calls for further considerations about the influence of White dominant frameworks of development on approaches to supporting vulnerable families, focusing on ethnic minority families in the Australian child welfare system. Cultural competence is critical to improving research and practice: to know what aspects of a child and family’s culture are relevant for consideration to ensure safety and wellbeing.

Psychology Colloquium: A/Prof Marta Garrido: The Insight of Blindsight
2023-10-06 15:00 - 16:00
A/Prof Marta Garrido (University of Melbourne)
Abstract
Much of what we know about brain circuitry for human vision comes from neuroimaging studies and investigations on people with brain damage. A remarkable example are the studies in blindsight patients, who despite being blind after injury to their primary visual cortex (V1), display remarkable visual abilities. Indeed, blindsight patients can navigate through obstacles, detect motion, and correctly identify emotion in unseen faces. A possible explanation for this apparent paradox is that visual information is conveyed from subcortical structures to other cortical regions, bypassing V1. In this talk, I will present converging evidence from a diverse range of neuroimaging techniques and large data sets, which show this is the case for behavioural salient stimuli charged with motion and emotion information (McFadyen et al., 2019 and Rowe et al., 2023). I propose that the brain circuitry underpinning such residual vision, albeit without awareness, relies on brain shortcuts. These shortcuts may be a means for expediency of information processing and a useful alternative for the preservation and rehabilitation of critical visual functions after brain insult (McFadyen et al., 2021).

Psychology Colloquium: Dr Daniel Bennett: Take the money and run: investigating the decision to ‘cash out’ of a risky bet
2023-09-29 15:00 - 16:00
Dr Daniel Bennett (Monash University)
Abstract
Contemporary sports-betting products offer a raft of novel in-play betting features designed to incentivise customer engagement. Among these, one prominent feature available on most interactive betting platforms is ‘cash out’. The cash-out feature allows customers who have wagered on an event to forgo their stake in the event prior to its conclusion in exchange for a (discounted) early payout. In spite of its ubiquity in the world of sports betting, it remains unknown how and why bettors use this feature, as well as whether the mere availability of a cash-out option affects betting behaviour. In this talk I will report the results of several recent experiments using a novel experimental gambling task in which participants were offered the option to cash out of their risky bets. Briefly, results suggest (a) that the availability of a cash-out option may incentivise participants to place larger wagers, and (b) that individual differences in use of the cash-out feature are associated with inter-individual differences in self-reported impulsivity in unexpected ways. Although I will focus on the application of these findings to gambling, they also have bearing on a broader class of financial decisions, namely those in which the owner of a risky asset must weigh the guaranteed immediate returns of selling the asset against the potential costs and benefits of retaining it into the future.

Psychology Colloquium: Professor Sally Andrews Memorial Lecture on Cognitive Psychology: Prof Susan Hespos: Origins of concepts: what infants can tell us about human cognition
2023-09-22 15:00 - 16:00
Prof Susan Hespos (Western Sydney University)
Abstract
Human cognition is striking in its brilliance and adaptability. To gain an understanding of our species’ extraordinary cognition we investigate the origins and development of these abilities in infants. How do infant’s initial abilities change with experience, and what conditions foster or impede learning? Answers to these questions shed light not only on infants and children, but on people in all cultures because these abilities develop early and never go away. I will present data on what preverbal infants understand about objects, substances (like liquid or sand), and the processes they use to compare events. These factors underlie the everyday cognition for people of all ages, in all societies. By starting with babies, researchers gain insights into infants themselves and into older children’s prodigious capacities for learning. These insights form the foundation that guide our thoughts and actions as adults. Characterizing these cognitive processes could have a transformative impact on artificial intelligence by enabling machines to ‘learn’ in the same way we do.
