BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//School of Psychology Events - ECPv6.17.2//NONSGML v1.0//EN
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
METHOD:PUBLISH
X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://psychology-events.sydney.edu.au
X-WR-CALDESC:Events for School of Psychology Events
REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H
X-Robots-Tag:noindex
X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H
BEGIN:VTIMEZONE
TZID:Australia/Sydney
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:+1100
TZOFFSETTO:+1000
TZNAME:AEST
DTSTART:20250405T160000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:+1000
TZOFFSETTO:+1100
TZNAME:AEDT
DTSTART:20251004T160000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:+1100
TZOFFSETTO:+1000
TZNAME:AEST
DTSTART:20260404T160000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:+1000
TZOFFSETTO:+1100
TZNAME:AEDT
DTSTART:20261003T160000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:+1100
TZOFFSETTO:+1000
TZNAME:AEST
DTSTART:20270403T160000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:+1000
TZOFFSETTO:+1100
TZNAME:AEDT
DTSTART:20271002T160000
END:DAYLIGHT
END:VTIMEZONE
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20260911T150000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20260911T160000
DTSTAMP:20260812T034054Z
CREATED:20260729T030040Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260812T034054Z
UID:392-1789138800-1789142400@psychology-events.sydney.edu.au
SUMMARY:Psychology Colloquium: ECR Fire Talks (University of Sydney Psychology)
DESCRIPTION:ECR Fire Talks (University of Sydney Psychology) \n\n\n\nSamuel Warren \n\n\n\nStaging frontotemporal dementia using multimodal features and event-based modelling \n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION: Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) comprises several clinical phenotypes with overlapping features that can impact diagnostic timelines and confidence. Here\, we applied event-based models (EBM) to characterise the relative ordering of shared clinical and neurodegenerative features in behavioural-variant FTD (bvFTD) and semantic dementia (SD). \n\n\n\nMETHODS: Cross-sectional EBMs were applied to bvFTD (n=86) and SD (n=32) groups relative to controls (n=57) using retrospective data from FRONTIER (N=175). Measures included general cognition\, grey matter regions-of-interest\, and behavioural abnormalities common in FTD. \n\n\n\nRESULTS: Behavioural and cognitive features were ordered first in bvFTD\, followed by abnormalities in frontostriatal\, insular\, and then medial temporal regions. In contrast\, SD was characterised by probabilistic orderings of medial-temporal lobe\, cognitive\, insular\, behavioural\, and frontostriatal abnormalities\, respectively. \n\n\n\nDISCUSSION: EBMs applied to cross-sectional data enables identification of syndrome-specific patterns in the relative ordering of clinical and neuroanatomical abnormalities in FTD syndromes. This framework could assist with syndromic differentiation and clinical decision-making. \n\n\n\nBio: \n\n\n\nSam is a Postdoctoral Researcher in Computational Neuroscience at the University of Sydney. His research focuses on applying novel machine learning\, deep learning\, and statistical models to the characterisation and detection of dementia—with a specific focus on younger-onset dementia. He works on a vast array of data modalities\, such as neuroimaging\, clinical tests\, omics\, and digital health data. This work spans big-data research across large clinical populations\, as well as fine-grained characterisations of rare disorders.  \n\n\n\nYue Li \n\n\n\nNot Always Nice: Cultural Differences in Strategies and Motives for Making Others Feel Worse \n\n\n\nPeople at times try to make others feel bad (i.e.\, affect worsening). Yet this form of interpersonal emotion regulation is understudied and drawn mainly from Western samples. Little is known about how it might differ across cultures\, or between the perspectives of the regulator (who worsens others’ emotions) and the target (whose emotions are worsened). We examined cultural differences in affect worsening motives and strategies among Anglo-Celtic\, East Asian\, and South Asian participants in two studies framed from the regulator (Study 1\, N = 607) or target (Study 2\, N = 606) perspective. Two key findings emerged. First\, after controlling for age\, cultural differences in strategies emerged only from the regulator (but not target) perspective\, with East Asians reporting greater use of show-off and cautioning strategies than the other groups. Second\, cultural differences in motives varied by perspective: East Asians reported stronger self-focused motives (to win\, to help me) as regulators\, and South Asians perceived stronger counter-hedonic motives as targets. These findings suggest that culture shapes affect worsening differently for regulators and targets\, with implications for cross-cultural communication. \n\n\n\nBio: \n\n\n\nYue Li is a post-doc at the School of Psychology working with Prof Carolyn MacCann. She obtained her PhD from the University of Texas at Dallas in August 2025. Her research focuses on culture\, emotion\, and interpersonal relationships. Her current work examines cultural differences in motives\, strategies\, and consequences of making others feel worse. During her PhD\, she investigated how cultural context shapes the perception of emotional facial expressions and the regulation of one’s own and romantic partner’s emotions\, and their implications for health and well-being. \n\n\n\nKyra Webb \n\n\n\nUnderstanding carer experiences of fear and worry about their loved one’s cancer coming back \n\n\n\nPartners\, family members and friends play a vital role supporting people living with and beyond a cancer diagnosis. Fear of cancer recurrence (FCR)\, defined as the fear or worry that cancer may come back or progress is a key concern for cancer carers. Almost half of carers report levels that would be considered clinically significant among cancer survivors. At high levels\, FCR is associated with poorer psychological outcomes such as increased levels of depression and anxiety. Despite identified need\, few interventions addressing carer FCR are available. This talk will describe how foundational work to understand carer-specific FCR experiences has been applied to develop a theoretically informed online intervention tailored to the needs of cancer carers. \n\n\n\nBio: \n\n\n\nDr Kyra Webb is a Research Fellow with the Psycho-Oncology Co-operative Research Group (PoCoG)\, based in the School of Psychology at The University of Sydney. Her research focuses on understanding and improving psychosocial support for people living with and beyond cancer\, as well as the partners\, family members\, and friends who provide care. \n\n\n\nKyra completed her PhD at the University of Sydney in 2024\, where she examined carers’ experiences of fear and worry about a loved one’s cancer recurring or progressing. This work resulted in the development of a conceptual model that captures the unique features of carer fear of cancer recurrence\, alongside the development and psychometric validation of a new measurement tool. Her postdoctoral research builds on this work and focuses on the adaptation and pilot testing of a psychosocial intervention to address carer fear of cancer recurrence. \n\n\n\nKyra is passionate about developing evidence-based\, accessible psychosocial support that is informed by\, and meets the needs of people living with cancer and their family carers. \n\n\n\nIana Wong \n\n\n\nInterpersonal Emotion Regulation in Couples: A Window into Coercive Control \n\n\n\nCoercive control is a subtle form of intimate partner violence\, making it difficult to identify before serious harm occurs. My research examines the psychosocial mechanisms underlying intimate partner violence\, with a current focus on interpersonal emotion regulation. Specifically\, I examine how partners’ deliberate worsening of each other’s emotional states predicts coercive control. A next step in this research is to examine whether it is not worsening alone\, but the combination of improving and worsening a partner’s emotions\, that may serve as an early warning sign of coercive control dynamics. Together\, this program of research aims to better understand the mechanisms underlying intimate partner violence. Together with A/Prof Helen Paterson\, I co organize a university-wide research network for domestic\, sexual\, and family violence researchers\, and invite colleagues working in this space to connect. \n\n\n\nBio: \n\n\n\nDr Iana Wong is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the School of Psychology at the University of Sydney\, where she works with Prof Carolyn MacCann in the Regulation of Emotion and Affect Lab. She completed her PhD at UNSW in 2025\, where she examined the psychosocial mechanisms linking insecure attachment to intimate partner violence. \n\n\n\nRenèll Rodrigues \n\n\n\nVirtual Reality as an Alternative for Attentional Bias Research and Assessment in Addiction \n\n\n\nAttentional bias is a well-established factor in addiction research. However\, traditional assessment tools face significant limitations. The widely used dot-probe task requires a large number of trials and participants to achieve statistical significance\, while self-report questionnaires (such as the AUDIT) are prone to social desirability bias. \n\n\n\nAlternative methods\, such as 4×4 image arrays measuring participant eye movements (specifically dwell time)\, yield improved results; however\, further analysis reveals an interaction between stimulus characteristics and spatial area\, as many participants demonstrate spatial preferences independent of the stimulus shown.  \n\n\n\nTo address these challenges\, a novel approach using VR technology presents stimuli on two moving conveyor belts\, allowing participants to view them freely without explicit instructions. Initial findings are promising: total viewing time correlates significantly with AUDIT scores\, suggesting that this VR-based free-viewing paradigm could serve as an effective tool for individual clinical assessment. \n\n\n\nBio:Dr. Renèll Rodrigues earned her PhD from the University of Sydney in 2025. Her doctoral research investigated psychophysical methods and virtual reality (VR) technologies to develop novel paradigms for measuring attentional bias\, with a focus on refining individual-level assessments for behavioural health challenges like alcohol addiction. Expanding on another area of interest\, her current research explores the social and educational environments impacting neurodivergent children and adults. 
URL:https://psychology-events.sydney.edu.au/event/psychology-colloquium-ecr-fire-talks-university-of-sydney-psychology/
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20260918T150000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20260918T160000
DTSTAMP:20260729T030427Z
CREATED:20260729T030423Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260729T030427Z
UID:396-1789743600-1789747200@psychology-events.sydney.edu.au
SUMMARY:Psychology Colloquium: Cultural diversity in research community (University of Sydney Psychology)
DESCRIPTION:Cultural diversity in research community (University of Sydney Psychology) \n\n\n\nTitle: TBA \n\n\n\nAbstract: \n\n\n\nTBA \n\n\n\nBio: \n\n\n\nTBA
URL:https://psychology-events.sydney.edu.au/event/psychology-colloquium-cultural-diversity-in-research-community-university-of-sydney-psychology/
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20260925T150000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20260925T160000
DTSTAMP:20260803T001537Z
CREATED:20260729T030558Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260803T001537Z
UID:398-1790348400-1790352000@psychology-events.sydney.edu.au
SUMMARY:Psychology Colloquium: Postgraduate Prizes with talks by winners (University of Sydney Psychology)
DESCRIPTION:Postgraduate Prizes with talks by winners (University of Sydney Psychology) \n\n\n\nH. Tasman Lovell Memorial Medallion winner: Dr Matthew Blanchard (in absentia) \n\n\n\nFaculty of Science Prize for Outstanding PhD Thesis nominee: Dr Tao Chen \n\n\n\nTitle: Behavioural Rigidity in Dementia: From Clinical Significance to Neurobiological Mechanisms \n\n\n\nAbstract: \n\n\n\nWith the rapid ageing of the global population\, dementia poses an increasing challenge to healthcare systems worldwide. Neuropsychiatric symptoms are common in dementia and are associated with faster disease progression\, poorer quality of life and greater caregiver burden. Neuropsychiatric symptoms frequently co-occur\, determining which symptoms should be prioritised for intervention remains a major clinical challenge. In particular\, behavioural rigidity is increasingly recognised as a clinically important symptom\, yet the rationale for prioritising it as an intervention target\, together with its underlying neural and neurochemical mechanisms\, remains incompletely understood. \n\n\n\n    In this talk\, I will present a series of studies using transdiagnostic dementia cohorts to address these challenges. First\, I will introduce a data-driven framework for prioritising co-occurring neuropsychiatric symptoms by quantifying their relative contributions to caregiver burden\, thereby identifying behavioural rigidity as a priority intervention target. I will then present multimodal neuroimaging findings that provide new insights into the neural mechanisms underlying behavioural rigidity\, followed by spatial neurochemical mapping using normative neurotransmitter maps to indirectly investigate its underlying neurochemical basis. Finally\, I will discuss how integrating clinical\, neuroimaging and neurochemical evidence can inform mechanism-informed strategies for developing targeted interventions for neuropsychiatric symptoms in dementia. \n\n\n\nBio: \n\n\n\nDr Tao Chen is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Brain and Mind Centre\, The University of Sydney. His research focuses on understanding the neural and neurochemical mechanisms underlying neuropsychiatric symptoms in dementia\, particularly behavioural rigidity and cognitive flexibility. By integrating multimodal neuroimaging with computational approaches in transdiagnostic dementia cohorts\, he aims to translate neurobiological insights into clinically meaningful intervention strategies for dementia. \n\n\n\n    Dr Chen received his PhD in Psychology from the University of Sydney\, where his doctoral thesis passed examination without corrections\, was nominated for the Australian Psychological Society (APS) Excellent PhD Thesis Award and received the Faculty of Science Prize for Outstanding PhD Thesis. He has authored more than 10 first-author peer-reviewed publications\, with his work appearing in leading international journals\, including Brain\, Human Brain Mapping\, and Clinical Psychological Science. He also serves as a reviewer for Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews and is a recipient of the 2026 Psychology Early Career “Pathway” Grant from the School of Psychology\, The University of Sydney. \n\n\n\nAPS Award for Excellent PhD Thesis in Psychology nominee: Dr Amaani Hatoum \n\n\n\nTitle: TBA \n\n\n\nAbstract: \n\n\n\nTBA \n\n\n\nBio: \n\n\n\nTBA \n\n\n\nA.H. Martin Scholarship winner: Olivia Avery \n\n\n\nTitle: TBA \n\n\n\nAbstract: \n\n\n\nTBA \n\n\n\nBio: \n\n\n\nTBA
URL:https://psychology-events.sydney.edu.au/event/psychology-colloquium-postgraduate-prizes-with-talks-by-winners-university-of-sydney-psychology/
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20261009T150000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20261009T160000
DTSTAMP:20260729T030800Z
CREATED:20260729T030756Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260729T030800Z
UID:400-1791558000-1791561600@psychology-events.sydney.edu.au
SUMMARY:Psychology Colloquium: Prof Kevin Dunn (Western Sydney University)
DESCRIPTION:Prof Kevin Dunn (Western Sydney University) \n\n\n\nTitle: TBA \n\n\n\nAbstract: \n\n\n\nTBA \n\n\n\nBio: \n\n\n\nTBA
URL:https://psychology-events.sydney.edu.au/event/psychology-colloquium-prof-kevin-dunn-western-sydney-university/
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20261016T150000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20261016T160000
DTSTAMP:20260729T030958Z
CREATED:20260729T030954Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260729T030958Z
UID:402-1792162800-1792166400@psychology-events.sydney.edu.au
SUMMARY:Psychology Colloquium: A/Prof Michele Barnes (University of Sydney Engineering)
DESCRIPTION:A/Prof Michele Barnes (University of Sydney Engineering) \n\n\n\nTitle: TBA \n\n\n\nAbstract: \n\n\n\nTBA \n\n\n\nBio: \n\n\n\nTBA
URL:https://psychology-events.sydney.edu.au/event/psychology-colloquium-a-prof-michele-barnes-university-of-sydney-engineering/
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20261023T150000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20261023T160000
DTSTAMP:20260730T042024Z
CREATED:20260729T031144Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260730T042024Z
UID:404-1792767600-1792771200@psychology-events.sydney.edu.au
SUMMARY:Psychology Colloquium: Prof Anne Castles (Australian Catholic University)
DESCRIPTION:Prof Anne Castles (Australian Catholic University) \n\n\n\nTitle: Word learning in adolescent readers \n\n\n\nAbstract: \n\n\n\nFormal reading instruction typically concludes at the end of the primary school years\, with children assumed to transition from “learning to read” to “reading to learn”. Yet the results of both national and international studies show that as much as 30% of secondary school students still struggle with literacy\, including at the individual word level. In this talk\, I will describe recent research we have carried out on word learning in adolescent students\, including on the effect of pre-existing vocabulary knowledge and level of exposure. I also discuss word learning in digital contexts\, and report on experimental research conducted on facilitating word learning in noisy environments.  The results will be considered in the context of theories of reading development and implications for classroom practice. \n\n\n\nBio: \n\n\n\nAnne Castles is an ARC Laureate Fellow\, based at the Australian Centre for the Advancement of Literacy at Australian Catholic University.  Her research focuses on learning to read and reading disorders\, with a particular interest in different processes in reading and how they are learned. Her Laureate research program explores the under-researched area of literacy in adolescents. She is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia (FASSA) and the Royal Society of NSW (FRSN)\, and serves on the Editorial Boards of several major journals. In 2018\, she served as President of Learning Difficulties Australia.
URL:https://psychology-events.sydney.edu.au/event/psychology-colloquium-prof-anne-castles-australian-catholic-university/
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20261030T150000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20261030T160000
DTSTAMP:20260805T015314Z
CREATED:20260729T031315Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260805T015314Z
UID:406-1793372400-1793376000@psychology-events.sydney.edu.au
SUMMARY:Psychology Colloquium: A/Prof Miri Forbes (Macquarie University)
DESCRIPTION:A/Prof Miri Forbes (Macquarie University) \n\n\n\nTitle: The Future of Mental Disorder Classification: Problems\, Progress\, and Possibilities \n\n\n\nAbstract: \n\n\n\nThere is growing evidence of substantial limitations in traditional\, categorical approaches to the classification of mental disorders like the DSM and ICD. In this talk I will examine the case for rethinking how we classify mental illness\, and introduce the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP)\, which represents an emerging empirically derived alternative. The hierarchical and dimensional approach of the HiTOP framework offers promising solutions to the limitations of traditional approaches and offers new directions for research\, assessment\, and intervention. I will also address the challenges of changing our approach to classification\, and explore why there are good reasons to be optimistic regardless. \n\n\n\nBio: \n\n\n\nMiri Forbes is an Associate Professor in the School of Psychological Sciences at Macquarie University. Miri was awarded her PhD in Psychology in 2014\, and went on to do a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Minnesota before returning to Australia for a Macquarie University Research Fellowship in 2018\, followed by back-to-back NHMRC Investigator Grants funding her current program of research on improving the diagnosis\, assessment\, and classification of mental disorders. She is President of the international Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) Society\, and a member of the Executive Board of the Macquarie University Lifespan Health and Wellbeing Research Centre.
URL:https://psychology-events.sydney.edu.au/event/psychology-colloquium-a-prof-miri-forbes-macquarie-university/
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20261106T150000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20261106T160000
DTSTAMP:20260729T031506Z
CREATED:20260729T031502Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260729T031506Z
UID:408-1793977200-1793980800@psychology-events.sydney.edu.au
SUMMARY:Psychology Colloquium: Prof Jason Mattingley (University of Queensland)
DESCRIPTION:Prof Jason Mattingley (University of Queensland) \n\n\n\nTitle: TBA \n\n\n\nAbstract: \n\n\n\nTBA \n\n\n\nBio: \n\n\n\nTBA
URL:https://psychology-events.sydney.edu.au/event/psychology-colloquium-prof-jason-mattingley-university-of-queensland/
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR