Visiting speaker: Stanley Gaines, Brunel University

“From global south to global north: measuring inner wellbeing among university students in the U.K.”

Date/time/place: Thursday 9th October, 12:00, room C209 (College Building) 

Abstract:
We examine the extent to which 1-factor versus 7-factor models of inner wellbeing can be generalized from the global South to the global North.  Using a sample of 174 university students in the UK, we found that both a unifactorical model and a 7-factor model (i.e., economic confidence, agency/participation, social connections, close relationships, physical/mental health, self-worth, and values/meaning ) fit the correlational data.  However, contrary to findings of previous studies in the global South (in which the 7-factor model yielded significantly better fit than did the 1-factor model), we found that the 1-factor and 7-factor models yielded equal fit to the data.  Whether calculated as one overall score or as seven separate scores, we found that inner wellbeing was significantly related to Ryff’s (e.g., Ryff, 1989) measures of psychological wellbeing and Diener’s (e.g., Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985; see also Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988) measures of subjective wellbeing.

Bio:
Dr. Stanley O. Gaines, Jr. is Senior Lecturer in Psychology, School of Social Sciences, Brunel University (United Kingdom).  Dr. Gaines authored the book, Culture, Ethnicity, and Personal Relationship Processes (Routledge, 1997); and he has written or co-written more than 90 additional publications in the fields of close relationships and ethnic studies.  Dr. Gaines is especially interested in areas of overlap between the subject areas of interpersonal relations (as informed by the literature on close relationships) and intergroup relations (as informed by the literature on ethnic studies).

Website:http://www.brunel.ac.uk/chls/life-sciences/psychology/staff-profiles/stanley-gaines

Visiting speaker: Claudia Uller, Kingston University

Visiting speaker: Claudia Uller, Kingston University

Date, time, location: Thursday, September 25, 12:00 PM, room CG01.

Title:

"What babies know about the world"

Abstract:

For the past 30 years, a significant body of research shows that babies are much smarter than we ever thought. From perceiving sounds in the womb, to making use of language, all within the first year of life, infants are built to make sense of the world in a rather sophisticated way. In this talk, I will show evidence that this is the case.

  

Website:

http://www.kingston.ac.uk/news/findanexpert/profile/246/Claudia-Uller/

Discourse and narrative analyses: Case studies and applications

Save the Date!

19 September 2014, 11.00am (Room no to be confirmed)

Discourse and narrative analyses: Case studies and applications

A Seminar for PhD students and their Supervisors with Dr Marco Gemignani, President of the  Qualitative Inquiry Section of the American Psychological Association , hosted as a joint initiative between The Qualitative and Mixed Methods Research Group, Psychology, and the Social Policy Research Centre.

The seminar will be of interest to all candidates using qualitative and mixed methods in their research and is part of a unique programme of seminars with Dr Gemignani at the beginning of his tenure as President of the Qualitative Inquiry Section of the American Psychological Association.  There will be time for discussion and networking at this exciting event.

The Abstract appears below.

Please email Nollaig Frost, n.frost@mdx.ac.uk, or Louise Ryan, L.Ryan@mdx.ac.uk, to confirm attendance and for further details.

Abstract

To an extent, the separation between narrative and discourse analyses seems to imply that these two forms of inquiry can exist in isolation from each other. My position, instead, is that they are not only complimentary, but that their interplay allows for sophisticated interpretations and deconstructions of complex processes or issues and for culturally-sensitive co-constructions of data. Major epistemological questions about the location of knowledge and the role of individual agency come with the entanglement of narrative and discursive approaches, especially in participatory, applied, or critical modes of research. Using as example a community-based support group in which I collaborated with Iraqi refugees who had recently relocated in the U.S., the collaboration between narrative inquiry and discourse analysis encourages bridging individual and socio-cultural dimensions of experience and knowledge.

Visiting speaker: Christine Hatchard, Mosaic Psychological Associates, LLC and Monmouth University, USA

Date, time, location: Monday 21st July, 4.00pm, room C210.

Title:
"Making the case: Considerations for conducting legal, ethical and comprehensive psychological evaluation for sexual abuse civil litigation"

Abstract:
The speaker will discuss her experience conducting psychological evaluations for civil litigation in New Jersey, United States, with a focus on sexual abuse and sexual harassment personal injury cases. An overview of the testing process, ethical challenges and legal considerations, such as statute of limitations, delayed discovery and establishing psychological damages will be presented. Concepts will be illustrated through the speaker’s own work, which has included plaintiffs from 3 to 60 years old, in cases against a range of defendants, including child protective services, churches, private preschools, public high schools and school districts, family members, teachers and neighbors. The speaker will also discuss her educational background and training, the risks and rewards of forensic work and the crucial role that Psychologists play in the successful resolution of lawsuits.

Bio:
Dr. Hatchard is a licensed clinical psychologist, forensic evaluator and Director of Mosaic Psychological Associates, LLC in New Jersey, United States. She is also an assistant professor at Monmouth University (NJ) where she holds several positions including Director of Undergraduate Psychology Research, Director of the Clinical Psychology Research Center and Field Placement Coordinator. In 1999, she founded and now directs Making Daughters Safe Again, a nonprofit organization, and through this work, is now recognized as a leading expert on the topic of female perpetrated sexual abuse. Dr. Hatchard has provided invited talks and trainings to a variety of audiences both nationally and internationally, and has been featured in newspaper, television, radio and film. http://mosaicpsych.com

The Galton Institute Conference - Genetics in Medicine

THE GALTON INSTITUTE CONFERENCE: GENETICS IN MEDICINE
WHEN:  4 NOVEMBER, 2014

WHERE:  THE ROYAL SOCIETY, 6-9 CARLTON HOUSE TERRACE, LONDON SW1Y 5AG

TICKETS: FREE admission, strictly by ticket from:
The General Secretary, The Galton Institute
19 Northfields Prospect, London SW18 1PE
betty.nixon@talk21.com

www.galtoninstitute.org.uk

SPEAKERS:
Professor Sir John Burn: Overview of Genetic Medicine
Professor Sadaf Farooqi: Genetics and obesity
Professor Bobby Gaspar: Gene Therapy
Professor Andrew Hattersley, FRS: Using Genetics to improve care in Diabetes
Professor Nazneen Rahman: Genetics in cancer and treatment
Professor Sir David Weatherall, FRS: Summing up: what we have learned from genetics for medical care
Professor Andrew Wilkie, FRS: Lionel Penrose and the paternal age effect for mutations— sixty years on

Visiting speaker: Maria Markodimitraki, University of Crete

Title: The development of language, emotions, imitation, and playful interactions in infants and young children: research methodology and protocols.

Time: Thursday July 10, 4:00, room C210.

Abstract:

The main research areas of the Cretan Research Team (Laboratories of Psychology in the Department of Philosophy and Social Studies, Department of Psychology and Department of Preschool Education) will be presented. More specifically, the presentation will focus on two life periods (infancy and preschool age), on issues we are interested in such as language development, emotions and developmental changes in human imitative ability. All these issues are investigated in a naturalistic context, in playful dyadic and triadic interactions. Finally, the methodological design of our studies will be described and the two main protocols which are used will be presented and analyzed. The most important findings will be discussed from the aspect of theory of innate intersubjectivity.

Bio:

Maria Markodimitraki (Heraklion, 1973) serves as Assistant Professor of Developmental Psychology at the Department of Preschool Education, University of Crete (Greece). She graduated from the Department of Philosophy and Social Studies of the University of Crete and got her PhD degree in Psychology at the same Department. She has taught as a scholar in Secondary Education. Since September 2003 she teaches at the Department of Preschool Education, University of Crete. She is married and mother of three children, a pair of dizygotic twins of different sex, aged 15, and a boy 10 years old. Her research interests focus on the development and training of typically and non-typically developing twin and non-twin infants and toddlers. Related articles have been published in psychology journals and conference proceedings in the Greek language and internationally. Within voluntary action to connect the University with local community and in cooperation with relevant agencies of Primary Education Dr. Markodimitraki organizes seminars counseling parents of twins and multiple. Maria Markodimitraki participates as scientific coordinator and research associate in research programs funded by ELKE

http://www.edc.uoc.gr/~markodim/cv_en.html

Yvan Russell in Göttingen

Yvan Russell updates us on his visit to Göttingen:

I recently visited the University of Göttingen in Germany. This is where I was employed as a postdoctoral research fellow between May 2012 and April 2013. During that time, I was a member of the Courant Research Centre in the Evolution of Social Behaviour (CRC-ESB, see http://www.uni-goettingen.de/en/92425.html).  In Germany, research centres are often funded on a finite term. Hence, the CRC-ESB existed for six years and now it is due to close later this year. They were a very productive interdisciplinary entity comprising developmental, social and evolutionary psychologists, primatologists, behavioural economists, computer scientists, and biologists.  I worked with Prof. Dirk Semmann in his behavioural economics laboratory, where we were specifically interested in evolutionary issues. The CRC-ESB was an exciting and dynamic place to work, where some truly innovative work has been done. In May 2014, I revisited the laboratory for one of its final weeks of existence. This gave me the opportunity to collect a substantial amount of material which I will be able to write up as publications.  Furthermore, the visit gave me clarity on the future directions for this research and where I can pursue future associations and collaborations. Finally, it gave me an opportunity to say a proper goodbye to a workplace and city which I had really grown to love. Then, in June, I visited Göttingen once again because they had invited me to the symposium to mark the end of the CRC-ESB.  This was an academic conference, with attendance by invitation only. Here, the mind-boggling diversity of the research was presented over the course of two days. Speakers were a mixture of staff, students, and postdocs of the CRC-ESB, as well as some very prestigious external speakers. It would take too long to convey the intellectually enriching and fascinating talks and people that I met during these two days. One of my longer term goals is to try to recreate this kind of intellectual environment here at Middlesex University. I will maintain links to Göttingen University and other centres of excellence and this will help us to lay the groundwork for this kind of centre right here in Hendon.