PhD & Postgraduate Research

In today’s world, with increased mobility and heterogeneous societies, understanding how we form impressions of individuals is crucial for preventing discrimination. My previous research has looked separately (or in a pair) at different aspects of person perception, such as labels, accents, appearance, or stereotypes. One possible PhD project aims at providing a comprehensive investigation of how we evaluate unknown individuals based on complex combinations of categories, including their gender, occupation, appearance, ethnicity, accent, and nationality. This can be expanded to different social contexts (multicultural or not) and different age groups (younger vs. older adults). This would allow a better understanding of how impression formation develops over time, as well as how they might be influenced by a social context (multicultural or not).

Related to the previous project, the effects of standard-accent bias have been demonstrated in a variety of context, where standard accent speakers are perceived more competent and hireable than nonstandard accent speakers. Some evidence suggests that there might be possible to suppress this negative bias at least in short term. The proposed project would aim to investigate different interventions and determine which are more practical and long-lasting. This could also be investigated in the presence of other types of information (e.g., appearance, occupation, etc.).

If you are interested in these topics or if you have other ideas that are related to these topics please contact Dr Tamara Rakic.

Key references for this work include:

• Hansen, K., Rakić, T., & Steffens, M. C., (in press). Competent and warm? How mismatching appearance and accent influence first impressions. Experimental Psychology.
• Hansen, K., Rakić, T., & Steffens, M. C. (2014). When actions speak louder than words: preventing discrimination of nonstandard speakers. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 33(1), 68-77.
• Rakić, T., Steffens, M. C., & Mummendey, A. (2011). Blinded by the accent! The minor role of looks in ethnic categorization. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 100(1), 16-29.
• Rakić, T., Steffens, M.C., & Mummendey, A. (2011). When it matters how you pronounce it: The influence of regional accents on job interview outcome. British Journal of Psychology, 102, 868-883.

I’m interested in the ways in which we understand other people’s minds, an ability which is often known as Theory of Mind. In the Cognition of Social Interaction (CoSI) lab, we employ a range of techniques to better understand the cognitive basis for social interactions. This includes tracking people’s eye movements during conversations, testing their memory for communicative content, and measuring their response times and response accuracy to social stimuli. I would be very happy to discuss ideas for PhD projects on social cognition across the lifespan. Please contact me to discuss your ideas for a PhD. More information about my research can be found on my website.

Possible projects for 2019/20 entries include (but not limited to):

1. The role of memory in communication
   It is known that working memory supports referential communication (e.g., Wang, Ali, Frisson, Apperly, 2016; Zhao, Wang, Apperly, 2018). However at present little is known about the types of memory representations interlocutors form, and whether the richness of the representation changes with age. This project will examine the episodic memory traces for social interactions (Burns, Russell, & Russell, 2015), combining measure from eye-tracking and EEG.
2. Automatic mindreading: what, when, and how
   An increasing body of evidence suggests that complex mental states such as beliefs may be tracked automatically (e.g., Meert, Wang, & Samson, 2017). However, the underlying cognitive mechanism has not been fully understood. This project will examine whether automatic mindreading can be flexibly controlled by top-down mechanisms and be adaptive to different contexts (Furlanetto et al., 2016). There is scope to conduct this project as a developmental project or an ageing project.

I am interested in how people process evolutionary or contextually salient stimuli, such as pictures of threatening or appetitive objects (bear, cake), emotional words (war, kiss), or idiomatic and metaphorical expressions (‘That was a kick in the teeth’, ‘I drank a heavenly coffee’). I am also interested in how these processes differ between second language and first language speakers, or between multilingual and monolinguals. Finally, I am developing a growing interest in beauty perception (aesthetics) in response to literary texts and poetry as well as to paintings, statues, and other artwork.

I employ a range of methods, from self-reports (e.g., ratings) and reaction times, to electrical brain responses (EEG/ERPs) and neuroimaging (fMRI). I am also interested in using eye-tracking and physiological responses.

I am interested in hearing from motivated and enthusiastic students on topics related the those above.

More information on what we do can be found in the Emotion and Communication lab webpage.

If you are interested in discussing a project together, please contact Francesca.

I am interested in how the sensory system processes complex natural stimuli, such as photographs, movies, music and language. More specifically, my research investigates how human observers perceive differences and how different features from the sensory environment are integrated. In addition, I have also studied visual perception in the extreme peripheral field.

The main topics I am interested in include:

• Natural stimuli perception
• Feature integration
• Cross-modal integration
• Visual perception in the far and extreme periphery

If you are interested in doing a project in one of these, or a related one, please contact me.

I am interested in the process of neuroplasticity – the brain’s ability to change throughout an individual’s life. These neuroplastic changes can result from brain damage, such as after a stroke when the brain recovers, or in healthy brains, such as after learning a new skill. I am looking for a motivated student with a background in psychology, neuroscience, or natural sciences (or a related discipline) to join the Neuroscience of Speech and Action lab and work on a collaborative project between the Psychology department and Lancaster Medical School. A variety of methods will be employed to study the process of neuroplasticity, including transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), which is a form of non-invasive brain stimulation; electromyography (EMG) to measure muscle signals; physiological techniques to assess strength, arousal, and heart rate; as well as techniques used to measure human behaviours, such as reaction times and accuracy. We are interested in identifying the scientific basis of neuroplasticity to better inform potential therapies in the future.

Indicative projects areas are:

1. Motor cortex plasticity in response to a physiological challenge

Bed rest, extreme environments, and limb immobilisation from arm slings or casts all change the use and function of the motor system. We are interested in exploring how physiological challenges like these affect signalling throughout the motor pathway, and if we can improve motor signalling through brain stimulation, for example

2. Exercise, cognition, and neuroplasticity

Recent evidence indicates that sport and exercise can influence cognition, both positively, through improving memory, for example, or negatively, in the case of contact sports and the effect of associated sub-concussions. We are interested in exploring the brain-basis of these neuroplastic changes that are linked to cognitive ability and sport.

I am very happy to hear from any interested students with their own project ideas as well. Please get in touch via h.nuttall1@lancaster.ac.uk to discuss possible ideas or either of the projects listed above.

The award is for 3.5 years for UK/EU applicants and provides full tuition fees, a generous stipend of approximately £14,500 and access to a grant towards research training support. There is the possibility of one award for an Overseas (non-EU) student, which will be for 3 years, and also provide full tuition fees and stipend.

• We welcome applications from students in all areas of supervisory expertise. Before sending your application you must contact individual staff members to discuss your specific interests and to develop a research proposal. Applications that bring important and innovative ideas to match and complement the research agenda of current staff are more likely to be successful. 
• As a department, we particularly encourage applications to work with early career staff, who have not previously taken primary supervision of PhD students. A list of early-career staff can be found here and applications to work with these members of staff are weighted preferentially during the evaluation of applications
• In all cases, informal enquiries should be directed to members of staff prior to application, using the contact details above.
• In your application, please state clearly that you are applying for the Faculty of Science & Technology Scholarships, and the application should also identify an appropriate supervisor(s).  We ask for a research proposal of up to 1,500 words to be included in the application.

The Leverhulme Trust Doctoral Scholarship Programme in Interdisciplinary Research on Infant Development has provided 15 PhD studentships starting between 2015 and 2017. Now, Lancaster University is offering 7 more studentships during the three years thereafter. 

• Visit the website

Applications are invited for a 3.5-year EPSRC DTP PhD studentship in the Centre for Research and Evidence on Security Threats (CREST) at Lancaster University. Beginning October 2019, the student will be based in Psychology and supervised by Professor Paul Taylor, Drs Stacey Conchie and David Ellis.

The PhD will examine how trust among individuals and small groups can be measured from ubiquitous behavioural data streams, such as email, social media and phone usage. By applying established and new measures at a scale larger than studied previously, the PhD will seek to understand how our day-to-day acts shape our social relations over time and across groups. The kinds of questions the PhD might address include: Is it possible to identify healthy and unhealthy relationships? How is trust gained rapidly? What are the roles of particular psychological factors (e.g., identity, emotions) that affect trust? What is the impact of external events on trust and when does it break down?

The closing date is Thursday, March 28, 2019. If you wish to discuss the studentship informally or if you have any questions about the position, please contact Professor Paul Taylor.

• Full details

Lancaster is a member of the Northwest Social Sciences Doctoral Training Partnership (NWSSDTP), along with the Universities of Manchester, Liverpool and Keele. The NWSSDTP offers studentships as 1+3 (Masters + 3 years PhD funding), +3 (3 years PhD funding) and as CASE awards (1+3, or +3, where proposals are supported by a non-academic partner).

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