Psychology
Talks for A level students from Psychology Staff
Psychology (and Forensic Psychology) at the University of Portsmouth
This talk outlines what we are aiming to achieve when we study psychology and describes what a massive and infinitely interesting discipline psychology is. It looks at what our undergraduate course involves, admissions criteria, our facilities and research centres and, of course, careers. We also describe our new degree in Forensic Psychology and how to develop a career as a Forensic Psychologist.
Understanding Autism
What is autism? Autistic Spectrum disorders are more common now than ever, yet the causes are still unclear. In this talk you will learn about autism, what it is and what is not, what are the current theories, and more importantly, what it is like to have autism. You will also learn how important the study of autism is, not just to understand the syndrome better, but also to learn about how our brain/mind develops.
Is Performance all in the Mind: Mindset for Success
In this talk Sherria will explore research findings from psychology to help you to understand how your beliefs about yourself can impact on your academic behaviour, choices and performance. Further she will identify influences on these self beliefs so that you can consider how to help yourself to avoid less desirable learning approaches, e.g. Learned Helplessness.
Why do some Young People turn to Crime?
This talk discusses the positive and negative factors that affect a person's chance of becoming involved in crime. These include genetic and inheritable risks, risks that we get from the family that we grow up in and risks in the environment around us. It discusses some possible ways to prevent or reduce offending in young people.
To Catch a Liar: Dispelling the Myths Surrounding Deception
When we ask people what they look for when detecting lies they inevitably mention lack of eye contact, fidgeting and looking nervous, but are these really cues to deceit? This lecture will outline the psychological research that has been conducted in this country and abroad to investigate believed cues to lying and actual cues to lying. Furthermore accuracy rates for detecting deceit will be discussed. Very few people are good at lie detection - reasons for this will be discussed.
The Psychology of Beauty and Facial Attractiveness
"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder", goes the saying. However, human judgments of beauty are not arbitrary but reflect ways of judging the value of a potential mate. Drawing on evolutionary psychology, I will explain what we find physically attractive in others and why we should care. This talk will showcase the use of computer-graphics techniques to morph faces in interesting ways.
The Work of Forensic Psychologists in the Criminal Justice System
This talk starts by characterising forensic psychology as a branch of applied psychology: it is the application of a wide range of areas within psychology to the concerns and contexts of criminal and civil justice. It goes on to discuss briefly the kinds of skills exercised by its practitioners and the settings in which they work. Examples of work are then drawn from the speaker's own experience as a chartered forensic psychologist in areas such as assessment and treatment of offenders, training and counselling of staff, organisational consultancy and advising on operational emergencies such as hostage incidents. Finally, some findings and implications from current research in a unit for young women offenders are described.
A Rough Guide to Motion Sickness
Why do some people experience motion sickness when they travel whilst others don't? Why should travelling make us feel ill at all and what are the best strategies for trying to prevent it? In this talk, we will examine the truth behind some everyday and more scientific explanations of motion sickness, look at some of the strange circumstances under which sickness can occur, and explore what psychology can contribute to our understanding of motion sickness and how to cure it. You may not feel better afterwards, but at least you will know why.
The Psychology of Homicide
From an introduction to the scale and patterns of homicide offences in the UK, this talk moves on to address the scientific status of "offender profiling" then outlines some characteristics of offences that are more representative than those that are often concentrated upon by the media. Targets for working with life sentence prisoners are highlighted, along with a range of factors that it is helpful to take into account in the analysis of individual offences.
Colour Perception in Everyday Life
Colours are everywhere. People experience them and even use them every day without being aware of their influence. Based on research undertaken in the Department of Psychology, this talk brings together a list of questions about everyday colour perception and attempts to answer them: what is the experience of people with colour blindness; why do children with dyslexia have coloured glasses or overlays; what colour should your logo be; how do you use colour in maps in nuclear power station control rooms; what is the best colour strip for you local sports team to use and, most importantly, what colour is "Wednesday"?
Emotional Animals: Emotions in human and non-human animals
Emotions are an important part of our everyday experience. The purpose of the talk is to explore the origins and functions of emotion. The way these issues will be addressed will be based on my work on emotions in non-human animals. The presentation will focus on the evolution of emotion.