The Virtual Midlands Conference
Transcript of The Virtual Midlands Conference
The Virtual Midlands Conference
A celebration of psychology in the Midlands!
Tuesday 7th September 2021
Online; 10am-5pm
Conference timetable overview
10:00-10:10 – Introduction: A celebration of psychology in the Midlands!
10:10-10:50 - Keynote 1: Dr Martin Turner
10:50-11:30 - 3-Minute Thesis Competition
11:30-11:45 - Stretch & Screen Break
11:45-13:00 - Morning parallel presentation sessions
13:00-13:30 – Lunch - AGM – Poster viewing
13:30-14:00 – Poster Q&A session
14:00-14:45 - Careers parallel session
14:45-15:00 – Stretch & Screen Break
15:00-16:15 – Afternoon parallel presentation sessions
16:15-16:55 – Keynote 2: Dr Darel Cookson & Dr Malcolm Schofield
16:55-17:00 – Conference close
Welcome – Lawrence Moulin
A message from the Chair of the BPS West Midlands Branch
Dear Delegates,
I am delighted to welcome you to the third BPS Midlands Conference. This
joint branch conference reflects the strong links we have between the BPS East
and West Midlands Branches, and the ongoing sharing of ideas and expertise
between us.
The conference reflects the diversity, energy and breadth of expertise in
Psychology across the Midlands. Whether you are delivering a talk, a poster or
indeed a keynote, we thank you for presenting your work this year. Without
you, we have no conference.
We also extend our gratitude to those of you attending the conference, even if
you are not presenting your work. It is important that we all support the
excellent work that is taking place in The Midlands by being part of our
regional events.
We hope that despite it being a virtual event there will be opportunities to
network with fellow academics and professionals, and engage in work that is
out of your normal sphere of interest. Please also engage with your BPS Branch
Committees. We are always looking for colleagues to join the Committee and
get involved in the work we are doing.
Finally, can I thank the BPS East and West Midlands Branch Committees for
their hard work this year, the commitment shown by everyone to make this
happen is outstanding.
Enjoy the day.
Welcome – Dr Sue Becker
A message from the outgoing Chair of the BPS East Midlands Branch
Dear Delegates,
It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the third BPS Midlands Conference. This conference builds on the ongoing collaboration between BPS East and West Midlands Branches, and celebrates the diversity of Psychology across the Midlands The conference is as diverse and multidisciplinary as we are as Psychologists and represents the work of Psychologists and practitioners from across the Midlands and I am delighted and also excited to see the range of areas and organisations represented today. We would like to thank those groups and individuals have taken this opportunity to share their work with us whether by delivering a talk or a poster, or indeed a keynote. Without you, we have no conference. We would like to acknowledge and extend our appreciation to those of you attending the conference, even if you are not presenting your work. It is important that we all support the excellent work that is taking place in The Midlands by turning out for these regional events. Please also engage with your BPS Branch Committee not just during this event but throughout the year ahead. We are always looking for colleagues to join the Committee and get involved in the work we are doing to promote Psychology in the Midlands and provide opportunities for our members to forge stronger networks across the region. I would like to thank the members of BPS West Midlands Branch Committee for their hard work this year in leading on the organization of this virtual conference. Special thanks go to our own East Midlands committee member Charlotte Scott who has worked alongside our West Midlands colleagues to bring this event to your screen. Finally, as I step back after what has been an eventful 2 years, I would like to welcome our new East Midlands Chair Sarah Phoenix to take us forward over the next few years. Enjoy the day.
Welcome – Sarah Phoenix
A message from the incoming Chair of the BPS East Midlands Branch
I would like to acknowledge Sue for her role on the East Midlands committee
and I am glad to say she will be staying on as Past Chair. I am particularly keen
on all disciplines of psychology to be involved in the East Midlands Branch, if
you are interested please contact me via LinkedIn or the BPS.
Sarah Phoenix is a qualified occupational psychologist and project manager,
committed to improving the environment.
Keynote 1: Dr Martin Turner
Title: Regulating Emotions like a Roman Emperor: 2000+ years of
‘Smarter Thinking’
Time: 10:10-10:50am
Abstract: In rational emotive behaviour therapy (REBT) it is posited that it is not adverse
events alone that underpin unpleasant and unwanted emotionality, but that the
view we take of the event has a major role to play. This ethic is best captured by
Epictetus, an Ancient Greek Stoic philosopher and teacher who live almost
2000 years ago. Ancient Stoicism was an inspiration for second wave cognitive
behaviour therapies (CBTs), but was particularly important for Albert Ellis in
developing REBT. In this talk, Dr. Turner elaborates on the influence of
Ancient Stoicism on emotion regulation science, including REBT theory and
practice. He also shares the research he has done regarding the study and
application of REBT in performance settings, such as business and sport.
Attention is also paid to the notion of emotion beliefs, which are superordinate
beliefs about emotion, and link to Ancient Stoic ideas. Overall, links between
new and old are made, with an emphasis on retaining and building upon
pragmatic and evidence-based ways of working.
3-Minute-Thesis (3MT)
Time: 10:50am-11:30am
Chair: Dr Philippa Carr The 3MT is a fast and furious competition! The goal is to present a compelling
spoken presentation about a research topic and it’s significance in just 3
minutes. At the end of the session, delegates will be able to vote for the winner!
1. Bridging the brain
Johanna Tomczak,
University of Leeds
2. Finding pearls in the trash - does resilience help us grow from trauma?
Felix Lewandowski
University of Nottingham
3. Exploring the role of holiday clubs in promoting healthy eating among
food insecure children
Natasha Bayes, Dr Carolynne Mason, Dr Emma Haycraft & Dr Clare Holley
Loughborough University
4. Psychosocial Wellbeing, Problematic Social Media Use, and
Cyberbullying Involvement among Mongolian adolescents
Altantsetseg Badrakh
Nottingham Trent University
5. Psychology of Earthnomusicology
Chucks Duerell
Staffordshire University
6. Exploring the lived experiences in support following miscarriage: A
Black Woman’s perspectives.
Michelle Tomlinson & Dr Anatoli Karypidou
Newman University
7. Assessing Age-Related Changes in Perceptual and Cognitive Processes
Hannah Broadbent, Dr Harriet Allen & Dr Andrew Scofield
University of Nottingham
8. A Mixed Methods Approach to Constructing Britishness and British
values
Tanzeala Waqas, Newman University
Morning parallel presentations session
Time: 11:45am-13:00pm
Break out room 1: Clinical & Counselling Psychology
Chair: Dr Dominique Fray-Aiken
1. Pioneering a Staff Wellbeing Initiative during a Global Pandemic
Fauzia Khan & Samina Allie
Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
2. Facilitating a Hearing Voices Group with a Psychiatrist: Reflections
and Challenges
Fauzia Khan & Samina Allie
Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
3. Parent-reported social-communication changes in children diagnosed
with autism
Phoebe Morris, Dr John Mills, Dr Edward Hope & Dr Tom Foulsham
University of Essex
4. Mental health experiences and coping strategies described by the
healthy adult general public
Bethany Gerrard
Staffordshire University
Time: 11:45am-13:00pm
Break out room 2: Social Psychology
Chair: Dr Philippa Carr
1. Do critical comments from teammates influence athletes' eating and
exercise psychopathology?
Dr Charlotte Scott, Dr Carolyn Plateau & Dr Emma Haycraft
University of Derby
2. Constructing the Notions of Britishness and British Values through a
Live Radio Phone-in Show.
Tanzeala Waqas & Dr Alexander Coles
Newman University
3. The construction of Britishness in the British Social Attitudes Survey
Tanzeala Waqas, Dr Melanie West & Dr Lorna Dodd,
Newman University
4. The relationship between political and religious social identities and
beliefs about the existence and cause of climate change and pro-
environmental behaviour
Sophie Watson
Herriot-Watt University
Time: 11:45am-13:00pm
Break out room 3: Forensic & Health Psychology
Chair: Dr Laura Scurlock-Evans
1. An investigation into feelings of wellbeing and perceived norms in
predicting student drug use
Josie McGurk
Nottingham Trent University
2. LET’S TALK ABOUT SEX: Development and evaluation of a sexual
health education group for individuals
Dr Hannah Carton & Dr Sarah Ashworth
Nottinghamshire NHS
3. Parental discursive constructions of adolescent sexting; victims and
monitoring
Anastasia Rousaki
Nottingham Trent Universtiy
4. An Evaluation of a University Bystander Intervention Programme
Dr Gill Harrop & Dr Holly Taylor-Dunn
University of Worcester
BPS West Midlands & BPS East Midlands
– Joint AGM
Time: 13:00pm-13:30pm
Where: Zoom
The BPS West Midlands and BPS East Midlands branches are always looking
for new members to get involved with their committees. If you are interested in
applying for a committee role, please don’t hesitate to ask current committee
members if you have any questions.
Don’t forget to attend our joint branch AGM at 13:00pm to find out more about
our vacant positions and what each role entails! You can join the AGM via the
Zoom meeting link that was sent to you via email before the conference.
Posters
Time: 13:30pm-14:00pm
Chair: Dr Sue Becker
Posters will be shared with delegates via email ahead of the conference. Please
feel free to view the posters during the breaks and don’t forget to ask any
questions you may have for our presenters during our dedicated poster Q&A
session between 13:30-14:00.
1. The well-being and social development of children on the autism
spectrum post-lockdown.
Olivia Keen
Nottingham Trent University
2. The Impact of Anxiety on an Avoidance-based Pavlovian Instrumental
Transfer Task.
Ruoqi Tang
University of Nottingham
3. The influence of UK nutrition label engagement on healthier food
choices.
Sarah Higgins, Dr Louise Humphreys, Dr Rachel Povey & Dr Heather
Semper
Staffordshire University
4. The Prejudice of Posh: Differences in stereotype threat and social
identity between Russell Group University students who attended fee-
paying and non-fee-paying schools.
Lottie Fountain-Bird
Nottingham Trent University
5. The impact of professional clinical psychological input in the form of
one-to-one staff support sessions on staff wellbeing in a paediatric
intensive care unit (PICU)
Bolanle Balogan
Aston University
6. Well-being experiences of allied healthcare professionals and support
staff working in one large Paediatric Intensive Care in the United
Kingdom
India McFarland-Lesser
Aston University
7. “Dear seizure”: A narrative analysis of the experience of epilepsy
seizures
Nikita Shepherdson, Dr Stephanie Kilinc, Dr Sue Becker & Joanne Cole
Teeside University
8. Elucidating the association between hearing loss and cognition: the
impact of presentation modality
Maria Goodwin, Dr David Maidment & Prof Eef Hogervorst
Loughborough University
9. Community sentence with a MHTR; an exploration into offenders’
experience of psychological therapy
Lauren Butler & Dr Sue Ledwith
Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust
10. Physical activity parenting and adolescent mental health
Parita Bharadia, Dr Hannah White, Dr Emma Haycraft & Prof Chris
Harwood
Loughborough University
11. Investigating the role of cardiovascular health in peripheral and central
hearing functions
Rosie Daly, Dr Emma O’Donnell, Dr Laura Barrett & Dr Christian Fullgrabe
Loughborough University
12. The Assistant Psychologist Development Programme
Sarah Ashworth
Cygent Healthcare
Careers parallel session - Break out room 1
Time: 14:00pm-14:45pm
Chair: Dr Charlotte Scott
Speaker 1: Dr Ashleigh Johnstone
Title: From academia to industry: what I learnt along the way
Bio: Ashleigh Johnstone is a Product Specialist at
Gorilla, the Online Experiment Builder. In
2020 she finished her PhD entitled ‘Cognitive
Changes Associated with Martial Arts Practice’
at Bangor University, where she also took on
various teaching roles to gain FHEA status.
After looking at job options in academia, she
turned to industry to find new ways to use her
skills. Now she hopes to share her experiences
of transitioning from academia to industry, and
help postgrads and ECRs understand the value
of their skillsets.
https://twitter.com/_ajohnstone
https://thepsychologist.bps.org.uk/academia-industry-two-stories
Abstract: There are countless career options outside of academia for psychologists and
behavioural scientists, yet industry still seems to be seen as a ‘back up plan’ for
many. Why is this the case? What can we do to change this opinion? How can a
behavioural scientist use their skillset within industry? In this talk I aim to cover
these topics, as well as sharing my own experiences and top tips for finding an
industry job.
Time: 14:20
Speaker 2: Dr Maria Kordowicz
Title: A hybrid academic/consulting career
Bio: Dr Maria Kordowicz BSC(HONS) MSC
MRES PHD PROFCERTHSCMGT PGCE HE
FHEA CMBE AFBPSS MIHM FCMI PPABP
CPSYCHOL FRSA is Head of Learning,
Research and Evaluation at The Social Innovation
Partnership. She is an affiliate academic at King's
College London, Lincoln, London Southbank and
Birmingham Universities, leading and advising on
health services research and evaluation. Maria’s
research interests lie in understanding healthcare
organisations, utilising qualitative ethnographic
methods. Maria sits on a number of research &
evaluation boards nationally and
internationally. Maria was formerly the Programme Lead for the Master's in
Public Health at King's College London and lectures widely in aspects of health
policy, organisation and management. She co-develops the mental health
outcome measure PSYCHLOPS, which has been used by the World Health
Organisation and Médecins Sans Frontières. Maria has had an almost 20-year
career in the health and social care sector, holding several senior leadership
positions and advisory roles in a range of settings. She is Director of the
qualitative evaluation consultancy ResPeo. Maria is a Chartered Psychologist
and a Coaching Psychologist and a Trainee Person-Centred and Experiential
Psychotherapist at the Sherwood Psychotherapy Training Institute. Maria sits on
the East Midlands BPS Committee.
Time: 14:30
Speaker 3: Thomasin Nicholds
Title: From industry to academia
Bio: Thomasin lectures on the Psychology BA
(hons) course and joined Bishop Grosseteste
University in January 2016 as a Visiting Lect
urer whilst working for a national Children’s
Charity as part of the Senior Leadership Team.
Having spent the majority of her career in the
Voluntary and Community Sector, Thomasin
has been responsible for the strategic
development and running of a wide range of
services for children, families and communities.
These include organisational development
programmes for other businesses, community
research, Ofsted regulated Further Education,
health and wellbeing programmes and adventure
play. In this context she has worked at a national level developing and
informing policy, engaging in a wide range of partnerships. Thomasin is an
experienced Charity Trustee has been on the Boards of organisations of varying
sizes and reach. Thomasin has studied Occupational Psychology at postgraduate
level and has a particular interest in Leadership. She has worked closely with
University of Lincoln International Business School’s Community
Organisations Group for over 15 years in an Associate role. Thomasin is the
module leader for undergraduate Psychology modules; Psychology in the Arts
and Community (Level 5) and Psychology in Organisations (Level 6).
Alongside this she is the PI for an externally funded research project, applying
Psychology to organisational equality and inclusion contexts
Careers parallel session - Break out room 2
Time: 14:00pm-14:45pm
Title: Pathways into Psychology – The journey into a career as a
practitioner
Chair: Lawrence Moulin
14:05 At the beginning – Building on from your first degree
Flo Tarpey
14:15 Training as a Forensic Psychologist
Ana DaSilva
14:25 Training as a Clinical Psychologist
Kim Fisher
14:35 Discussion, sharing and learning
Afternoon parallel presentations session
Time: 15:00-16:15
Break out room 1: Health & Wellbeing
Chair: Dr Nelline Ranaweera
1. Praise the good times, PRAiSE the bad times: measuring post-
traumatic growth in longitudinal studies.
Felix Lewandowski, Dr Laura Blackie, Prof Eamonn Ferguson & Prof
Mike Slade
University of Nottingham
2. Examining the association between post-traumatic growth and
suicidal thoughts.
Meryem Yasdiman, Dr Laura Blackie & Prof Ellen Townsend
University of Nottingham
3. Exploring the experiences of grandparents spending active leisure
time with their grandchildren.
Kirsty Armstrong-Booth, Dr Mark Faghy, Dr Vicki Staples & Dr Sally
Akehurst
University of Derby
4. Mixed effects of the covid-19 pandemic on self-reported UK student
behaviour and wellbeing.
Dr Caroline Horton, Prof Jon Whitehead, Prof Katie Bailey,, Bethan
Grigg, Ewa Klonowicz, Kadina Lane, Sofia Marelli, Navodya Roemer &
Suzannah Winsor
Bishop Grosseteste University
Time: 15:00-16:15
Break out room 2: Psychology & Education
Chair: Dr Emma Vardy
1. Challenging students’ identities as consumers and supporting their
identities as learners.
Dr Louise Taylor-Bunce
Oxford-Brookes University
2. Do Hope, Self-Efficacy, Engagement and Burnout Differ Between
First Generation and Non-First Generation students.
Donna Smith
University of Cambridge
3. Preliminary results from experiences of disabled and neurodiverse
students in HE during COVID-19.
Jodie Enderby
Coventry University
4. Action Research: Developing an interactive coversheet for student’s
written assessments.
Dr Sarah Rose, Dr Jennifer Taylor & Dr Claire Barlow
Staffordshire University
Time: 15:00-16:15
Break out room 3: Cognitive & Organisational Psychology
Chair: Dr Maria Kordowicz
1. Investigating how people learn from their environment.
Lea Mandic, Dr Russell Turk, & Mike Vernon
Nottingham Trent University
2. No differences in flanker interference control across age groups.
Nunzia Valentina Di Chiaro & Dr Nicholas Holmes
University of Nottingham
3. Piloting a democratic, research informed approach to Organisational
Change.
Thomasin Nicholds
Bishop Grosseteste University
4. The effect of mindfulness-based interventions on immunity-related
biomarkers: a comprehensive meta-analysis.
Dr Thomas Dunn & Dr Mirena Dimolareva
Bishop Grosseteste University
Keynote 2:
Dr Darel Cookson & Dr Malcolm Schofield
Title: The Psychology behind COVID-19 Conspiracy Theories
Time: 16:15-16:55
Speaker 1 Bio: Darel Cookson
I am a Lecturer in Psychology at Nottingham Trent
University, and I am currently finishing my PhD in
Social Psychology at Staffordshire University. My
key research interests are around the psychology of
conspiracy theories, particularly, why some people
endorse conspiracy theories, what the consequences
of these beliefs are, and how social psychology can
address them.
Abstract: Addressing belief in conspiracy theories and the context of COVID-19.
Conspiracy theories are understood as explanations for important events which
involve secret plots from powerful malevolent groups. Belief in conspiracy
theories is ubiquitous, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, a multitude of
related conspiracy theories concerning the cause and the response to the
pandemic have been circulated. During this talk, I will discuss psychological
research explaining why people are attracted to conspiracy theories, specifically
during this time. Then I will discuss the potential consequences of these beliefs,
for individuals and for society. Finally, I will draw on my own research, which
explores the role of social norms in conspiracy belief and how this can be used
to develop interventions to address these beliefs. Specifically, findings from my
Social Norms Approach intervention to address belief in anti-vaccine
conspiracy theories will be shared, demonstrating a promising, novel, approach
to tackling these dangerous beliefs.
Speaker 2 Bio: Dr Malcolm Schofield
I am a lecturer in psychology at the University of
Derby. I am programme leader for the MRes in
Psychology and the module leader on the Advanced
Quantitative Research Methods. I also teach across a
wide range of modules at undergraduate level,
including various research methods modules, Human
Behaviour and Evolution, and Anomalous and
Parapsychology. My research interests include:
paranormal belief, religious belief, and spirituality.
Also, I am interested in personality, specifically the
dark triad of personality.