Research
Topics
My students and I are study behaviours and concepts directly relevant to the psychological well-being of both healthy and psychiatric populations. The primary studies focus on: interpersonal communication and evaluations, and the effects of chronic marijuana use. We use self-report, experimental, and neuroimaging techniques to investigate these topics.
Interpersonal Communications and Evaluations
Talking to Strangers is surprisingly good for people. Although initial interactions are necessary to develop deeper, ongoing relationships, even minimal social interactions are psychologically and physiologically beneficial. Moreover, these interactions are typically experienced as positive and interesting despite many people assuming the interactions will be negative.
Some of our “Talking to Strangers” research focuses on the factors that influence people’s likelihood to engage with strangers. We recently submitted a paper investigating how normative information (numerical reports of peers’ typical responses) influences people’s reported willingness to Talk to Strangers. Our next related research questions is focused on how a person’s internal emotional awareness influences their willingness to Talk to Strangers. A third related research question to be investigated will examine how brief, small group consultations influence people’s reported willingness to Talk to Strangers.
We also have existing data on the online acquaintanceship communication process. We are interested in a number of related questions. Which types of statements typically are used to convey interest or disinterest during online chats? Are certain types of statements more salient (influential) than others? Which online signals point to a SHIFT in the mood of the conversations. However, we need more data before we can reliably analyze the data.
We also have conducted some preliminary investigations into trait detection accuracy based on text-based chats. One of the intriguing questions I am considering for a future Honours Thesis student will focus on how the emotional states of these conversational partners influences their ability to accurately detect each other’s underlying personality traits. We have both self-report and objective cues of emotional states during these conversations.
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (FMRI)
My second general research area focuses on the associations between brain activity and various social and emotional responses. Generally, I am interested in task-related brain responses. We have access to a world-class fMRI international dataset. Currently, this research is in the background as I develop / prepare the infrastructure for carrying out the analyses on these datasets. The processing demands require access to parallel computing systems (aka supercomputers) and effective linkages to highly specialized software programs.
With a local, high-powered computer, we conducted preliminary investigations into the neural (fMRI) correlates of marijuana use on cognitive and emotional processing. But this analysis was necessarily restricted to a subset of the dataset. It still took over 24 hours of run time to complete one set of analyses.
Chronic Marijuana Use
A third research area focuses on the effects of chronic marijuana use on people’s emotional reactivity. We use computer-based experiments to provide sensitive measures of emotional reactions among non-users, recreational users, and abusers of marijuana. We have preliminary plans for a couple of follow-up experiments for our previous publication. These plans will depend on current student interests.
Methods and Training
We use person-to-person online communication protocols, computer-based experimental assessments, and sophisticated neuroimaging statistical evaluations in our research.
Students will have the opportunity to learn the research process from start to finish including: study design, ethical approval, measurement development, data collection, analysis, and the presentation and write-up of study results.
Depending upon current research activities, some students may learn about brain structure, brain function, and methods for investigating larger brain (not at the neuron level) functional brain imaging datasets.