Psychology Colloquium
Presenter: Professor Nicholas Talley
When: Tuesday, 1 July at 3.00pm
Where: C3B601

Title:"The role of psychological factors in disorders of the gut: the brain-gut axis?"

Prof Nicholas Talley from the Mayo Clinic (US) will discuss his own and others’ work on the relationship betweenpsychological factors (particularly mood and personality) and functional gastrointestinal problems. The talk will cover the currently popular avenue of the brain-gut axis including communication between the enteric and central nervous systems. Did you know, for example, that 95% of serotonin in the human body is found in the gut ? Nick is Chief of Internal Medicine at the Jacksonville campus of the Mayo and Professor at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine. Nick graduated in medicine from the University of NSW and has supervised a number of psychologists undertaking PhDs around the link between physical and mental health.

Presenter: Dr Caroline Palmer
When: Wednesday 12th of December, 12:30 pm
Where: C3A501

Preparing musical sequences for performance: How flexible is movement planning?

Caroline Palmer graduated with a PhD in psychology from Cornell University, and is currently a Canada Research Chair in Cognitive Neuropsychology of Performance.

Abstract: Producing auditory sequences, such as music and speech, requires preparatory goals in terms of memories for specific sequence elements and the movements that produce them. Although flexibility is crucial for successful speech and music performance, the mental and physical constraints that arise in producing those sequences are considerable. I will discuss empirical findings from motion capture studies in music performance that demonstrate separate memory constraints and biomechanical constraints, and how they ultimately reduce the degrees of freedom available to performers.

Bio: Dr. Palmer is a leading expert in human performance, music perception and quantitative/computational modelling with broad training in music, statistics, speech science, and in clinical and cognitive psychology. Her research is focused on two long- term objectives: identifying memory and motor processes that underlie accurate and fast performance in a variety of behaviours, and determining the cognitive changes that occur as people acquire skills. She currently runs a motion capture laboratory at McGill University. As a cutting- edge methodology, motion capture generates as much data as fMRI and other imaging techniques; yet there is only a small handful of researchers worldwide experienced in measurement and analysis techniques for motion capture of musical behaviors. As a visiting researcher she will be spending her time at the newly established motion capture laboratory in the Psychology Department at Macquarie University. One of Dr. Palmer's primary goals is to compare and exchange knowledge on motion capture techniques as applied to individual and ensemble music performance, and to develop research collaborations between the two laboratories.

Presenter: Professor Christina Salmivalli
When: Thursday, November 22nd, 12:30 pm
Where: C3A501

From Peer Putdowns to Peer Support: The National Anti-Bullying Program in Finland

Professor Christina Salmivalli is from the University of Turku, Finland. This presentation describes a new anti-bullying program, KiVa, developed collaboratively between the Finnish Ministry of Education and the University of Turku. The program includes student lessons, school teams tackling acute cases of bullying and strategies for encouraging students to support peer victims instead of reinforcing bullying behaviours. The program also incorporates a virtual learning environment and an anti-bullying video game. Parent involvement is considered to be an essential feature of effective implementation.

Professor Salmivalli is a leading researcher in the study of group processes and bullying behaviour. She has pioneered the “participant role approach” to bullying.  This approach involves examining the role of not only the bully and the victim, but also the students who reinforce the bully, those who do not take sides, and those who comfort the victim. Professor Salmivalli is on the Editorial Boards of Aggressive Behavior and Merrill Palmer Quarterly and has published extensively in numerous journals including Child Development, Developmental Psychology, Aggressive Behavior, and the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology.

Presenter: Dr Jenny Donald
When: Monday, November 14th, 12:30 pm
Where: C3A501

Tracking down genes contributing to bipolar disorder and depression

Jenny Donald is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Macquarie University. An alumnus of Macquarie, she gained her PhD at the University of Adelaide in marsupial gene mapping. During the course of postdoctoral work in London she moved into the field of human gene mapping, which remains her primary interest. Since returning to Australia, where she has taught at the University of Sydney and Macquarie University, she has concentrated on locating and identifying genes involved in complex human diseases, including inherited cancers and psychiatric disorders. Over the last 15 years one of her primary research interests has been in identifying genetic components of susceptibility to bipolar disorder.

Presenter: Associate Professor Ernest Hodges
When: Monday, November 12th, 12:30 pm
Where: C3A501

Social-cognitive processes and behaviour in context

Ernest V. E. Hodges is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at St. John’s University. He received his PhD from Florida Atlantic University specializing in social and personality development. His current research focuses on social-cognitive processes linked to the development of aggressive and antisocial (e.g., weapon carrying) behavior during middle childhood and adolescence. He serves on the editorial board of Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, and has published on a variety of topics (e.g., parenting dimensions, parent-child attachment, social cognitive evaluations, emotion dysregulation, self esteem, gender identity) in relation to behavioral (e.g., internalizing and externalizing) and social maladjustment (e.g., peer rejection, victimization, enemies) in peer-reviewed journals including Developmental Psychology, Child Development, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, and Journal of Educational Psychology.

Presenter: Jenny Dawson
When: Wednesday, October 10th, 12:30 pm
Where: C3A501

In the Wake of Trauma: The Determinants of Posttraumatic Growth vs Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Jennifer Dawson submitted her PhD "When Fear Remains: The development and Maintenance of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in June 2007. She has worked in private practice for seven years and currently juggles her practice alongside aid and development work with communities that have experienced (or are still experiencing) large-scale natural and man-made disasters (e.g., Sri Lanka, Congo, Northern Uganda, Solomon Islands, PNG).

Presenter: Professor Susan Mineka
When: Wednesday, October 3rd, 2:15 pm
Where: C3B601

IAn Integrative Perspective on the Origins of Emotional Disorders: Time 1 and Initial Prospective Results from a Longitudinal Study

Professor Susan Mineka is from Northwestern University

Presenter: Professor Sue Spence
When: Wednesday, September 5th, 9:30 am
Where: C4A245

Trying to prevent depression in adolescents: Or repeatedly banging your head on a brick wall?

Susan H Spence, B.Sc. (Hons), MBA, PhD (Clinical Psychology) is Professor of Psychology, and Dean of the Division of Linguistics and Psychology, at Macquarie University in Australia. She was previously Head of the School of Psychology at the University of Queensland, where she was also the Head the School of Journalism and Communication for a time. She is a researcher and clinical psychologist who specializes in the assessment, prevention and treatment of child and adolescent anxiety and depression. To date she has published over 100 books and academic articles in her field. Professor Spence is a member of the editorial advisory board of several international journals and she has been a member of several State and Commonwealth government advisory committees relating to child and adolescent mental health. She is a Fellow of the Australian Psychological Society, British Psychological Society, and the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia.

Presenter: Ron Rapee
When: Wednesday, August 8th, 12:30 pm
Where: C3A 501

Can anxiety disorders be prevented?

Bio:
Ron Rapee is currently Professor in the Department of Psychology here at Macquarie and director of the Centre for Emotional Health. He has been involved in an advisory capacity with the DSM-IV and DSM-V, is a member of US governments' sponsored Project Liberty aimed at developing anxiety management programs for children affected by disasters and is on the scientific advisory committee for the Swiss Etiological Study of Adjustment and Mental Health. He is on the editorial board of several international journals and is associate editor for Behavior Research and Therapy. Prof Rapee received an Early Career award from the APS in 1990 and the Ian Mathew Campbell Prize from the Clinical College of the APS in 1996. Several of his treatment programs have also received prizes and awards. He has published extensively in the areas of child and adult anxiety and related problems and has written and edited several books. Professor Rapee’s teams have developed the Cool Kids treatment programs, a comprehensive suite of programs and manuals to help manage and prevent anxiety and related problems in young people.

Presenters: Dr Gavan McNally, School of Psychology, UNSW
Date: Wednesday 20th June
Time:12:30 pm
Location: C3A 501

Title: Predicting danger: the nature, consequences and neural mechanisms of predictive fear learning

Presenters: Dr Trevor Case, Department of Psychology, Macquarie Uni
Date: Wednesday 22nd May
Time:12:30 pm
Location: C3A 501

Title: Disgust and disease avoidance

Presenter: Professor Ian Lubek, Department of Psychology, University of Guelph, Canada.
Date: Wednesday Feburary 12st
Time:10:30am-12:00 pm
Location: C3A 501

Roles for psychologists within a multisectorial, community health project in Cambodia: research driven interventions (2000-2007) for HIV/AIDS, alcohol abuse and violence.