Department of Psychology
Department of Psychology Newsletter
Issue 9 – July to November 2011
Inside this Edition
- From the Head of Department
- HDR report from Jen Cornish
- HDR Completions
- Conference Presentations
- Awards
- New Appointments
- Promotion
- OSP
- 60 seconds with… Dr Melanie Porter
From the Head of Department
HOD report – Prof Bill Thompson
By the time the jacaranda trees are in bloom, holidays are just around the corner. This means we should all start planning on some well deserved annual leave, putting away our computers and our work, and taking a genuine break with our family and friends.
By now, most of us have heard that next year the University will be under financial constraints. Fear not. Avril Moss has done a brilliant job working with the Dean’s office to ensure that Psychology has a healthy budget for 2012 and that our workloads will not be affected. Because of Avril’s extraordinary attention to detail, most staff members won’t even notice the effects of this University-wide budget restraint. We have always been extremely clear that workloads within Psychology are already high – partly because we make such enormous contributions to research – and Dean Janet Greeley is in full agreement.
There is some hallway murmuring about the forthcoming timetable and the potential for double teaching. Thank you to those who have provided feedback and raised alarm bells. Keep the feedback coming, but don’t be too concerned. Based on recent meetings with Louise Goddard, Craig Oliver, and Janet Greeley, I’m confident there will be few negative consequences arising from the new timetable and that double teaching will be minimal if it occurs at all. Even if we were obliged to teach additional sections in certain units, we’d reorganize teaching assignments such that existing teaching loads are maintained.
Aside from rejoicing the end of semester, we have a few accomplishments to celebrate. Members of our department received several prestigious awards and honours over the past two months and these are worth gloating about.
- Arthur Shores was make a fellow of the National Academy of Neuropsychology
- Nasreen Yasin was presented with the Vice Chancellor’s citation for outstanding contributions to student learning
- Barbara Griffin and Nasreen Yasin were awarded Dean’s citations for outstanding contributions to student learning
- 2011 MQ Research Award Excellence in Research - Social Sciences, Business and Humanities to Jennifer Hudson for her work on Genes for Therapy
- Kerry Sherman was “highly commended” 2011 MQ Research Awards for her research on surgical decision making
The Department received a number of competitive research grants and fellowships.
- Lorna Peters, Ron Rapee, and Andrew Baillie were awarded an NHMRC for their research on treatment outcomes for social phobia
- Ron Rapee, Jennie Hudson, Heidi Lyneham, Viviana Wuthrich, and Maria Kangas were awarded an NHMRC for their research on the management of childhood anxiety disorders
- Nick Titov was awarded a Beyondblue – National Priority Driven Research Program award for his research on internet driven intervention for reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety in young adults
- Kelly Clemens was awarded an ARC Discovery Early Career Research Award (DECRA) for her research on modelling nicotine dependence in the rat
- Quincy Wong received an early career fellowship to conduct research on vulnerability to social phobia (supervised by Ron Rapee)
Congratulations to all!
Although our unsuccessful applicants are disappointed, our success rate as a department is well above the usual national average.
HDR report from Jen Cornish
HDR Progress Reports Due: It’s that time of year again – time for the completion of the HDR annual progress reports (APR) for 2011. Please use this opportunity for candidates and the supervisory team to meet and discuss progress and time-lines to completion. It is really important that any issues are noted here so that departmental and faculty HDR committees can understand your situation to help you progress.
Faculty Commencement Reports: Thank you to all new candidates that have completed their Faculty Commencement Reports (due 6 months after your start date) – it is good to see all of the fantastic projects and how well our candidates are doing at an early stage of their degree – keep up the good work!
The Research Showcase will take place on November 7 & 8th, please come along and provide feedback to those in their 2nd and 3rd research year.
Congratulations: Finally, congratulations to Dr Victoria Smith and Dr Justin Wallace for the successful completion of your HDR degree – well done and we wish you every success with your future endeavours.
HDR Completions
Candidate |
Degree |
Thesis title |
Principal Supervisor |
Associate Supervisor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Dr Victoria Jane Smith |
Doctor of Psychology (Organistational Psychology) |
Enhancing stakeholders outcomes: Can corporate social responsibility deliver benefits beyond traditional corporate practices? |
Dr Ben Searle |
Prof Julie Fitness |
Dr Justin Wallace |
Doctor of Psychology (Organisational Psychology) |
Altering proactive behaviour: Individual level interventions that influence cognitive-motivational states |
Dr Ben Searle |
Prof Julie Fitness |
Dr Parvani Pinnewala |
Doctor of Philosophy |
Critical analysis of coping strategies and support systems in reducing or ending partner violence in Sri Lanka |
Dr Doris McIlwain |
Dr Judith Lattas |
Dr Margery Pardey |
Doctor of Philosophy with the degree Master of Clinical Neuropsychology |
Effects of ADHD Medications on Cognitive and Neural Development |
Dr Jennifer Cornish |
A/Prof Judi Homewood |
Dr Deborah Arguedas |
Doctor of Psychology (Clinical Neuropsychology) |
Olfactory hallucinations in schizophrenia: A neuropsychological investigation |
A/Prof Robyn Langdon |
Prof Dick Stevenson |
Conference Presentations
Students and staff presented at the following conferences during April, May and June| WHO | CONFERENCE, WORKSHOP, SEMINAR |
|
|---|---|---|
A/Prof Sachiko Kinoshita |
|
European Society for Cognitive Psychology Conference, Donostia-St Sebastian, Spain |
Mimi Wellisch |
|
World Council for Gifted and Talented Children (WCGTC), Prague |
Jessica Belcher |
|
32nd International Conference of the Stress and Anxiety Research Society, Munster, Germany |
A/ Prof Arthur Shores |
|
International Neuropsychological Society (INS) and the Australian Society for the Study of Brain Impairment (ASSBI), New Zealand |
Dr Maria Kangas |
|
8th Conference of the Neuropsychological Rehabilitation Special Interest Group, Rotorua, New Zealand |
Dr Doris McIlwain |
|
European and American Society for Philosophy and Psychology, Montreal |
Dr Jac Brown |
|
12th European Congress of Psychology, Istanbul |
Jeanette Lightfoot |
|
17th Biennial Conference of the Australasian Human Development Association, Dunedin |
A/Prof Jennie Hudson |
|
41st European Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Therapie (EABCT)Annual Congress; Reykjavik, Iceland |
Craig McMillan
|
|
23rd Subjective Probability, Utility, and Decision Making conference.Kingston on Thames, UK |
Dr Kerry-Ann Grant |
|
7th World Congress on Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD 2011), Oregon, USA |
Prof Bill Thompson |
|
Music, Sound, & Action Research Day MARCS Auditory Laboratories, University of Western Sydney |
Rachel Grove |
|
6th International Conference on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology, London |
Awards
Who |
Organisation |
Award |
|---|---|---|
Dr Andrew Gardner |
American National Academy of Neuropsychology (NAN). Prof Jim Piper, Research Office, Macquarie University together with the Department of Psychology |
2011 Outstanding Dissertation Award for a thesis entitle The effect of sports-related concussion on neurocognitive function Travel Grant |
Dr Nasreen Yasin |
Vice-Chancellor’s |
Citations for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning |
Dr Barbara Griffin |
Faculty of Human Sciences Dean |
Citations for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning |
A/ Prof Arthur Shores |
National Academy of Neuropsychology |
Fellow status |
Dr Kerry-Ann Grant |
The World Congress on Developmental Origins of Health and Disease, Portland, Oregon |
Travel Grant awarded by Cayman Chemical Company |
|
Arthur M Sackler Colloquia of the National Academy of Sciences, Irvine, USA |
Travel Grant awarded by National Academy of Sciences |
New Appointments - Welcome to the following new staff
WHO |
AREA |
|---|---|
A/Prof Greg Savage |
A/Prof in Clinical Neuropsychology |
Dr Monique Crane |
Lecturer in Organisational Psychology |
Jane Lonie |
Placement Co-ordinator and Supervisor in Clinical Neuropsychology |
Promotion
WHO |
TO |
|---|---|
Dr Simon Boag |
Senior Lecturer |
Dr Megan Oaten |
Senior Lecturer |
OSP: Felicitations to those who have earned the time to research in earnest
| WHO | |
|---|---|
A/Prof Sachiko Kinoshita |
|
Dr Maria Kangas |
|
60 seconds with… Dr Melanie Porter
-
Do you have a secret to work/life balance?
Unfortunately not, but trying to learn this with a baby on the way, I think my motto in life is to work hard and to play hard. When I do take time out, I try and use my time very effectively doing things I really enjoy and treating myself - massages, yoga, catching up with friends, going to the beach. I also try and make work life interesting by changing contexts quite frequently during the day when possible - work at uni, at home, even in a cafe or park if I am marking. I'm quite lucky in that respect, as my work also takes me off campus frequently to collaborative sites, school sand homes in relation to my research.
-
Who is the person, without whose input, your career as a neuropsychologist would have taken a very different direction?
I think firstly, myself. I listened to my heart and followed my passions in paediatric neuropsychology and in academia. I was very focused and determined to try and have an equal mix of the two in terms of my career. I also had great mentors and trainers - various paediatric neuropsychologists in my field and various academics. They know who they are.
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Is there a domain of psychology that you think has developed a really innovative methodology?
I am still very enthusiastic about cognitive neuropsychology and its approach to assessment and diagnosis. I'm also very confident in cognitive neuropsychological intervention and the efficacy of their intervention approach.
-
Do you ever get musical ear-worms? What song is the one most likely to recur?
Not lately, my stream of consciousness seems to be more filled with self talk of late... mmm... interesting. Probably not a bad thing, as the songs that usually tend to get stuck in my mind are those I dislike or that I find irritating. Not that I dislike these or find them irritating, but I do fear I will soon have children's songs stuck in my head and start singing them inappropriately in public.