UC Home > Departments > College of Science > Psychology  

See also

• UC Research Office
• UC Research Centres

Research

Research Disciplines

• Staff Teaching and Research Interests 'at a glance'

Research in the Psychology Department at the University of Canterbury is divided into two broad disciplines:

1. Experimental Psychology
   This involves close collaboration between academic staff members and postgraduate students who are working towards completing a Masters or PhD degree.
   
   It includes many subdisciplines of psychology:
   • behaviour analysis
   • behavioural neuroscience
   • cognitive
   • comparative
   • developmental
   • economic
   • health
   • industrial & organizational
   • perception
   • psychopharmacology
   • learning and memory
   • motivation
   • neuropsychology
   • social
   • personality
   • theoretical
2. Applied Psychology
   This covers two subdisciplines:
   • Clinical
     Research is a major part of training students to become clinical practitioners. The Psychology Centre (situated off Dovedale Ave entrance) is the clinical psychology training and research clinic for the students who undertake the three year clinical programme.
   • Industrial and Organisational
     The Master of Science in Applied Psychology (also known as APSY, Industrial & Organisational or IO) is one of the oldest and most recognised applied psychology degrees in New Zealand. Students seeking qualifications in Industrial & Organisational Psychology complete a two year MSc in Applied Psychology. Part 1 comprises four whole courses and Part II requires completion of one whole course and a dissertation. Each year, we admit up to 15 students.
     

Research Groups

• Canterbury Child Development Research Group (CCDRG)
  • Pre-term babies risk intellectual difficulties (The New Zealand Herald, 24 April 2013)
• Mental Health and Nutrition Research
  • UC SPARK - ADHD Diagnostic Assessment and Research Unit
• Social Perception

Projects

• Self-disclosure strategies among sex offenders: Changes over the course of treatment
• Prevention of adverse outcomes following childhood traumatic brain injury
• Adult outcomes of childhood traumatic brain injury
• Brain injuries from birth to young adulthood; prevalence, cause and risk factors

• University of Canterbury psychology professor Deak Helton will carry out experiments to see whether guided distraction improves worker performance. He is a co-investigator for the Australian Research Council-funded project and is collaborating with the lead investigator, Associate Professor Mark Wiggins, at Sydney's Macquarie University.

  • UC Researcher to test distraction - (The Press - 16 January 2013)
    
  • Research to reduce error in high risk environments - UC Communications - 16 January 2013

Earthquake Related Research

• Diverse studies being undertaken by Psychology staff and students
• Joint Centre for Disaster Research (Massey University and GNS Science research)

Top