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Dr Lisa Orchard and Dr Wendy Nicholls recently secured a BPS Summer Internship grant to work with MSc Cyberpsychology student Mayzee Elliott on a project looking at general public perceptions of breastfeeding. The project aims to develop a scale to measure attitudes towards breastfeeding, which can be used in research to look at any changes of opinion over time. Previous research has tended to focus on parental attitudes. It is hoped the new scale can be applied more generally to explore societal views and help researchers explore the impact of interventions to promote more breastfeeding-friendly attitudes.   
Researchers from Psychology have been working with artist Lisa Creagh to evaluate the impact of breastfeeding imagery on attitudes towards breastfeeding. The Holding Time exhibition relies on storytelling, photography and animation to allow mothers an opportunity to reflect on their breastfeeding journeys. Dr Lisa Orchard and Dr Wendy Nicholls hope to capture people's thoughts about the exhibition and the impact it may have on the way they view breastfeeding. The Holding Time exhibition can be viewed online and has been shown at various exhibitions nationally, including the University of Wolverhampton in August 2022.  
Dr Wendy Nicholls and Dr Lisa Orchard have joined the Stork Collaborative team to research breastfeeding within local community healthcare settings. In partnership with colleagues at Russells Hall Hospital Dudley, the project aims to research the success of a health app used to support new families within a neonatal care unit setting. The project is part of a wider study looking to reduce infant mortality within the local area.

 

  • In February 2021: Debbie Stevens-Gill represented us at an Association of Business Psychologists event, talking about the myths and facts of Psychometrics.
  • Dr Wendy Nicholls has published an article in Frontiers in Psychology in January 2021 in collaboration with colleagues in Sports and externally. The article concerns Health Behaviours and Wellbeing during COVID-19. View the full article.
  • Dr Joanne Lloyd and Dr Laura Louise Nicklin from the Department of Psychology and the CRUW Cyberpsychology Research Cluster successfully secured $98,000 of research funding in August 2020 from Facebook’s Foundational Integrity Research: Misinformation and Polarization call, which received over 1,000 applications from around the globe. They will be conducting research into the viewing and sharing of extreme real-world violent content over social media, and its potential harms. The grant commences in May 2021. View the press release. 

  • Dr Joanne Lloyd and Dr Laura Louise Nicklin from the Department of Psychology and the CRUW Cyberpsychology Research Cluster successfully secured $98,000 of research funding in August 2020 from Facebook’s Foundational Integrity Research: Misinformation and Polarization call, which received over 1,000 applications from around the globe. They will be conducting research into the viewing and sharing of extreme real-world violent content over social media, and its potential harms. The grant commences in May 2021. View the press release here.
  • On October 2020 Dr Laura Louise Nicklin, an Early Career Researcher in the Cyberpsychology Research Cluster (CRUW) was successfully selected to be in the 2020-2022 cohort for the globally-competitive ‘Future Digileaders’ programme. This opportunity will enable her to network with industry and academic experts in this field, and receives a travel grant visit to Stockholm when travel restrictions are lifted. View the full press release here.

  • Drs Lloyd (PI), Fullwood (co-I) and Prof Uther (co-I) from in the Centre for Psychological Research (CRUW cluster) have secured funding from GambleAware to run a multi-institution project exploring a potential mergence between gambling and gaming through chance-based micro-transactions in videogames. The project team includes external collaborators Drs Lloyd, Close and Smith (University of Plymouth), Dr Thomas Raymen (Northumbria University), Dr Chris Stiff (University of Keele) and Dr Jonathan Parke (Sophro). The funding is worth £300,321 over 18 months (Dec 2019 - June 2021) and employs Dr Laura Nicklin (formerly of University York) as a Research Associate to work with us for the duration of the project. View the full press release here.

  • Prof. Uther secures funding for ‘Cybermind’ research project funded by Innovate UK, alongside colleagues in Wolverhampton Cyber Research Institute (WCRI). The project aims to use technology to help Cyber Security professionals reduce stress and improve performance. See  https://www.wlv.ac.uk/news-and-events/latest-news/2020/june-2020/university-secures-funding-to-address-stress-in-cybersecurity.php for more details.
  • In 2020: Dr David Boyda, Dr Danielle McFeeters, and Dr Niall Galbraith delivered a 2 hour suicide awareness and stress management lecture aimed at key staff in the West Mercia Police. This initiative forms part of the departments Research Excellence Framework impact case.

  • In Feb 2020 – Dr Jo Meredith has successfully been awarded funding from Staffordshire Police to evaluation the operation of their Digital 101 service. The project, in collaboration with Alexandra Kent from Keele University, will focus on how reports of non-urgent crime made via Facebook or Twitter to Digital 101 are responded to on social media. The aim of the research is to help call handlers transition from dealing with 101 phone calls to Digital 101 social media conversations, through providing training workshop and resources for the police.

  • In 2020 we were very pleased to appoint Dr Elaine Kasket as an Honorary Professor, who brings expertise lies in surveillance, privacy and digital afterlives.

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