News: January 2019
Financial incentives to attract new teachers extended
Staff at Bangor University’s School of Education and Human Development have welcomed Education Minister Kirsty Williams’ recent announcement that the existing financial incentives for teacher training is to be extended into the academic year 2019-20. The incentives, of up to £20,000 per student, aim to attract the best graduates into teaching priority subjects such as maths, chemistry, physics, computer science and modern foreign languages.
Publication date: 29 January 2019
True cost of gambling underestimated, say new publications
The current focus on individual ‘problem gamblers’ fails to take into account the full health and social cost of gambling because it overlooks the wider impact on families, friends and communities, according to new work published today . The joint work by Bangor University, Public Health Wales, Heather Wardle Research and Swansea University also shows that problem gambling rates are highest in the most deprived communities of Wales
Publication date: 29 January 2019
Psychology PhD Student dances her PhD for international competition
Bangor University Psychology PhD student Kohinoor Darda has entered an international competition which allows her to explain what her PhD is about.
Publication date: 28 January 2019
Why people with anxiety and other mood disorders struggle to manage their emotions
Regulating our emotions is something we all do, every day of our lives. This psychological process means that we can manage how we feel and express emotions in the face of whatever situation may arise. But some people cannot regulate their emotions effectively, and so experience difficult and intense feelings, often partaking in behaviours such as self-harm , using alcohol , and over-eating to try to escape them. There are several strategies that we use to regulate emotions – for example, reappraisal (changing how you feel about something) and attentional deployment (redirecting your attention away from something). Underlying neural systems in the brain’s prefrontal cortex are responsible for these strategies. However, dysfunction of these neural mechanisms can mean that a person is unable to manage their emotions effectively. This article by Leanne Rowlands , PhD Researcher in Neuropsychology, at the School of Psychology is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article .
Publication date: 25 January 2019
Exercise can fast-track your workplace well-being - here's how
Exercise has been found to reduce stress , increase positive mood , decrease anxiety and alleviate depression . But you may not know that the emotional well-being associated with exercise is also linked to key attributes that can help us while we work. This article by Rhi Willmot , PhD Researcher in Behavioural and Positive Psychology at the School of Psychology is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article .
Publication date: 17 January 2019
Enhanced research reporting method to improve patient care
Patients could benefit from improved care and outcomes thanks to new research reporting guidance developed from a study that Bangor University researchers contributed to. Experts have developed an approach that enables better reporting of findings from the combination of qualitative studies such as information garnered from patient interviews and focus groups. The study has led to the creation of the first-ever tailored reporting guidance for the methodology, known as meta-ethnography. It will give researchers and healthcare bosses greater confidence in the findings of qualitative studies and, ultimately, aid the improvement of patient care and services.
Publication date: 17 January 2019
How our unconscious visual biases change the way we perceive objects
As the old saying goes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But while we can appreciate that others might hold different opinions of objects we see, not many people know that factors beyond our control can influence how we perceive the basic attributes of these objects. We might argue that something is beautiful or ugly, for example, but we would be surprised to learn that the same object is perceived as a sphere by one person but as a cube by another. This article by Beverley Pickard-Jones , PhD Researcher, at the School of Psychology is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article .
Publication date: 15 January 2019
Assessing the value of dementia support groups
New ageing and dementia research at Bangor University will soon be underway, with a team from the Bangor Institute of Health and Medical Research in the School of Health Sciences being the only university in Wales to be awarded funding as part of the ESRC-NIHR Dementia Research Initiative 2018 . This programme of work, led by partners at University College London, centres around people living with rare dementias, and will involve the first major study of the value of support groups for people living with or caring for someone with a rare form of dementia.
Publication date: 10 January 2019