School of Psychology

The technologies used by humans to augment direct face-to-face communication have developed over many centuries. This development has particularly accelerated over the past two decades with the explosion of internet and social media communication systems such as e-mails, texts Twitter, Facebook, and Skype. Some of these developments have, also influenced how health care is delivered and will continue to do so in the future. This paper reviews the role new information technologies may play in augmenting psychological therapy when working with persons with acquired brain injury (ABI). There are several familiar pragmatic benefits to using these technologies in this clinical setting, including potentially widening the time between client consultations and compensating for cognitive difficulties. However, of both interest and innovation, these technologies may also facilitate third order reflexivity. This may be of considerable relevance to the practice of psychotherapy in this clinical population in view of the unique challenges work in this area brings to the practitioner. The main points covered in the paper are illustrated with a clinical case report. Finally, the potential risks and challenges to be managed in neuro-rehabilitation as well as psychotherapy are discussed and recommendation for everyday practice in this evolving area of clinical practice made

There are remarkable individual differences in the ability to recognise individuals by the sound of their voice. Theoretically, this ability is thought to depend on the coding accuracy of voices in a low-dimensional “voice-space”. Here we were interested in how adaptive coding of voice identity relates to this variability in skill. In two adaptation experiments we explored first whether the aftereffect size to two familiar vocal identities can predict voice perception ability and second, whether this effect stems from general auditory skill (e.g. discrimination ability for tuning and tempo). Experiment 1 demonstrated that contrastive aftereffect sizes for voice identity predicted voice perception ability. In Experiment 2, we replicated this finding and further established that this effect is unrelated to general auditory abilities or general adaptability of listeners. Our results highlight the important functional role of adaptive coding in voice expertise and suggest that human voice perception is a highly specialised and distinct auditory ability.

Abstract
This paper describes the process of adapting an early childhood development programme, with proven effectiveness in Bangladesh, for integration into government health services in rural Bangladesh. Through a three-stage process, we adapted an evidence-based, home-visiting, programme (Reach-Up and Learn) for delivery in government health clinics by government health staff as part of their regular duties. Stage one involved preparing an initial draft of two parenting interventions for use with: 1) pairs of mother/child dyads, and 2) small groups of mother/child dyads. In stage two, we piloted the adapted interventions in nine clinics with a total of twenty-seven health staff and 357 mother/child dyads. We used data from mothers’ attendance, feedback from participating mothers and health staff and observations of parenting sessions by the research team to revise the interventions. Stage three involved piloting the revised interventions in six clinics with eighteen health staff and 162 mother/child dyads. We gathered additional data on mothers’ attendance and used observations by the research team to finalise the interventions. Through this three-stage process, adaptations were made to the intervention content, process of delivery, materials, and engagement strategies used. The largest challenges were related to incorporating the parenting programme into health staff’s existing workload and promoting mothers’ engagement in the programme. We also simplified the content and structure of the curriculum to make it easier for health staff to deliver and to ensure mothers understood the activities introduced. This iterative piloting was used prior to implementing and evaluating the interventions through an effectiveness trial.

Background Violence is a leading global public health problem and interventions in early childhood are important in the primary prevention of violence. We tested whether the Irie Classroom Toolbox, a violence-prevention, teacher-training programme reduced violence against children (VAC) by teachers and reduced class-wide child aggression. Methods In this cluster-randomised controlled trial, seventy-six preschools were randomly selected from 120 eligible preschools in Kingston, Jamaica, and were assigned (1:1) to receive the Irie Classroom Toolbox or to a control group. All teachers/classrooms in the selected schools participated in the study (n=229). The intervention was implemented from August 2015 to April 2016 and involved training teachers in classroom behaviour management. All assessors were masked to group assignment. Teacher and classroom measures were conducted in the summer school term (May/June) at baseline (2015), post-intervention (2016), and one-year follow-up (2017). The primary outcomes were observations of VAC by teachers, and class-wide child aggression at post-intervention and one-year follow-up. Trial Registration: ISRCTN11968472FindingsAll schools were included at post-intervention and follow-up. 108/119 (90·8%) intervention and 92/110 (83·6%) control teachers were assessed at post-intervention and 105/119 (88·2%) intervention and 85/110 (77·2%) control teachers at one-year follow-up. Teachers in intervention schools used significantly less VAC at post-intervention (-67·12%, 95%CI -80·71%, -53·52%, p<0.0001) and one-year follow-up (-53·86, 95%CI -71·08%, -36·65%, p<0.0001). No benefits were found for class-wide child aggression at post-intervention (effect size 0·07, 95%CI -0·16, 0·29, p=0·72) or one-year follow-up (-0·14, 95%CI -0·42, 0·16, p=0·72). Interpretation The Irie Classroom Toolbox effectively reduced VAC by Jamaican early childhood teachers. The Toolbox was designed for use with undertrained teachers working in low-resource settings and should be suitable with early childhood practitioners in other LMICs. Additional research is needed to further develop the Toolbox to reduce class-wide child aggression. 

Do non-human animals have minds? This scientific question, with important ethical implications, can be answered differently depending on the criteria used: in particular, whether we conceptualise animal minds through the lens of intelligence, or of feelings. This paper surveys the animal minds literature, and related philosophical issues. We review four core components of mind (consciousness, affective valence, agency, and intelligence), and their neurobiology. We survey current scientific evidence for language, tool use, problem-solving, theory of mind, self-awareness, and the behavioural and neuroscientific aspects of emotion. In overview: some animal species have fairly impressive intellectual abilities, but these are found only in a few species, often only in some species members, and only after substantial practice. Therefore, if mind is defined strictly by intelligence, then most non-human animals might be argued not to have minds. However, this paper argues that intelligence is a poor proxy for mind, and that we are better placed to debate the case for mind based on emotion. Viewed this way, there is evidence from a vast array of vertebrate species, where emotion is universal within those species, with none of the practice needed for intelligence. Jeremy Bentham was indeed correct when he pointed out that the critical issue is not merely the evidence, but the question of how we frame our thinking about non-human animals: are we to decide about animals based on their rationality, or on their capacity for feeling?