Dr Helen Knight

Dr Helen Knight
Dr Helen Knight
Dr Helen Knight

Senior Lecturer

Accepting PhDs

About
Email Address
helen.knight@abdn.ac.uk
Office Address
G03 William Guild Building
Old Aberdeen Campus
110 St. Machar Drive
AB24 2UB

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School/Department
School of Psychology

Biography

I received a BSc. (hons.) First Class in Psychology from the University of Glasgow in 2009. Following this, I completed an MSc. in Cognitive Neuroscience at Durham University in 2010. In 2014, I completed my Ph.D. in Psychology, also at Durham University. Following my PhD, I worked as a Lecturer (2014-2019) and a Senior Lecturer (2019-2022) in Psychology at the University of Sunderland. During this time, I completed a Post Graduate Certificate in Higher Education and I am a Fellow of Advance HE. I joined the University of Aberdeen as a Senior Lecturer in 2022, and have been Director of Education for the School of Psychology since January 2023.

My main area of research lies in the study of cognitive biases in motivational behaviour with a focus on addiction, eating and sexual behaviour. Specifically, I examine the role of attention, biases of visual attention, and approach/avoidance biases in motivational behaviours such as alcohol consumption, other addictive behaviours (such as problem gambling), eating behaviours (such as voluntary diet choice and food craving in healthy aging), and sexual behaviours (such as partner choice and asexuality). I also examine cognitive models of attention and how cognitive control mechanisms are used to minimise distractions caused by cognitive biases. I am also part of a cross-institution research group examining monotropic attention in autism.

I am very happy to be contacted to discuss potential collaborations.

Memberships and Affiliations

Internal Memberships

Director of Education for the School of Psychology

Chair of the School Education Committee

Member of the School Executive Committee

Member of the University Education Committee

Member of the School of Psychology Neurodiversity Committee 

Member of the Applied Psychology and Human Factors Research Group

External Memberships

Member of the Society for the Study of Addiction

Fellow of Advance HE

Latest Publications

View My Publications

Research

Research Overview

My main area of research lies in the study of cognitive biases in motivational behaviour with a focus on addiction, eating and sexual behaviour. Specifically, I examine the role of attention, biases of visual attention, and approach/avoidance biases in motivational behaviours such as alcohol consumption, other addictive behaviours (such as problem gambling), eating behaviours (such as voluntary diet choice and food craving in healthy aging), and sexual behaviours (such as partner choice and asexuality). I also examine cognitive models of attention and how cognitive control mechanisms are used to minimise distractions caused by cognitive biases. Finally, I am involved in research examining monotropic attention in autistic adults, with an emphasis on integrating cognitive models of attention within autism research.

Research Areas

Accepting PhDs

I am currently accepting PhDs in Psychology.


Please get in touch if you would like to discuss your research ideas further.

Email Me

Psychology

Accepting PhDs

Research Specialisms

  • Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Psychology

Our research specialisms are based on the Higher Education Classification of Subjects (HECoS) which is HESA open data, published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.

Teaching

Teaching Responsibilities

I am the course coordinator for PS4556 Psychology of Addiction

Publications

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