Researchers from the School of Psychology will showcase their work to the public in a series of talks and events as part of the Pint of Science festival next week.
Talks organised by the School of Psychology will make up more than a third of the festival’s Aberdeenshire programme, which aims to improve engagement in science and make research accessible to all.
Kicking off the festival is the Astounding Assumptions event on 19 May at the OGV Taproom at Newburgh Golf Club, in which three talks will investigate how much our perceptions are influenced by what we expect to experience.
Professor Constanze Hesse will discuss the size-weight illusion: when two objects weigh the same but differ in size, the smaller one feels heavier.
Dr Martin Giesel will speak about visual illusions interpreted by the eyes, revealing how perception depends on our assumptions and prior experience.
And Dr Helen Knight’s talk will delve into the phenomena of inattentional blindness (where we fail to notice things happening right in front of us) and change blindness (where even obvious changes go unnoticed).
The Mind and Body event on 20 May at the OGV Taproom in Aberdeen will see University researchers explore how our memories, experiences and personal identity shape behaviour – and whether our behaviour can shape us in return.
Dr Bert Timmermans will examine how interactions with others shape how we experience the world as well as ourselves.
The power of the hippocampus will be the subject of Dr Janine Cooper’s talk, including how it can be impacted when damaged and how we can best look after it.
And Dr Agnieszka Konopka will explore the benefits of language-learning and being able to speak multiple languages, with a particular focus on memory.
Dr Doug Martin, Head of the School of Psychology, said: “We are so excited to be a part of this year’s Pint of Science event. The festival is a wonderful opportunity for us to share our world-class research with the local community and demonstrate our commitment to public engagement. Our work spans diverse areas – from language and neuroscience to memory and social interaction – and we cannot wait to share our discoveries!”
Pint of Science is an annual event that takes place this year from 19 to 21 May. The full Aberdeenshire programme and information on how to get tickets for the talks can be found here.