SCHOOL OF PSYCHOLOGY & CLINICAL LANGUAGE SCIENCES
RESEARCH PLAN 2011-14
CURRENT RESEARCH AREAS
The School has four primary Research Groups:
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Language & Cognition
Social-Emotional Regulation
Nutrition & Health
Perception & Action
These groupings capture and support existing or burgeoning strengths in intra- and inter-disciplinary
collaborations in the School and with external UK and international collaborators. These collaborations
are founded on discipline-specific expertise and excellence in psychology, cognitive neuroscience and
clinical linguistics, which is sustained and developed independently as well as within collaborative
ventures. Each Group includes the study of typical and atypical development and decline and hence fits
well with funding priorities in a number of key aspects of mental and physical health and well-being
across the lifespan.
Fit with National /International demands for Multi-methodology Research
The use of multiple methodologies to address a research question continues to develop. This includes a
gradual increase in the use of neuroimaging and psychophysiological measures, as School staff expertise
here develops. (At present, the greatest concentration of these skills rests in the Social-Emotional
regulation Research Group.) An increasing number of staff is now able to meet the growing requirement
for more sophisticated, cross-disciplinary approaches, largely through strategic intra/inter-school or
external collaborations. We plan to support and develop further this capability in the next three years.
Examples include our investment in shared lab facilities, at present supporting GSR, HRV and eyetracking, and the upgrading of our older adult and child-friendly ERP laboratory. Applications for
equipment (on grants or new investigator awards) are encouraged, particularly ones that provide
facilities of interest to a number of staff.
The success of our intra- and inter-disciplinary collaborations relies on the strength of our expertise
and reputation in core areas of psychology, cognitive neuroscience and clinical linguistics. In the
Cognition & Language group, for example, expertise in intentions & actions, reasoning and problemsolving underpin our research on behavior change and intra-disciplinary collaborations in climate change
& sustainability (Walker Institute) and diet (Food Security). Internal collaborators include members of
the Nutrition Unit, Henley Business School, Agriculture Economics, Cybernetics and Mathematics.
These collaborations have or are becoming embedded in the research culture of the School.
Externally, within the UK, members of the Nutritional Psychology unit have links with molecular
biologists at KCL while members of the Perception & Action group have joint grants with engineering
and psychology colleagues at Sheffield, Cardiff, Oxford and Royal Holloway, in addition to
collaborations with Warwick and Birmingham. The Language & Cognition group conducts collaborative
research with UK colleagues in Cardiff, UCL, Cambridge and Newcastle, while members of the SocialEmotional Regulation group have established links, including joint grants, with colleagues in Oxford,
Cambridge, Cardiff, King’s College and Kent.
Fit with National / International Priority areas for Funding
Language & Cognition
EU FP7
ERC
Social-Emotional
Regulation
Health
Perception & Action
Nutrition & Health
ICT
Food
Aging & Diet
Pragmatics network;
Bilingualism
BBSRC
Lifelong Health &
Well-being - Links to
Nutrition & Health
Animal systems, health and
wellbeing
Animal systems, health
and wellbeing
Lifelong Health & Wellbeing: Diet, Physical
activity & Aging
MRC
Life-course perspective:
life expectancy,
reducing morbidity in
older age; physical
exercise, mental health,
nutrition and stress –
influences on wellbeing
and ageing.
Neuroscience & mental
health: linking
fundamental
understanding of
cognitive processes
with behaviour
Mental Health & Wellbeing: (1) social,
environmental & genetic
determinants of mental
health disorders; (2)
identifying brain regions
that play a significant role
in cognitive function in
health & disease
Mental Health & Wellbeing: (2) identifying
brain regions that play a
significant role in
cognitive function in
health & disease
Life-course perspective:
life expectancy, reducing
morbidity in older age;
physical exercise, mental
health, nutrition and stress
- influences on wellbeing
and ageing.
ESRC
Health & Wellbeing Understanding
Individual Behaviour –
understanding choice of
environmental, health
etc behaviors &
identifying ways of
supporting behavioural
change
Understanding Individual
Behaviour : crossdisciplinary research on
anti-social behaviours
Understanding
Individual Behaviour –
promoting
psychological health
Understanding Individual
Behaviour – understanding
choice of environmental,
health etc behaviors &
identifying ways of
supporting behavioural
change across the lifespan
Health & Well-being: social
and economic causes of
mental health; interventions
for improved health & wellbeing
EPSRC
ICT; Neurodynamics
ICT: People in systems
NHS
Atypical development
Mental health
Atypical development
Wellcome
Understanding the
Brain
Development and mental
health; understanding the
brain
Understanding the brain
Environment, nutrition &
Health; Understanding the
brain – integrating
molecular, physiological
and behavioural studies
Leverhulme,
Nuffield and
other charities
Industry
Applicable
Applicable
Applicable
Applicable
Publishing; Transport
Healthcare
Computing;
Food, Pharmaceutical
Areas at Risk
 We need an appointment in an area of Cognitive Neuroscience that will complement strengths in
the Cognition group and enhance and extend our current expertise in vision and affective
neuroscience. Clearly, proven ability to attract external funding and produce high quality outputs
is essential.
 Sustaining and growing an interdisciplinary cutting edge: we need to be able to replace staff lost
through retirement or relocation in order to sustain and grow interdisciplinary research and
expand our methodological expertise.
 Specialist Laboratories & Equipment: There is a need for the provision of additional space in the
near future and for assistance with the cost of refurbishment to provide new laboratory
configurations and equipment, through access to reserves, as the School’s research profile
develops.
International Research Collaborations
The development of international collaborations is encouraged and facilitated by the Research
Committee in a number of ways. These include dissemination of information on funding for external
travel and networks, availability of international fellowships, discussion of International collaboration at
School research meetings and the provision of information on existing links and contacts. These are
discussed in individual Research reviews, with encouragement to invite overseas academics to spend
research leave/study periods at Reading and for staff to use their Research Leave to develop
international collaborations. In the past 12 months, for example, Christakou (Socio-emotional
Regulation) has visited Princeton & Yale (Royal Society) to facilitate joint grant applications, Beaman
(Cognition & Language) has visited Boston to extend existing collaborative links on cognitive modeling
and Ellis (Language & Cognition) has established joint research with colleagues in Trinity College,
Dresden (named collaborator on DFG grant), Brisbane and Bombay (ESRC-ISSC Fellowship). This
summer we have 4-5 international researchers on extended visits. Other examples of strong international
research collaborations in the School include:
 Watkins (Perception & Action) – shared EPSRC award with John Hopkins (USA), Helsinki
University of Technology
 Cooper, Murray, Creswell (Social-Emotional Regulation) – UCLA, Macquarie, Stellenbosch
(SA) & Padova
 Fearon (Social-Emotional Regulation) – Yale, Leiden
 Johnstone & Van Reekum (Social-Emotional Regulation) – Wisconsin-Madison, Tufts,
University Western Australia
 Saddy (Language & Cognition) – Maryland, Aarhus, Macquarie, U. Basque Country, Humbolt &
Free Us
 Stojanovik (Language & Cognition) – Rennes, Autonoma U Madrid, U. Belgrade
 Ho (Language & Cognition) – European Huntingdon’s Disease Network
 Riddell (Perception and Action) – Buskerud University College
 Field (Perception and Action) – University of Hong Kong
 Chakrabati (Socio-Emotional Regulation) – La Sapienza, Rome
Distinctive contributions of the School and research developments:
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The Social-Emotional Regulation group has a strong international reputation and has recently
won grants from BBSRC, ESRC, Nuffield and Leverhulme. The network of expertise now
present in the School, linking the neuroscience of emotional control, the development of parental
bonding and early psychopathology, is likely to make a significant impact nationally and
internationally in this field. New techniques will be used in the scanner, partly under Tom
Johnstone's new grant, combining transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and fMRI, and using
magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) to examine correlations between GABA levels in
amygdala with prefrontal cortex activity during emotion regulation tasks.
The Language and Cognition group draws on expertise across CLS and Psychology, interacts
with other groups and includes research on the development of language. For example, the
extensive experience in the School of carrying out developmental cohort studies has put
researchers in a strong position to apply for grants on language in developmental disorders such
as William's Disease and Down's syndrome. A different example is the use by HM Treasury of
expertise within our School, through the secondment of Rachel McCloy, to support policy
developments on behaviour change through the application of research on behavioural
economics.
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The Perception and Action group have strong research collaborations with colleagues in the UK
and internationally, including commercial, engineering and clinical links.
The Nutrition and Health group have had marked success in attracting funding for
improvements in health through changes in diet. Carmel Houston-Price and Claire Hill have won
ESRC and KTP support to develop evidence-based methods to improve the diet of toddlers;
Claire Williams, Laurie Butler, Judi Ellis and colleagues study the effect of dietary flavonoids on
cognitive and behavioural tasks. Williams has an international reputation in cannabinoid research
and has just been awarded a £600K grant by GW Pharmaceuticals and Otsuka. Butler has two
new awards from PepsiCo (£270k) and Florida State Citrus (£120k).
PRE-REF CONSIDERATIONS
Psychology did well in RAE2008, considering the small proportion of senior staff in the Department. We
were in the top quartile for RAE2008 as we plan to be in the REF.
Nevertheless, in the current list of School publications collated in preparation for REF there are very few
papers that can clearly be identified as 4* although more are in prospect. There are short and long term
measures that can be applied to help address this problem. We have discussing with staff that draft
papers that have the potential to be a 4* publication will be presented within their research group and to
relevant members of the research committee in much the same way as has been successfully adopted for
outline grant applications. This should improve the chance of such papers being accepted in a high
profile journal. Discussions are underway about whether it is appropriate for staff from Clinical
Language Sciences to be entered with Psychology in a single unit of assessment for the REF.
In the School, we have a developed an intensive grant mentoring programme with the aim of improving
the success rate of grant submissions, especially those submitted by junior members of staff, including
those currently on probation. Although mentoring is associated with a higher success rate in
submissions for the mentees, it comes at a large cost on the time and productivity of those providing the
mentoring. We are exploring sustainable solutions to this issue as the scheme evolves.
The School is in a particularly fortunate position with respect to the REF requirement for demonstrating
impact. During the current REF period, there are plenty of readily identifiable consequences of high
quality research carried out in the School. Many relate to clinical practice (e.g. Berkshire Child Anxiety
Clinic; training in evidence-based psychological treatments; the development of new clinical tools for
NHS assessments (Edwards & Salis)), while others in the School have had an effect on government
policy (e.g., measures to control risky driving behaviours).
RESEARCH INCOME AND TARGETS
Actual
Target
2007-08
£1.96M
2008-09
£1.76M
2009-10
£0.94M (25/3/10) £2.25M
2010-11
£2.5M
2011-12
£3M
Table 2. Income and target for Psychology and CLS, provided by RES and PVC (Research)
Since 25 March the School has received additional grants. Our current total income this financial year is
£1.3M. Over and above these grants, the School's research is funded to a greater extent than in other
parts of the University by joint grants in which our researchers are co-investigators. For example,
current and recently awarded grants held by Claire Williams and Laurie Butler as co-investigators total
£1.73M. Grant income for the Winnicott Unit was large in 2006-07 and these programmes are due for
renewal in the foreseeable future.
USE OF GENERIC RESEARCH PLATFORMS
The most relevant platform is CINN, which is of critical importance for the research in the School. This
year, a separate Research Plan has been requested for CINN.
ADDITIONAL NEEDS
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Parking. Much of the research in the School relies on the goodwill of patients, parents and
volunteers to participate in studies. On an increasing number of occasions, patients or parents
have driven a long way to the School, circled for a long time trying to find parking and then left
without taking part in the study for which they were invited. Recently, pressures on parking at
Earley Gate have increased, with some parking areas that were previously available to visitors
now out of bounds. Unless a solution is found, clinically-related research in the School will
suffer and may have to be reduced.
Library. The priority here is, as always, to increase the range of electronic access to journals in
Psychology and Neuroscience. This should not come at the cost of reduced support for research
in the School in other ways.