Research | University College Cork

Research at the School of Applied Psychology

People and Technology

The People and Technology (PAT) group is a collection of human-computer interaction (HCI) researchers interested in understanding, designing, and evaluating digital technologies. The group is committed to experience-centred, participatory approaches to the design of technology. The excitement of experience-centred, participatory design for us is in helping ensure that technological developments give people a chance for a richer life, to include people who too often are excluded, and to ensure that everyone feels free to think about and discuss what matters to them especially those people who feel they have no voice.

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Mental Health and Wellbeing

The importance of mental health and well-being for the social and economic health of the nation has grown in prominence in governmental strategic plans. The overarching focus in the School is twofold (a) to elucidate psychological processes underpinning risk and resilience and (b) to formulate and evaluate psychological interventions at both the clinical and community level. These aims find translation in foci related to trauma, family resilience, adverse experiences in childhood, childhood illness and disability, ASD, human sexuality, mental health difficulties, well-being in the workplace, infant and maternal mental health, reproductive issues, migrant populations, stress and coping, addictive behaviours, homelessness and therapeutic and training interventions.

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Healthy Development and Ageing

We look at the way our psychological and physical selves change and interact over the course of our life; we are particularly interested in discovering which physiological, behavioural, cognitive and lifestyle factors support a healthy development across all ages and stages of life, including childhood, adolescence and adulthood. We study how biology may influence behaviour and vice versa, and also study the social, cultural and psychological factors that contribute how we think, feel and behave, as well as our health. Our research includes measures and models of perceptual sensitivity, perceptions of ageing, elder stereotypes, pubertal/adolescent development, socio-cultural influence on biobehavioural health, intergenerational transmission of trauma and psychobiological stress.

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