Programme

Biography

Prof Kazuo Mori is Professor of Educational Psychology at the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology. He did a B.A. and M.A. at the Tokyo University of Education and completed a PhD at Tsukuba University in Tokyo. Prior to working at his present institution, he worked at Shinshu University in Nagano from 1982 to 2007. He has won various national honours, including the Japanese Psychological Association’s “Young Psychologist Award” (1980), the Japanese Cognitive Science Society “Best Paper Award” (1997) and University of Tsukuba’s “Creativity Award in Psychology” (2011). He has published 5 books, more than 100 research articles in some of the world’s most prestigious peer review journals and he enjoys collaborations with well known scientists around the world, including the USA and New Zealand, in connection with his ground-breaking research into eye-witness testimony.

Abstract

The MORI (Manipulation of Rivalrous Images by polarizing filters) Technique (Mori, 2003; 2007a) enables experimenters to project two different video movies on the same screen to be viewed separately by two groups of viewers without their noticing the duality. The technique has been utilized in experiments on eyewitness testimony in which participants/eyewitnesses were shown two different versions of a simulated criminal event using this technique and discussed what they had seen afterwards (e.g., Kanematsu, Mori, & Mori, 2003; Garry, French, Kinzett, & Mori, 2008; Mori & Mori, 2008; Mori & Kitabayashi, 2009). A variation of the original MORI technique, fMORI (Mori, 2007b), has been applied in research areas other than eyewitness reporting, such as the Asch conformity experiments (Mori & Arai, 2010) and self-efficacy promotion among junior high school pupils (Mori & Uchida, 2009). In this talk, first the outline of the two MORI Techniques will be explained and demonstrated, and thereafter, a series of three MORI Technique studies (eyewitness memory distortions, the Asch conformity experiments, and promotion of self-efficacy in junior high schools) will be briefly reported. Lastly, I will present some possible applications for future research using the MORI Technique.

Biography

Dr Siah is a Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Science at Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman and an Assistant Professor at the Department of Psychology and Counseling. His research interests include the psychology of attitudes, cultural psychology and HIV studies. Dr Siah is a social psychologist and has presented and published his works in conference proceedings and journal publications on a range of topics, such as HIV surveillance, reading behaviors and son preference culture.

Abstract

Due to the influence of research paradigm, most of the theories of attitude were basically characterized by the cognitive or the behavioral approach, and the influence of affects or moods in attitudes has only drew the attention of social psychologists after the works of Worth and Mackie in 1987. The talk includes the development of the theories of attitudes and the explanation on how social psychologists employ the elaboration likelihood model to examine the possible mechanisms of the influence of moods in attitude judgments.

Biography

Dr. Karen Jennifer Golden was born in Southern California and completed her undergraduate studies with a scholarship at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).  She graduated with honors in 1995 with a double major in Psychology and Political Science.  She went on to obtain a Master’s degree in Psychology and a Doctor of Psychology degree in Clinical Psychology. She holds an active license to practice as a psychologist from the California Board of Psychology and she also has been licensed as a clinical psychologist in the United Arab Emirates. She has lectured and served as a consultant internationally. Previously in Malaysia, she served as the Head of Department for Student Services and Counseling at a private international university. She joined the School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University Sunway Campus as a Lecturer in March 2011. Dr. Golden has over 15 years of clinical work experience with diverse patients.  She possesses expertise in individual, group, child, and family psychotherapy as well as psycho-educational and neuropsychological assessment. Her research interests cover the following areas: Positive psychology, resilience, and well-being; Cross-cultural psychology, immigration, and Muslim mental health; PTSD, memory, and trauma including vicarious trauma, vicarious resilience, and burnout; Learning and developmental disabilities including autism spectrum disorders, ADHD, and gifted education.  She is also interested in research in various applied psychology fields.

Abstract

Positive Psychology has been defined as the scientific study of optimal human functioning (Sheldon, Fredrickson, Rathunde, Csikszentmihalyi, & Haidt, 2000). In this talk, a review of the history of positive psychology research will be presented along with a focus upon research seeking to understand positive psychology in a multicultural context.  There has been growing recognition that positive psychology needs to be placed in a multicultural context (Lopez et al., 2002) and that more work is needed in order to  better understand the way that cultural context plays a role in the operationalization, manifestation, and measurement of strengths in diverse groups (Pedrotti, Edwards, & Lopez, 2009).  In the talk, a recommendation to establish a Positive Psychology interest group in Malaysia will be given as well as encouragement to conduct more positive psychology research in this region.

Biography

Hera Lukman is a registered Chartered Health Psychologist with the British Psychological Society. She obtained her BA (Hons) at Simon Fraser University, Canada before she completed her MSc in Occupational Psychology at the University of Sheffield, UK. Following her MSc degree, Hera proceeded to complete her PhD thesis entitled Appetite Control in the Chinese Population under the supervision of Professor John Blundell at the School of Psychology, University of Leeds, UK. Her current research interests include appearance evaluation among Malaysian adolescents and young adults; and the public perception of individuals with strabismus. Her findings on strabismus-related prejudice are recently published in peer-reviewed journals, the British Journal of Ophthalmology and the Journal of American Association of Paediatric Ophthalmology Society.

Abstract

The standard for attractiveness is considered to be narrow in scope and unachievable (Tiggemann & Pickering, 1996; Pope, Olivardia, Gruber & Borowiecki, 1999; Pope, Phillips & Olivardia, 2000; Harrison, 2003; Thompson & Cafri, 2007). The ideal figure for a woman is consistently associated with “thinness”. As for the ideal man, he is to be “lean” and “muscular”. Individuals who perceive themselves as falling short of these standards can experience body dissatisfaction, a phenomenon that has become a “normative discontent” (Rodin, Silberstein & Striegel-Moore, 1984) and appears to be universal (Etcoff, Orbach, Scott & D’Agostino, 2006). However, this conclusion is premature given that most body image research is conducted using Caucasian samples living in Western societies. Therefore, the cross-cultural validity of existing theories of body image cannot be determined without sufficient data derived from non-Western populations, particularly those living in multi-ethnic societies. This presentation will begin with a brief introduction to the sociocultural perspective on body image. It will be followed by a summary of findings from recent studies investigating appearance evaluation in Malaysian adolescents and adults. The presentation will conclude with an overview of ongoing body image related projects within the Body Image Research Unit at HELP.

Biography

Dr. McKenzie studied Psychology and the History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, before completing an MSc(Hons) and working as a Research Assistant at the Research Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience. She then moved to the UK to conduct research at Glasgow Caledonian University, and was awarded an Inter-Disciplinary Doctoral Training Scholarship to carry out her PhD in multi-sensory integration and spatial frames of reference at the University of Nottingham (UK) Institute of Neuroscience. Prior to taking up her position in Malaysia, Dr. McKenzie also spent three years as Research Fellow at the University of Manchester, UK, investigating perceptual integration and tactile illusions.

Abstract

We generally assume that a somatic experience (such as touch or pain) is due to an accurate perception of events happening either to, or within, our bodies, but somatic experience is shaped by various cognitive factors as well as sensory input, and there are numerous instances in which an individual’s somatic experience is actually a misrepresentation (e.g. Botvinick & Cohen, 1998; Brown, 2004; Halligan, Athwal, Oakley et al., 2000; Ramachandran & Hirstein, 1998). Illusory tactile sensations can be induced in normal healthy individuals through the simultaneous presentation of stimuli in another sensory modality, even when a tactile stimulus has not been delivered (Johnson, Burton & Ro, 2006; Lovelace, Stein & Wallace, 2003). Our investigations into the mechanisms behind this form of tactile misperception have found that an individual’s tendency to ‘false alarm’ is relatively stable over time, and may be the consequence of an existing cross-modal association between the two stimuli, as prior experience of the specific stimulus pairing was not necessary to induce these illusions. Manipulation of the strength of the association between the two stimuli, through a training protocol prior to the task, led to participants in a ‘low association’ group reporting fewer false alarms overall, without a corresponding drop in the number of tactile stimuli correctly identified. It seems that when the strength of the tactile signal is not sufficient to produce a bottom-up, sensory-driven response, participants rely upon a top-down cognitive heuristic (either pre-existing or manipulated) to determine the likelihood of the presence of an ambiguous tactile stimulus. Electrophysiological recordings and functional imaging with this paradigm suggest that this process occurs through a feedback/feed-forward circuit involving decision-making areas within the medial pre-motor cortex as well as primary somatosensory areas. Together, these studies provide insight into the mechanisms underlying somatic misperception, which may help to elucidate clinical phenomena such as somatoform disorders and medically unexplained symptoms.

Biography

Dr Ke Guek Nee is currently a psychology lecturer at the International Medical University (IMU). She is an industrial and organisational psychologist with research interests covering emotional intelligence, leadership and employees’ well-being. Her current projects include leadership styles and the effectiveness among bank managers; Emotional intelligence and conflict resolution styles among Malaysian nurses. In addition, Dr Ke has received government funding and is currently the lead researcher in a project funded by Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Malaysia (MCMC) with the title ‘My online friends understand me better- The impact of social Networking Site Usage (SNS) on adolescents’ psychological well-being and mental health'

Abstract

Social Network Sites Usage (SNS) is the “preferred” method of communication among adolescents. In view of the SNS constitutes a different communication pattern compare to traditional face-to-face interaction and the fact that Malaysia has been rank as number 1 in the list of most SNS active countries, overtaking countries such as India, Singapore, the US, China, Germany, France and Japan (Accenture 2010). This leads to the rise of worrying issues on adolescents’ psychological well-being. The presentation will give you some statistic figure on the rise of SNS usage and followed by literature reviews.  The presentation will conclude with an overview of SNS addiction among Malaysian adolescents and their level of psychological well-being.

Biography

Ian Stephen graduated with a BSc in Human Sciences from University College London and an MPhil in Biological Anthropology from the University of Cambridge. In 2009, he completed his PhD, entitled Skin Colour, Pigmentation and the Perceived Health of Human Faces with Prof David Perrett in the School of Psychology at the University of St Andrews. Before moving to the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus as Assistant Professor of Psychology in 2010, he held an ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Bristol. Ian has published his work in peer-reviewed journals including PLoS ONE, Perception and Evolution & Human Behavior, and he is also involved in communicating the science of sex and attraction through public appearances, the press, radio and television.

Abstract

A number of animal species - especially birds and fish - use colourful ornaments, such as brightly coloured feathers, to signal their health to conspecifics and attract mates. Recently, a large body of research has sought to identify what makes people look attractive and healthy. Most of this work has been concerned with the shape of the face. I will talk about the effect of colour on the apparent health of human faces. I will also describe work aimed at identifying the pigments and biology that underlies colour preferences and consider the parallels with animal colour signals.