Research

Research interests

Broadly speaking, my basic research interests focus on moral and political cognition. Below I outline a few questions that interest me and that I have worked on.  

Moral mind/brain questions

Is the moral mind/brain composed of distinct, domain-specific systems? One of the most provocative ideas in the contemporary science of moral cognition is that our moral minds/brains are composed of distinct, domain-specific systems: moral pluralism. The reduced role of intent when judging "impure" (e.g., incest), vs. harmful (e.g., assault), acts (i.e., the intent × domain effect) provides some of the strongest evidence for moral pluralism. I've been interested in examing the evidence for the intent × domain effect and testing competing explanations (moral pluralism vs. more domain-general explanations) and examining potential methodological confounds. Ultimately this line of research is aimed at delineating the phenomenon we are tyrying to explain: our moral mind/brain. 

What constitutes our moral capacity? Why are some actions morally permissible while other, very similar actions (e.g., in terms of outcomes), are not. I am interested in explaining how we make judgments of the deontic status of an unlimted array of actions, characters, and institutions. This is a relatively new line of research and I am drawing on insights from computational/representational models (i.e., behavioral theories) of the moral mind/brain and the cognitive neuroscience of morality. I beleive that theories of moral cogntion should, in part, be judged by their descriptive adequacy, that is, their ability to explain the moral judgments (i.e., behaviour) of people across a wide set of acts (i.e., stimuli). I am also persuaded by arguments that  efforts to understand the neurobiolgy underpinning high-level cognition (e.g., moral cogntion) should take computational/representational models (i.e., behavioral theories) seriously.

Political mind/brain questions

How do we think and act in relation to social hierarchy? Forms of social hierarchy based on gender, class, or race are ubiquitous in human socities. I'm interested in examining how these systems of group-based hierarchy and opression are maintained and alterted through political thought and action. My work in this area has examined the role of emotions such as admiration and the key role of ideology in regulating systems of social hierachy.

How do people think about future societies and forms of social organisation and how does this influence political action? I'm interested in the "radical imagination" and the role that imagining alternatives (e.g., "another world is possible") plays in political action and changes to systems of group-based hierarchy and opression.

Applied research questions

What evidence-based contribution can psychology make to tackling social problems? Inspired by Kenneth and Mamie Clark and Ignacio Martín-Baró, I am interested in the potential for psychological science to inform evidence-based social polcies in areas such as inequality, health and climate change. My initial work in this programme of research has been examining the evidence for current forms of equality and diversity training interventions within higher education. Recently, I've been interested in the evidence for cooperative learning on outcomes like prejudice reduction and attainment for minoritised groups. In collaboration with Sam Smith (South Devon College) I am now examining the impact of cooperative learning on various social outcomes.

Research projects

Funding

2020 £5,000 Welcome Trust pre-seedcorn funding

2014 £5,000 Equality Challenge Unit - evaluation of unconcious bias training

2010 ESRC visiting scholar award

2006-2011 ESRC 1 + 3 Doctoral research studentship

Publications

Key publications | Publications by category | Publications by year

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Teaching

I currently teach the following modules:

PSY3401 Research project

PSY3432 The moral mind (Module convenor)

PSY2213 Social psychology II: Practical (Module convenor)

Modules

2020/21

• PSY2213 - Social Practical II
• PSY3432 - The Moral Mind

Supervision / Group

Postgraduate researchers