I鈥檓 a Reader in Psychology, specialising in Socio-Cognitive development. I am interested in how people (and other animals) perceive, influence, and are influenced by their social worlds. I take both an theoretical and applied approach and work across discplines and with multiple research methods.听
Before joining the University of Abertay in 2016, I held a three-year Senior Research Fellowship at the University of St Andrews. I completed my undergraduate Psychology degree at the University of Sussex and my masters and PhD at Durham University which focused on social learning mechanisms and strategies in children and chimpanzees.
Child and Youth Lab: /business/facilities-and-services/child-and-youth-lab/
Gender Stereotypes Lab:
I am the Programme Lead for Psychology with Development and Education
I teach on the following modules:
PSY215 Tomorrow's Child (module lead)
PSY104: Comparative Psychology
PSY410: Psychology Honours Project听听
PSY101: Introductory Psychology听
PSY420: Workbased Learning (supervisor)
I am a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
My current research areas include (1) children's social learning across cultures and contexts, (2) children and young people's understanding of gender stereotypes and the impact of gender stereotyping on their choices, and (3) children's understanding and learning of cybersecurity skills.听
You can visit the below to find our more information-
I am a co-leader on the ESRC project,
I peer review for Child Development, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Science, and Comparative Psychology among others.听 I am a member of the editorial team for Humanities and Social Sciences Communications.听
2023
ESRC 拢974,000 The development of age-based imitation biases throughout childhood, daily interactions, and cultures
Templeton World Charity Foundation 拢209,000 Communicating 鈥楾ruth:鈥� Consumption and transmission of polarized information amongst young people in a divided society
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2022
Abertay Studentship听拢70,00 Investigating the influence of gender stereotypes and social learning on young people鈥檚 subject and career choices
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2021听
Scottish Funding Council 拢11,876 听Research & Knowledge Exchange听
Abertay Studentship听拢67,00 How do we best teach our children to be cybersecure?
Carnegie 拢3,658 Gender-based judgement of scientific credibility
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2018
Abertay Teaching & Learning Enhancement Fund:听"Who's holding the baby/ An exploration of support for students who (or whose partner) are pregnant or on maternity"听
I am an invited panel member of the John Templeton Foundation funded project,
I am a member of the editorial team for Humanities and Social Sciences Communications.听
I peer review for Child Development, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Science, and Comparative Psychology among others.听听
c.watkins@abertay.ac.uk
01382 308646
s.depaoli@abertay.ac.uk
01382 308446