Current Studies

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Peer-learning in adolescence
(Recruitment is currently ongoing, sign up below!)

People spend a great deal of their time learning from and with other people. Most learning occurs socially, from teachers, friends and family. Yet, we do not know much about the role that social interaction plays in learning. We are interested in adolescence social learning, as this is a period of life when social relationships, particularly peer-relationships, are especially important.

Participants will learn about novel items (e.g. exotic animals and rare musical instruments) from a teenaged teacher, from an older adult teacher and via solo-reading. Learning will then be tested via a short multiple-choice quiz, and participants will complete some computer-based questionnaires and puzzles. All these activities together will take about 45 min. One week after the in-person session, there will be a short online part to complete at home, which will last approximately 15-20 minutes. Participants will be compensated with £12.50 for participating.

We are looking for young people between 16 and 18 years old, with no history of brain damage, specific neurological or neurodevelopmental conditions (including moderate to severe dyslexia or autism spectrum disorder). Participants must also be able to read, speak and understand English fluently.

During the experiment, you will be asked to wear some special glasses (eye-trackers) that track where you're looking: this will enable us to study behavioural dynamics between you and the teacher and see whether and how this impacts learning. To wear the glasses, it is important that you have normal or corrected-to-normal vision (contact lenses are fine) and do not wear heavy make-up.

DO YOU WANT TO TAKE PART?
Full information for participants can be found here.
Full information for parents and guardians can be found here.

To take part, complete these two quick steps:
1. Once you've read the full information sheet, sign the consent form (when prompted, use your full name as your ID).
2. Book your session here to come to our university facilities and participate in the study.

The relationship between friendship, self-awareness and mental health (Recruitment Complete)

We are interested in understanding the relationship between peer groups and how people think about themselves. Anyone who is between 16 and 18 years old can participate in this study.

Negative feelings become more common during adolescence (10 to 24 years). Young people’s relationships with other young people might play a role in their feelings about themselves. This research aims to understand how young people think about themselves, and how this might be related to their friendship group. This is important for understanding some negative feelings.

Participants were asked to complete a range of fun decision-making computer tasks and questionnaires about their everyday life, feelings, and the friends and peers around them. They were also asked to provide some demographic details about themselves. Participants were compensated with £10 for participating.


ARE YOU INTERESTED IN KNOWING MORE?

It can take a long time between collecting data and publishing any findings (over a year). We expect to be able to share some results by Autumn 2024.

Please see more information here: Information for schools and young people. 

If you are interested in knowing more, please feel free to contact us via email.

Are you aged between 16 and 18 years, or have students in that age range, and would like to take part in similar research in the future?

Please contact us via email to register your interest.