The Self Lab is a research group based at Abertay University and the University of Dundee, working on self-processing biases in children and adults.
Our primary research focus is an ESRC-funded project exploring the educational applications of self-reference effects.
Additional projects include examining the early development of self-biases, the effects of self cues on attention and working memory, and the impact of clinical disorders on self processing (details below).
For information, to participate in research, or to apply for postgraduate opportunities within the research team, please contact s.cunningham@abertay.ac.uk.
Lab group
Prof Sheila Cunningham
Prof Sheila Cunningham
Prof Sheila Cunningham
Dr Josephine Ross
Prof Sheila Cunningham
Prof Sheila Cunningham
Dr Janet McLean
Prof Sheila Cunningham
Dr Janet McLean
Dr Joshua March
Dr Charlotte Wilks
Dr Janet McLean
Research Fellow, Abertay University
Karen Golden
Dr Charlotte Wilks
Dr Charlotte Wilks
Research Assistant, Abertay University
Dr Charlotte Wilks
Dr Charlotte Wilks
Dr Charlotte Wilks
Research Fellow, Abertay University
ESRC project: Applying the self in education
Our research shows that self-referencing can be harnessed to support learning and education, work that is now part of an ambitious three-year project funded by ESRC.
Other Self-Referencing projects
'The Me in Memory'
Self in developmental disorders
Self in developmental disorders
Leverhulme Trust-funded project
We are exploring the development of self-processing biases in memory in children aged three to ten years, and their relationship with other aspects of development. This 'Me in Memory' project is funded by the Leverhulme Trust and is being run in collaboration with Dr Jacqui Hutchison (University of Aberdeen)
Self in developmental disorders
Self in developmental disorders
Self in developmental disorders
Self-processing can vary across individuals, and particularly in children who are diagnosed with developmental disorders such as autism and ADHD. In collaboration with Dr Karri Gillespie Smith and Dr Sinead Rhodes (Edinburgh University), we are examining the extent and nature of these variations.
Self in working memory
Self in developmental disorders
Effects of self-cues on cognition
A focus of our research on the self in cognition is studying the effects of self-cues on visuo-spatial and verbal working memory, and how these effects might link to information processing (e.g., in mathematical operations). This work is the subject of a Zahra Ahmed's PhD project, as well as a collaborative project led by Dr Joshua March with Dr Kevin Allan (University of Aberdeen) and Dr Danielle Kelly ((DeMontfort University).
Effects of self-cues on cognition
Effects of self-cues on cognition
Effects of self-cues on cognition
Cues of self-relevance have significant effects on the attention system, affective processing, binding and memory, partly driven by their high position in the goal hierarchy. In collaboration with Dr Doug Martin (Aberdeen University), and Dr Julia Vogt (Reading University) we are testing these cognitive effects and the conditions under which they are likely to be evoked.
>>>> NEWS <<<<
Effects of self-cues on cognition
>>>> NEWS <<<<
[April 2021] A multi-experiment paper reporting data from our Leverhulme-funded 'Me in Memory' project has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. Link/doi to follow!
[March 2021] We look forward to presenting our Research at the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) biennial meeting next month - presentations available on request :)
[Jan 2021] Warm welcome to Charlotte Wilks, who joins us from Stirling University as a Research Fellow on the ESRC project. Welcome Charlotte!
[Sept 2020] Lab PI Sheila Cunningham has been elected to the British Psychology Society Developmental Section committee, where she will serve for three years.
[July 2020] New article published for teachers, on the applications of self-referencing in learning: available here.
Dissemination
Recent (>2017) lab group publications
- Ross, J., Cunningham, S. J., & Hutchison, J. (2020). The me in memory: The role of the self in autobiographical memory development. Child Development, 91, e299-e314. doi: 10.1111/cdev.13211
- Armstrong, V.G. & Ross, J. (2020). The evidence base for art therapy with parent and infant dyads: an integrative literature review. International Journal of Art Therapy. https://doi.org/10.1080/17454832.2020.1724165
- Taranu, M, Wimmer, M.C., Ross, J., Farkas, D., Van Ee, R., Winkler, I., &. Denham, S. (2019). Children’s perception of visual and auditory ambiguity and its link to executive function and creativity. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 184, 123-138. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2019.03.010
- Armstrong, V.G, Dalinkeviciute, E. & Ross, J. (2019). A Dyadic Art Psychotherapy Group for Parents and Infants – Piloting Quantitative Methodologies for Evaluation. International Journal of Art Therapy. https://doi.org/10.1080/17454832.2019.1590432
- Cunningham, S. J., Scott, L., Hutchison, J., Ross, J., & Martin, D. (2018). Applying self-processing biases in education: Improving learning through ownership. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 7, 342-351. doi: 10.1016/j.jarmac.2018.04.004
- Cunningham, S. J. (2018). The thoughtful self. In Hauke & Kritikos (Eds.) Embodiment in Psychology – A Practitioner’s Guide. Springer.
- Gillespie-Smith, K, Ballantyne, C, Branigan, H, Turk, D. J., & Cunningham, S. J. (2018). The I in Autism: Severity and social functioning in Autism is related to self-processing. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 36, 127-141. doi: 10.1111/bjdp.12219
- Ivanova, I., Branigan, H. P., McLean, J. F., Costa, A. & Pickering, M. J. (2017). Do you what I say? People reconstruct the syntax of anomalous utterances. Language, Cognition and Neuroscience, 32, 175-189. doi: 10.1080/23273798.2016.1236976
- Rusconi, E. & McLean, J. F. (2017). Nature/nurture and the origin of individual differences in mathematics: evidence from infant and behavioural genetics studies. In The nature and development of mathematics: cross disciplinary perspectives on cognition, learning and culture, J. W. Adams, P. Barmby, & A. Mesoudi (Eds.). Abingdon: Routledge.
- Hutchison, J., Martin, D., Slessor, G., Urquhart, J., Smith, K., & Cunningham, S. J. (2017). Shared cognitive biases influence the cumulative cultural evolution of stereotypes. Cognitive Science, 1-27. doi: 10.1111/COGS.12560
- Martin, D., Cunningham, S. J., Hutchison, J., Slessor, G. & Smith, K. (2017). How societal stereotypes might form and evolve via cumulative cultural evolution? Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 11, 1-13. doi: 10.1111/SPC3.12338
- Allan, K., Morson, S., Dixon, S., Martin, D. & Cunningham, S. J. (2017). Simulation-based mentalizing generates a ‘proxy’ self-reference effect in memory. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 70, 1074-1084. doi: 0.1080/17470218.2016.1209532
- Cunningham, S. J. & Turk, S. J. (2017). A review of self-processing biases in cognition. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 70, 987-995. doi: 10.1080/17470218.2016.1276609
- Ross, J. (2017). You and me: Investigating the role of self-evaluative emotion in preschool prosociality. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. doi: 10.1016/j.jecp.2016.11.001 (pdf)
- Ross, J. & Melinger, A. (2017). Bilingual advantage, bidialectal advantage or neither?: Comparing performance across three tests of executive function in middle childhood. Developmental Science. doi:1 0.1111/desc.12405
- Ross, J., Yilmaz, M., Dale, R., Cassidy, R., Yildirim, I. & Zeedyk, M.S. (2017). Cultural differences in self-recognition: The early development of autonomous and related selves? Developmental Science. doi: 10.1111/desc.12387
Recent (>2017) conference presentations
- Cunningham, S. J., Hutchison, J., & Ross, J. How do self-reference effects change across childhood? Society for Research in Child Development Biennial Meeting (virtual). April 2021.
- Ahmed, Z., Cunningham, S. J., & McLean, J. Can the ‘self’ enhance children’s verbal working memory? Society for Research in Child Development Biennial Meeting (virtual). April 2021.
- March, J., Golden, K., Ahmed, Z., McLean, J. & Cunningham, S. J. Investigating the effect of self-referential cues and working memory on children's maths performance. Society for Research in Child Development Biennial Meeting (virtual). April 2021.
- Ahmed, Z., Cunningham, S. J. & McLean, J. Investigating the relationship between self-referencing and children’s visuospatial working memory: can ownership support working memory? BPS Developmental and Social Annual Conference. Stoke, August 2019.
- Cunningham, S. J., Ahmed, Z., Rhodes, S., Gow, A., Macmillan, K. & Ross, J. Self-processing in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). International Convention on Psychological Science. Paris, March 2019.
- Ross, J., Hutchison, J. & Cunningham, S. J. Development of self-reference effects. International Convention on Psychological Science. Paris, March 2019.
- Ahmed, Z., Cunningham, S. J., Ross, J. & Rhodes, S. Exploring the self-reference effect in ADHD. BPS Developmental Section Annual Conference, Liverpool, Sept. 2018.
- Ross, J., Hutchison, J., & Cunningham, S. J.,Growing me: The development of the self-reference effect across childhood. BPS Developmental Section Annual Conference, Liverpool, Sept. 2018
- Cunningham, S. J., Hutchison, J., & Ross, J. Development of incidental and explicit self-reference effects reveals distinct cognitive mechanisms. BPS Cognitive Section Annual Conference, Liverpool, Aug. 2018.
- Ross, J., Hutchison, J., & Cunningham, S. J., The me in memory: Using the self-reference effect to measure development in the autobiographical self. BPS Cognitive Section Annual Conference, Liverpool, Aug. 2018.
- Cunningham, S. J., Hutchison, J., Ross, J. & Martin, D. Self-biases in recall: Applying ownership effects in education. BPS Developmental Section Annual Conference, Stratford-upon-Avon, Sept. 2017.
- Ross, J., Hutchison, J., & Cunningham, S. J. Self-processing biases in event memory: Implications for the development of self-awareness. BPS Developmental Section Annual Conference, Stratford-upon-Avon, Sept. 2017.
- Cunningham, S. J., Hutchison, J., & Martin, D. The ownership effect in memory: applications for learning. International Convention on Psychological Science, Vienna, March 2017.
Schools and educators
Workshops and Continuing Professional Development sessions
We are leading research into the positive effects of self-processing biases on children's learning. We can advise on strategies and methodologies to improve children's task engagement and performance, by capitalising on self-cues. For more details, please contact Dr Sheila Cunningham (s.cunningham@abertay.ac.uk)
With support from:
