Social interaction and communication
Social interactions are crucial for our health and well-being across our lifespan. Positive social behaviours will also be fundamental for solving several global challenges such as climate change, infectious disease and ageing populations. Researchers in this theme therefore study social cognition and behaviour, as well as the individual differences between people.
We use several approaches and tools from cognitive neuroscience, psychology and economics to understand how people make social decisions, how willing people are to help others and be socially motivated, how people understand other people's thoughts and intentions, the kinematics of social movement, and many other aspects of social cognition and behaviour. A parallel stream of our work investigates social communication through language. Our aim is to discover the basic foundations of social interaction and communication and to promote positive social interactions across the lifespan.
Principal Investigators
Principal Investigators
- Dr Matthew Apps (Senior Research Fellow (≈Associate Professor) / BBSRC David Phillips Fellow - School of Psychology)
- Professor Jennifer Cook (Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience - School of Psychology)
- Dr Stephane De Brito (Associate Professor - School of Psychology)
- Dr Steven Frisson (Assistant Professor - School of Psychology)
- Dr Romy Froemer (Assistant Professor - School of Psychology)
- Dr Arkady Konovalov (Associate Professor - School of Psychology)
- Dr Andrea Krott (Reader in Psychology of Language, Deputy Head of School - School of Psychology)
- Professor Patricia Lockwood (Professor of Decision Neuroscience - School of Psychology)
- Dr Katrien Segaert (Associate Professor - School of Psychology)
- Professor Alan Wing (Professor of Human Movement - School of Psychology)
- Dr Lei Zhang (Associate Professor, Director of Postgraduate Research - School of Psychology)