Chair in Psychology
- 51cg
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- Email Address
- louise.phillips@abdn.ac.uk
- Telephone Number
- +44 (0)1224 272229
- Office Address
School of Psychology
Room F23, William Guild Building
Kings College
Old Aberdeen
AB24 3FX- School/Department
- School of Psychology


Qualifications
- BSc (Hons) Psychology1990 - University of Edinburgh
- PhD Psychology1993 - University of Manchester
Memberships and Affiliations
- Internal Memberships
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- Course co-ordinator for PS3011 Psychological Assessment
- Steering group of Aberdeen Birth Cohort and Aberdeen Children of the 1950s
- Lead for the Aberdeen Ageing Well group
- External Memberships
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Vice-President of the European Cognitive Aging Society (EUCAS)
Member of British Psychological Society
Member of Experimental Psychology Society
Latest Publications
Self-reported social and motivational factors in health-related future intentions amongst older adults
European Journal of AgeingContributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI:
Assessing empathy in adults: A Malay language validation and measurement invariance of the Empathy Quotient (M-EQ)
PloS ONE, vol. 21, no. 5, e0349335Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI:
- [OPEN ACCESS]
How social media use and abuse are related to social cognition and loneliness in older adults
European Journal of AgeingContributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI:
Expression ambiguity leads to greater influence of predictive context during face emotion perception
Cognition & EmotionContributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI:
Now you see it, now you don't: The age-related positivity effect to faces disappears in naturalistic settings
Emotion, vol. 26, no. 3, pp. 707-716Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI:
- [OPEN ACCESS]
- [ONLINE]
- Research
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Research Overview
I am interested in adult aging, in particular the effects of aging on cognition, emotion and social functioning. In the Aging, Cognition and Emotion Lab we address questions about age differences in communication, looking at how younger and older adults might differ in: expression and interpretation of emotional signals, the use of eye contact and gaze following in social interaction, understanding and empathy for others' mental states. We often find age differences in these aspects of communication - so this raises issues around why there are age differences: Generational changes in social norms? Changes in neurocognitive function? Differences in experience and motivation? And what impact might such changes have for everyday life in relation to intergenerational engagement, social relationships and quality of life? I also love getting involved in interdisciplinary projects on aging, looking at links between cognition, mental health, physical health, genetics, brain changes and social functioning.
Research Specialisms
- Cognitive Psychology
- Gerontology
- Psychology of Communication
- Affective Neuroscience
- Psychology of Ageing
Our research specialisms are based on the Higher Education Classification of Subjects (HECoS) which is , published under the licence.
Current Research
- Adult aging, social cognition and emotional skills
- Intergenerational communication
- Effects of degenerative diseases on social and emotional processing
- Age, planning and prospective memory
Funding and Grants
2027-2036: Leverhulme Trust Centenary Doctoral Programme on Social Connectivity in Later Life. (Lead applicant). REF DS-2026-01 Awarded £5,000,000. See here!
2023-2025: Leverhulme Trust (Applicants Yong & Phillips). Theory of Mind in older adults: Links to fiction, cognition and social function. Awarded £188,476.
2022-2026: Dunhill Medical Trust (Lead applicant). Building interventions to improve quality of life in old age. Multiple PhD Studentship Award. Awarded £199,564.
2018-2020: Newton-Ungku Omar Fund Institutional Links UK-Malaysia grant (Applicants Phillips and Yong). Social cognition and executive function in older adults in the UK and Malaysia: links to socio-economic factors. Ref: 331745333. Awarded £128,461.
2017-2021: ESRC (Applicants Phillips, Tatler & Henry). Adult aging and social attention: the role of cognitive decline and social motivation. Ref: ES/P005330/1. Awarded £500,492. https://www.socialattentionesrc.co.uk/
2015-2018: ESRC/BBSRC.(Applicants Haggarty, Murray, Phillips, Staff, Hocking, Ferguson-Smith & Richards). Imprinting methylation; early life influences and later cognition and mood. Ref: ES/N00048X/1. Awarded £446,636.
- Teaching
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Teaching Responsibilities
- Level 1 Lifespan Development
- Level 3 Psychological Assessment
- Level 4 option course: Emotion and aging in social cognition
- BM4301 The Science of Aging
- Publications
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Page 1 of 4 Results 1 to 50 of 162
Self-reported social and motivational factors in health-related future intentions amongst older adults
European Journal of AgeingContributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI:
Assessing empathy in adults: A Malay language validation and measurement invariance of the Empathy Quotient (M-EQ)
PloS ONE, vol. 21, no. 5, e0349335Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI:
- [OPEN ACCESS]
How social media use and abuse are related to social cognition and loneliness in older adults
European Journal of AgeingContributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI:
Expression ambiguity leads to greater influence of predictive context during face emotion perception
Cognition & EmotionContributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI:
Now you see it, now you don't: The age-related positivity effect to faces disappears in naturalistic settings
Emotion, vol. 26, no. 3, pp. 707-716Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI:
- [OPEN ACCESS]
- [ONLINE]
Do Age-Based Meta-Stereotypes Matter in Intergenerational Relationships?
Journal of Intergenerational RelationshipsContributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI:
Aging and complex emotion perception: the influence of context and multimodal presentation
Aging Neuropsychology and Cognition, vol. 32, no. 6, pp. 907-925Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI:
- [OPEN ACCESS]
- [ONLINE]
Involvement of older adults in shared decision-making on care transitions in the UK: An interpretative qualitative systematic review
Ageing and Society, vol. 45, no. 11, pp. 2500-2525Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI:
- [OPEN ACCESS]
- [ONLINE]
Understanding Older Adults’ Experience of Prospective Memory Errors and Strategy Use
Applied Cognitive Psychology, vol. 39, no. 3, e70066Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI:
- [OPEN ACCESS]
Age and Cultural Differences in the Relationship Between Reading and Theory of Mind
Poetics, vol. 109, 101984Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI:
- [OPEN ACCESS]
Stereotypical Bias Amplification, and Reversal, in an Experimental Model of Human Interaction with Generative AI
Royal Society Open Science, 241472Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI:
- [OPEN ACCESS]
Age Differences in Gaze Following: Older Adults Follow Gaze More than Younger Adults When free-viewing Scenes
Experimental Aging Research, vol. 50, no. 1, pp. 84-101Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI:
- [OPEN ACCESS]
- [ONLINE]
Classifying the non-metabolic demands of different physical activity types: The Physical Activity Demand (PAD) typology
PloS ONE, vol. 18, no. 10, e0291782Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI:
- [OPEN ACCESS]
- [ONLINE]
Adult age differences in using information from the eyes and mouth to make decisions about others' emotions
Journals of Gerontology. Series B, Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, vol. 77, no. 12, pp. 2241-2251Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI:
- [OPEN ACCESS]
The Effects Of Adult Aging And Culture On Theory Of Mind
Journals of Gerontology. Series B, Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, vol. 77, no. 2, pp. 332-340Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI:
- [OPEN ACCESS]
- [ONLINE]
Remember to stay positive: Affect and prospective memory in everyday life
Applied Cognitive Psychology, vol. 36, no. 1, pp. 179-190Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI:
- [OPEN ACCESS]
Visual attentional orienting by eye gaze: A meta-analytic review of the gaze-cueing effect
Psychological bulletin, vol. 147, no. 12, pp. 1269-1289Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI:
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Multiple sclerosis, emotion perception and social functioning
Journal of neuropsychology, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 500-515Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI:
- [OPEN ACCESS]
- [ONLINE]
The interplay between gaze and consistency in scene viewing: Evidence from visual search by young and older adults
Attention, Perception & Psychophysics, vol. 83, pp. 1954–1970Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI:
- [OPEN ACCESS]
The Detrimental Effects of Mood on Prospective Memory Are Modulated by Age
Emotion, vol. 21, no. 3, pp. 569-583Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI:
- [OPEN ACCESS]
- [OPEN ACCESS]
- [ONLINE]
The effects of adult ageing and culture on the tower of London task
Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 12, 631458Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI:
- [OPEN ACCESS]
- [ONLINE]
Imprinting methylation predicts hippocampal volumes and hyperintensities and the change with age in later life
Scientific Reports, vol. 11, 943Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI:
- [OPEN ACCESS]
- [ONLINE]
Task characteristics influence facial emotion recognition age-effects: A meta-analytic review
Psychology and Aging, vol. 35, no. 2, pp. 295-315Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI:
- [ONLINE]
The nature of anger in people with multiple sclerosis: a qualitative study
Psychology & Health, vol. 35, no. 7, pp. 824-837Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI:
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Visual attention, biological motion perception and healthy ageing
Psychological Research, vol. 84, pp. 625-642Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI:
- [OPEN ACCESS]
- [ONLINE]
Age-related differences in the ability to decode intentions from non-literal language
Acta Psychologica, vol. 198, 102865Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI:
- [OPEN ACCESS]
- [ONLINE]
The role of social attention in older adults’ ability to interpret naturalistic social scenes
Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, vol. 72, no. 6, pp. 1328-1343Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI:
- [OPEN ACCESS]
- [ONLINE]
Explaining age differences in working memory: The role of updating, inhibition, and shifting
Psychology & Neuroscience, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 191-208Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI:
- [OPEN ACCESS]
- [ONLINE]
Effects of induced sad mood on facial emotion perception in young and older adults
Aging Neuropsychology and Cognition, vol. 26, no. 3, pp. 319-335Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI:
- [ONLINE]
Imprinting methylation in SNRPN and MEST1 in adult blood predicts cognitive ability
PloS ONE, vol. 14, no. 2, e0211799Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI:
- [OPEN ACCESS]
Effect of Different Types of Physical Activity on Activities of Daily Living in Older Adults: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Journal of Aging and Physical Activity, vol. 25, no. 4, pp. 653-670Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI:
- [OPEN ACCESS]
Gaze detection and gaze cuing in Alzheimer's disease
Brain and Cognition, vol. 116, pp. 47-53Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI:
- [OPEN ACCESS]
- [ONLINE]
Theory of Mind and Executive Functioning Following Stroke
Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, vol. 32, no. 5, pp. 507-518Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI:
Age Deficits in Facial Affect Recognition: The Influence of Dynamic Cues
Journals of Gerontology. Series B, Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, vol. 72, no. 4, pp. 622-632Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI:
- [OPEN ACCESS]
A maturing picture of emotion
The Psychologist, vol. 29, no. 12, pp. 908-911Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE]
- [ONLINE]
The impact of aging on the neural networks involved in gaze and emotional processing
Neurobiology of Aging, vol. 48, pp. 182-194Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI:
- [OPEN ACCESS]
Global form and motion processing in healthy ageing
Acta Psychologica, vol. 166, pp. 12-20Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI:
- [OPEN ACCESS]
Mental and perceptual feedback in the development of creative flow
Consciousness and Cognition, vol. 42, pp. 150-161Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI:
- [OPEN ACCESS]
Where is my key? Where is his key?: Perspective taking and social sensitivity of the Key Search task
Cortex, vol. 76, pp. 131Contributions to Journals: Comments and Debates- [ONLINE] DOI:
Brain hyperintensity location determines outcome in the triad of impaired cognition, physical health and depressive symptoms: A cohort study in late life
Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, vol. 63, pp. 49-54Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI:
- [OPEN ACCESS]
Older adults have difficulty in decoding sarcasm
Developmental Psychology, vol. 51, no. 12, pp. 1840-1852Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI:
- [OPEN ACCESS]
Cognitive aging: Activity patterns and maintenance intentions (2007)
Studies of Thinking: Selected works of Kenneth Gilhooly. Taylor and Francis Inc., pp. 197-211, 15 pagesChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters- [ONLINE] DOI:
- [ONLINE]
Planning processes and age in the five-disc Tower of London task (1999)
Studies of Thinking: Selected works of Kenneth Gilhooly. 1999 edition. Taylor and Francis Inc., pp. 157-176, 20 pagesChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters- [ONLINE] DOI:
- [ONLINE]
The effects of adult aging and induced positive and negative mood on planning (2002)
Studies of Thinking: Selected works of Kenneth Gilhooly. Taylor and Francis Inc., pp. 178-192, 15 pagesChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters- [ONLINE] DOI:
- [ONLINE]
Visuo-spatial and verbal working memory in the five-disc tower of London task: An individual differences approach (2002)
Studies of Thinking: Selected works of Kenneth Gilhooly. 2002 edition. Taylor and Francis Inc., pp. 142-153, 12 pagesChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters- [ONLINE] DOI:
- [ONLINE]
The relationship between prospective memory and episodic future thinking in younger and older adulthood
Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, vol. 69, no. 2, pp. 310-323Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI:
The role of emotion regulation on social participation following stroke
British Journal of Clinical Psychology, vol. 54, no. 2, pp. 181-199Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI:
- [OPEN ACCESS]
The overlapping relationship between emotion perception and theory of mind
Neuropsychologia, vol. 70, pp. 1-10Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI:
- [OPEN ACCESS]
Physical disease and resilient outcomes: a systematic review of resilience definitions and study methods
Psychosomatics, vol. 56, no. 2, pp. 168-180Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE]
- [ONLINE] DOI:
Age differences in decoding complex emotions: does context matter?
The 5th Geneva Ageing SeriesContributions to Conferences: Abstracts