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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. 

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 Responsibilities

• Level 1 Lifespan Development
• Level 3 Psychological Assessment
• Level 4 option course: Emotion and aging in social cognition
• BM4301 The Science of Aging