I am a member of the Cognitive and Biological Research Group at Keele University; a group who conducts research into biopsychological and cognitive processes. As part of my involvement in the research group, I train academic and technical support staff in psychobiological research skills, including Galvanic Skin Response and Electrocardiogram data collection and analysis.
I am a member of the British Psychological Society's Standing Annual Conference Committee; I help organise the flagship conference and am responsible for peer reviewing submitted abstracts, shaping the choice of keynote speakers, and choosing the conference themes. I am also the UK representative on the Society for Affective Science's Student Council, representing all students studying emotion-related topics across the British Isles.
My research interests include the following: emotion, pragmatics, cross-cultural psychology, and acquired brain injury.
September 2017 - Present
Sessional Lecturer
PsyPAG Communications Officer
September 2018 - October 2018
Visiting Researcher
May 2016 - September 2016
Neurological Rehabilitation Therapy Assistant
November 2015 - April 2016
November 2014 - September 2015
Neurological Occupational Therapy Assistant
PhD in Psychology
Keele University, UK
Supervisors: Dr Richard Stephens & Dr Sammyh Khan
MSc in Language Sciences (Specialism in Neuroscience and Communication)
University College London, UK
Dissertation: Collaboration or Cooperation: The impact of learning context upon communication skill acquisition in individuals with traumatic brain injury
Diploma in Advanced Intermediate Japanese, with Distinction
Nagasaki University of Foreign Studies, Japan
Psychology with Japanese BSc, First Class
University of Central Lancashire, UK
Dissertation: Swearing as a response to pain: a cross-cultural comparison of British and Japanese participants
Olly@psychollygy.com
Dealing with disappointment in the application process
Robertson, O., & Dunsmore, J. (2019). Dealing with disappointment in the application process. Psychology Postgraduate Affairs Group Guide (2nd ed), 26-32.
Hightlights
In the UK, 80% of applications to research and professional doctorate programs are not successful.
Application rejection is a painful experience that can have long lasting negative effects upon the applicant.
The article outlines several techniques applicants can use to move past the rejection experience and increase their chances of being successful in the application process in the future.
Swearing as a response to pain: a cross-cultural comparison of British and Japanese participants
Robertson, O., Robinson, S., & Stephens, R. (2017). Swearing as a response to pain: A cross-cultural comparison of British and Japanese participants. Scandinavian Journal of Pain, 17, 267-272.
Swearing increases pain tolerance cross-culturally in British and Japanese sample.
Proposal that perception modification occurs via neural inhibitory pain mechanisms.
Swearword related pain relief may be a universal, not socio-cultural, phenomenon.
Robertson, O. (January 2019; February 2019). Philosophy, Politics, and Psychology Society. Alsager School, UK.
Robertson, O. (December 2018). Zombie neuropsychology. The Big Bang Science Fair: STEAM into HE. Harper Adams University, UK.
Robertson, O. (November 2018). How good are you as an eye witness?. Higher Horizons. Keele University, UK.
Robertson, O. (November 2018). Ethics in psychological research. Higher Horizons. Keele University, UK.
Robertson, O., Robinson, S., & Stephens, R. (September 2018). Swearing as a Response to Pain – A cross-cultural comparison of British and Japanese participants. BPS Midlands Conference. Birmingham, UK.
Robertson, O., Khan, S., & Stephens, R. (July 2018). Is the heart more than a metronome: heart rate variability as a bio-marker for emotion regulation skill. PsyPAG Conference. Huddersfield, UK.
Robertson, O. (May 2018). How to swear in Japanese. Psychology in the Pub. Stoke-on-Trent, UK.
Robertson, O., Khan, S., & Stephens, R. (April 2018). "It just feels so good" – The effects of fucking and other swear words. Institute for Liberal Arts and Sciences Conference. Keele, UK. Conferred the award for best science communication.
Robertson, O. (March 2017). Mind, mood and metaphor – The theory of constructed emotion. Faculty of Natural Sciences Symposium. Keele, UK. Conferred the award for best paper presentation.