People

My current work brings together movement and body awareness. I use motion capture to study children’s movement control, and combine this with virtual reality to examine how movement helps to ground the sense of bodily self in the context of rapid childhood growth. I am Chair of the newly-established Body Representation Network and serve on the Editorial Board of Multisensory Research.

I worked on the ESRC-funded project on the cognitive development of own-body representation in childhood and continue to collaborate with the group. My research investigates the sensory processes underlying embodiment and body ownership, such as the role of movement cues and hand corporeality for virtual hands and bodies. 

During my PhD (University of Birmingham, 2018) I investigated illusory and aberrant experiences of the self and body, such as Depersonalization / Derealization and Out-of-Body experiences. I also explored autonomic emotional processing toward aversive stimuli (body-threats) via psychophysiology.

PhD Candidate

Following my undergraduate degree in Psychology, I completed a master’s in Developmental Disorders at Lancaster University. Here I developed a keen interest in autism, and how it manifests behaviourally, particularly in non-verbal and minimally verbal children. Whilst I predominantly focused on linguistic understanding, observations during testing sessions piqued my interest into sensory seeking behaviours. 

I currently work as a visiting Research Assistant here at Durham on the BOLDkids project, which examines how limb differences affect motor development. 

PhD  Candidate

I am interested in understanding how children's brains represent, understand, and use their constantly growing bodies. For example, how accurately do children know how wide their shoulders are, or how long their arms are, and how does this affect their movements? In other words, how do I learn to drive a car if the car keeps changing size!

I'm also interested in how all this knowledge combines into children's sense of embodiment - feeling like my body is mine and belongs to my self. Which details are most important for perceiving 'my body' at different ages? My skin colour? My limb structure? 

To do this I use many techniques, including using Virtual Reality and Motion Capture to give children and adults fully controllable virtual avatars, which I can manipulate and change the look of.

I have a keen interest in body image and eating disorders. I am particularly interested in how body image develops in less studied populations, such as men, older women, children, and in different cultures.  

My PhD is concerned with how attitudes towards one’s own body and attitudes towards food develop across the lifespan, but particularly during the onset of puberty. I conduct research in schools and in the community to determine what factors might indicate the onset of disordered eating symptoms with the aim to informing preventative interventions suitable for young audiences. 

PhD Candidate

My PhD project is focused on exploring how Virtual Reality can be utilised as an educational tool in the classroom. We have created a virtual History learning experience for 7-10 year olds and we are exploring whether experiences in this immersive VR environment enhances children’s learning. We are also interested in how the unique immersive features of VR contribute to a successful learning experience.

I was a Research Assistant in Dorothy’s lab prior to starting my PhD and have worked on a range of projects including: the development of motor skills in children with limb differences, exploring body ownership in Virtual Reality and investigating the factors predicting innovation abilities in children ranging from 3- to 11-years-old.