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Department News

How our bodies react when we use social media – and when we stop

Dr Niklas Ihssen, from our Department of Psychology, explores what happens to our bodies when we social media - and what happens when we stop.
Several hands holding mobile phones

Reimagining the imagination at the world’s largest literary festival

Researchers from our Institute for Medical Humanities have taken our innovative ReaderBank project to the Jaipur Literature Festival in Rajasthan, India.
Four people standing smiling at the camera

New volume of essays on dreams and dreaming

A major intervention in the field of dream studies has just been published, edited by Marco Bernini and Ben Alderson-Day from our Institute for Medical Humanities.
Book cover for

Prestigious Leverhulme Fellowship awarded to social psychology pioneer

Professor Richard Crisp from our top-rated Psychology department has been honoured with the prestigious Leverhulme Trust Major Research Fellowship to develop a groundbreaking theory in social psychology.
Professor Richard Crisp

Why there’s no such thing as normal in child development

Associate Professor in Psychology Samuel Forbes challenges our current benchmarks for child development, which he argues are variable based on cultural context and individual personalities.
A child in a red shirt stacks colorful blocks in a tower

White Western women under greater pressure to look thin

New research by our Psychology department has found that White Western women are less positive about their bodies and feel greater media pressure to be thin than Black Nigerian and Chinese women.
Diverse group of women in underwear in a line showing torso and upper legs only

Durham psychologist discovers goosebumps happen far more often than we think

A study by a Durham Psychology researcher has found that goosebumps happen far more frequently than you think - and you may not even know you have them.
Goosebumps on an arm

Why a social media detox may not be as good for you as you think

Associate Professor Niklas Ihssen and PhD student Michael Wadsley from our Department of Psychology explain how cutting your social media use dramatically or even avoiding it completely can reduce the positive effects of social media just as much as the negative ones.
Person looking at a smartphone

Graphic warning labels could reduce people’s meat consumption

A new study from our Department of Psychology has found that cigarette style graphic warning labels could reduce people’s meat consumption.
Someone handing a plate of food including a burger and salad to a customer

Chimpanzees are not pets, no matter what social media tells you

Research Associate Jake Brooker from our Department of Psychology studies the social and emotional behaviour of great apes. He explains that social media needs to recognise that putting exotic animals in a human context isn't cute and reflects animal abuse.
A chimpanzee looking directly into the camera

Novel collaboration project aims to explore Ice Age through art

A new interdepartmental research collaboration between our Archaeology and Psychology Departments are experimenting with the online visual perceptions of Ice Age arts through their newly launched project website, Palaeo Vision: Do you see through Ice Age Eyes?
Ice age arts 2

ERC Spotlight: Professor Marko Nardini’s NewSense project to examine if human perceptions can be enriched

We will host the European Research Council's (ERC) Scientific Council meeting this June. Leading up to the visit, we’re highlighting some of the projects at Durham happening thanks to support from the ERC.
A person is pictured wearing an virtual reality headset as part of the study
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