Donna Berry

Biography

I joined the School of Psychology at Keele as a Lecturer in September 2012. Prior to this, I completed my BSc, MSc and PhD in cognitive neuropsychology at Lancaster University, before working as a Psychology Tutor for the Open University and later as a Postdoctoral Researcher at Northumbria University. In 2015, I was made a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

My main research interests centre around emotion processing, visual attention, and policing, with a particular focus on how these may differ amongst people on the autism spectrum.

Research and scholarship

*Please email me if you would be interested in getting involved in my research as a participant, collaborator, research assistant, project/dissertation student or PhD student*

The main research projects I am currently running are:

1. Emotional Contagion in Autism Spectrum Conditions

Seeing someone expressing an emotion (e.g. laughing or yawning) often results in typical observers ‘catching’ this emotion and expressing it themselves, but this emotional contagion is markedly less common amongst people with Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC). I am interested in understanding what factors affect emotional contagion (e.g. visual cues, auditory cues, social groups) in order to understand why people with ASC might not find emotions contagious. I am also interested in understanding discrepancies between people’s physiological responses to emotional displays (e.g. eye movements and galvanic skin response) and their overt responses (mirroring of facial expressions).

2. Autism and Policing

Individuals with ASC are more likely to come into contact with the police than neurotypical individuals, whether as victims, witnesses or perpetrators of crimes. Individuals on the Autism Spectrum often find communication and the interpretation of social cues difficult, and this can hinder understanding and cooperation between people on the Autism Spectrum and Police Officers, which could lead to adverse outcomes. As a member of the Society of Evidence-Based Policing and Keele Policing Academic Collaboration, I am interested in understanding likely sources of misunderstandings and am currently developing autism training with the aim of fostering better relationships between the police and people on the autism spectrum.

3. Visual Attention and Cognitive Processing

Eye trackers allow changes in pupil size, patterns of saccadic eye movements and fixations to be recorded, which provide objective insights into visual attention and cognitive processing in participants who may find it difficult to verbalise their thought processes e.g. people with ASC. A current project within this strand is measuring the effect of the visual layout of information on front-of-pack food packaging labels on people’s abilities to attend to and comprehend nutritional information.

Teaching

Undergraduate Year 1

PSY-10016 Research Methods 2
PSY-10017 Biological and Cognitive Psychology 1 (Module Leader)
PSY-10018 Individuals in Society 1
Module Team Member PSY-10033 Introduction to Social and Developmental Psychology
Module Team Member PSY-10034 Introduction to Biological and Cognitive Psychology

Undergraduate Year 2

PSY-20005 Biological Psychology, Perception and Cognition
Module Team Member PSY-20033 Psychologyopathology
Module Team Member PSY-20045 Biological Psychology Perception and Cognition

Undergraduate Year 3

PSY-30061 Final Year Project
PSY-30104 Current Perspectives on Autism Spectrum Disorders (Module Leader)

Masters

PSY-40038 Research Apprenticeship in Psychology
PSY-40045 Dissertation
PSY-40047 Research Preparation
Module Team Member PSY-40039 Advanced Research Skills and Design
Module Team Member PSY-40071 Advanced Study in Child Development

Publications

Selected journal articles

Berry, D.M. & Holliss, T. (in preparation). See no evil, hear no evil, feel no evil? The effects of visually and auditorily presented emotions on emotional contagion in Autism Spectrum Conditions.
Dewhurst, S.A., Anderson, R.J., Berry, D.M. & Garner, S.R. (in preparation). Individual differences in susceptibility to false memories: The role of memory specificity.
Berry, D.M. & Osborn, A.H. (in preparation). Reduced emotional contagion in Autism Spectrum Conditions.
Engelhardt, P.E., & Berry, D.M. (in revision). Looking away while remembering: A synthesis of three disparate research strands using eye tracking.
Kent, A., Berry, D.M., Budds, K., Skipper, Y., & Williams, H.L. (in press) Promoting writing amongst peers: Establishing a writing group for early career psychologists. Higher Education Research and Development.
Dewhurst, S.A., Howe, M.L., Berry, D.M. & Knott, L.M. (2012). Test-induced priming increases false recognition in older but not younger children. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 111: 101 - 107.
Berry, D.M. & Crawford, T.J. (2007). Age-induced reductions in inhibitory control modulate antisaccade performance. Journal of Eye Movement Research, 1: 107.

Selected conference presentations

Berry, D.M. & Osborn, A.H. (2016, September). Why are emotions less contagious for people with Autism Spectrum Disorders? Paper presented at British Psychological Society (BPS) West Midlands ‘Sharing Our Science’ Conference, Birmingham, UK.
Berry, D.M. & Osborn, A.H. (2016, May). Exploring the mechanisms underlying reduced emotion contagion in Autism Spectrum Disorders. Poster presented at the International Meeting For Autism Researchers (IMFAR), Baltimore, USA.
Berry, D.M. (2015, November). Act Up! An intervention for children with emotion processing difficulties. Paper presented at Keele University Seminar series, Stoke-on-Trent, UK.
Kamal, A.N., & Berry, D.M. (2015, September). Effects of music genre and music tempo on false memory formation. Paper presented at the British Psychological Society (BPS) West Midlands Branch Annual Conference, Coventry, UK.
Berry, D.M. & Osborn, A. (2015, June) Emotion contagion in Autism Spectrum Disorders. Paper presented at West Midlands Psychology Teachers’ Conference, Stoke-on-Trent, UK.
Berry, D.M. (2015, February) Emotion processing and emotional regulation in Autism Spectrum Disorders. Invited talk at Staffordshire University School of Psychology, Sport and Exercise Seminar Series, Stoke-on-Trent, UK.
Berry, D.M., Crawford, T.J., Wolohan, F.A. & Litchfield, D. (2009, August). Working memory theories explain antisaccade error rates, but not latency or fixation duration effects with a concurrent working memory task. Poster presented at the European Conference on Eye Movements (ECEM), Southampton, UK.
Berry, D.M. & Crawford, T.J. (2009, March). The relative involvement of working memory and attention in the antisaccade task. Paper presented at Lancaster University Seminar Series, Lancaster, UK.
Berry, D.M., & Crawford, T.J. (2008, August). Fractionating the antisaccade task: An ageing study. Poster presented at the British Psychological Society (BPS) Annual Conference, Southampton, UK.

Funding

Bosworth, G.J. & Berry, D.M. (2016 - 2017). Teaching Innovation Award to fund project entitled ‘Let’s meet at Basecamp: A mobile app designed to increase group cohesion and student satisfaction in collaborative learning projects’, Keele University Learning and Professional Development Centre: £1380.40
Wang, J.J. & Berry, D.M. (2016). Funding to purchase SMI eye tracking glasses and software, Keele University Faculty of Natural Sciences: £33,950
Berry, D.M. & Lonsdale, S. M. (2016). Funding for a Research Assistant on project entitled ‘Developing an Autism component for inclusion in Police training’, Keele University School of Psychology: £1600
Berry, D.M. (2013). Funding to purchase EyeLink 1000 Plus eye tracker and software, Keele University School of Psychology: £25,570
Berry, D.M. (2006). Grindley Grant to cover European Conference on Eye Movements (ECEM) conference attendance, Experimental Psychology Society: £500
Berry, D.M. & Crawford, T.J. (2006 - 2010): PhD Teaching Studentship Stipend, Lancaster University Faculty of Science and Technology: £40,500

Roles

Academic Conduct Officer
Open Day and Offer Holder Day Team Member
Undergraduate Academic Mentor
Year 3 Tutor

School of Psychology
Dorothy Hodgkin Building
Keele University
Staffordshire
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Tel: +44(0)1782 731831
Fax: +44(0)1782 733387
Email: psychology@keele.ac.uk

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Dr Donna Berry