School of Psychology

I came to Keele in 2001 primarily to teach on the MSc in Music Psychology and have been involved with postgraduate teaching and research ever since.  I have studied and taught in the fields of music, education and psychology, and my interests are diverse.  In psychology, my expertise lies in developmental psychology and in research methods, as well as my specialism in music psychology.  I am also interested in musical development and music education, and in the sociology and psychology of music consumption.

Research Participants Needed

I am currently seeking adult participants aged 18 and above for two studies. 

1) Research on adult amateur music-making.  If you are interested in helping please click the links to complete a short online survey.  If you grew up in the UK please click here; if you grew up in the US here; or if elsewhere in the world, here. 

2) Research on adults who are not actively involved in music making: our short online survey can be found here.

My research centres on issues of musical development and musical engagement across the lifecourse.  I have carried out studies with infants in the laboratory, research with children at schools using a range of methods, and studies of adults both in laboratory settings and more often in real life contexts.  My main research question is why and how people choose to engage with music.  Why does a toddler respond well to a familiar piece of music?  What can children learn about themselves through music?  Why do we experience strong emotions in relation to music at festivals and live concerts?  What kinds of social bonds are formed through active musical engagement?  My research focuses on exploring these questions in everyday settings and placing musical experience in the wider context of people's lives.

Recently I have been involved in evaluation research for a range of music education initiatives including Wider Opporutnities Whole Class Instrumental and Vocal Tuition and Music Partnerships between professional musicians and organisations and local education authorities and schools.  I am exploring motivations to engage in amateur music-making including choirs for older people with Professor Michael Murray, and I am also working with Dr Nicholas Reyland on the visual and auditory density of children's television and its effects on young children: we have just received a small grant from the British Academy to conduct a pilot study.

I am a member of the Centre for Psychological Research within the Research Institute for Social Sciences.  Within this I convene the Psychology, Health and Wellbeing group.

Year 1

• PSY-10018 Applied Psychology
• PSY-10020 Natural, Unnatural, Supernatural: The Psychology of Unusual Phenomena

Year 2

• PSY-20013 Research Methods and Perspectives

Year 3

• PSY-30043/4 Research in Music Psychology (module leader)
• PSY-30061 Final Year Psychology Project

Postgraduate 

• PSY-40015 Dissertation
• PSY-40034 Theory and Methodology in Psychology
• PSY-40033 Research Apprenticeship in Psychology (module leader)
• CRI-40024 Research Design & Process