Dr David Atkins

Social Psychology is concerned with the scientific study of human social behaviour, experience and thought. Developmental Psychology is concerned with the scientific study of systematic changes in human psychology across an individual’s lifespan, particularly cognitive, perceptual, social and emotional development in childhood, adolescence and adulthood.

Social and Developmental Psychology

This module will build on the broad introduction at Level 4 and seek to provide research-based accounts of social and developmental behaviour in key areas, such as people in groups, prejudice and discrimination, aggression, social influence, emotional and social development, life-span adult development and developmental social psychology.

Psychology Project

Research is an important and integral part of your degree, and the Research Dissertation gives students the opportunity to expand learning and develop interests in a particular topic. Students will critique research by others and will reflect on their own work, moving students from a theoretical knowledge of research toward a more informed level of skill and application.

Postgraduate

Educational Psychology

The Educational Psychology module will guide students through the role of a psychologist working with children and young people whilst contributing towards their mental health, care and safe-guarding and/or educational needs. The module will direct students through behavioural, emotional, developmental and learning disorders.

Research Design and Statistics

This module builds on undergraduate level research methods and statistics and aims to further develop understanding of scientific research methodology and multivariate statistical analysis. The course material will introduce students to more complex experimental designs, encourage critical understanding of statistical procedures and develop practical knowledge of statistical data analysis.

David’s research is two-fold. Firstly, David is interested in our ability to understand how others think and feel (i.e., empathy), and the boundary conditions that influence the associated cognitive and affective states (e.g., cultural background). Secondly, David has explored the psychological barriers and facilitators that enhance/impede learning amongst students in higher education. In fact, he has a proven track record of developing initiatives that result in student success. The social psychologist in David aims to explore research on the areas of interpersonal communication and narratives, social cohesion, and culture. However, David’s emerging interest in the psychology of education, aims to steer his career towards developing our understanding of learning in higher education – particularly regarding understanding the factors relating to student attainment gaps in higher education.

Publications

Otterbacher, J., Ang, C. S., Litvak, M., & Atkins, D. (2017). Show Me You Care: Trait Empathy, Linguistic Style and Mimicry on Facebook. ACM Transactions on Internet Technology, 17(1). https://doi.org/10.1145/2996188

Atkins, D., Uskul, A.K., & Cooper, N. R. (2016). Culture shapes empathy in response to physically and socially painful events. Emotion, 16, 587-601. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/emo0000162

Conference or Workshop Presentations

Paper Presentations

Atkins, D. S., Uskul, A. K., & Cooper, N. R. (2018). Culture Shapes Cognitive and Affective Empathy in Response to Suffering. Paper to be presented at the Association for Psychological Science (APS) 30th Annual Convention, San Francisco California, USA.

Atkins, D. S. (2018). Student Success: An Action Research Case Study. Paper presented at the Association of University Administrators (AUA) 2nd South Regional Symposium: Engaging with the Wider Context, Canterbury, UK

Atkins, D.S. (2016). Profiling Progress and Navigating University Resources: Developing & Optimizing a Succinct Academic Progressing Management system and Resource Finder. Closing the gap: Research and Practice on Black and Minority Ethnic Student Attainment in Higher Education, University of Kent, UK.

Poster Presentations

Atkins, D.S. (2015). School of Engineering and Digital Arts: Student Success. Student Success Project: Staff Symposium, University of Kent, UK.

Atkins, D. S., Uskul, A. K. & Cooper, N. R. (2014). Culture Shapes Empathy in Response to Physically and Socially Painful Events. The Fifteenth Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Austin Texas, USA.

Workshop Presentations

Atkins, D. S., & Vance, E. M. (2017). Student Success: Breaking the Threshold. Workshop presented at the Kent Business School at University of Kent, UK.

Atkins, D. S. (2016). Your Degree: Maximize your Learning. Workshop presented at the School of Engineering and Digital Arts at University of Kent, UK.

Atkins, D. S. (2016). Learning how to Learn. Workshop presented at the School of Engineering and Digital Arts at University of Kent, UK

Atkins, D. S. (2016). Cultural Awareness Training. Workshop presented for EDI activities at University of Kent, UK.

Grants

Economic and Social Research Council PhD Studentship 1+3 Scheme (£13,290 per annum)

Awards

National Awards

Times Higher Education Leadership and Management Awards. (2016). Outstanding Departmental Administration Team. Award presented at The Grosvenor House, UK.

Internal Awards

Innovation Creativity and Enterprise (ICE) Innovation Award. (2016). Most Innovative Staff Project. Award presented at University of Kent, UK.