ReSeaRch centRe foR aPPlied PSychology (RecaP) - Health ...

Health Sciences 

Research Centre for Applied 

Psychology (ReCAP) 

Annual Report 2011

Welcome from the Head of School.................................2 

2011 Head of School Report...............................................3 

Staff from the School of Psychology 

and Speech Pathology..........................................................4 

Academic staff......................................................................5 

General Staff........................................................................5 

Research Officers...............................................................5 

Research Assistants..........................................................5 

Research Projects...................................................................6 

Aussie Optimism.....................................................................7 

Stepping Stones - Preventing challenging 

behaviours in children with intellectual 

disabilities..............................................................................7 

Animal Fun..............................................................................8 

Building Mental Wealth: Improving mental 

health for better health outcomes among 

Indigenous Australians....................................................8 

Enhancing the effects of the Positive 

Thinking Program: a longitudinal 

evaluation in 8-9 year olds.............................................9 

Head Injury and Alzheimers......................................... 10 

Development of Rapid, Online Motor 

Control in Children........................................................ 10 

EStablishing a sustainable road trauma support 

service in western australia...................................... 11 

New Staff.................................................................................. 12 

Professor Martin Hagger............................................. 13 

Associate Professor Anne Whitworth................... 13 

Doctor Lauren Breen...................................................... 13 

Doctor Frank Baughman.............................................. 13 

Profiles...................................................................................... 14 

Peter Allen.......................................................................... 15 

Frank Baughman............................................................... 15 

Janet Beilby......................................................................... 16 

Brian Bishop........................................................................ 16 

Mara Blosfelds.................................................................. 17 

Lauren Breen...................................................................... 17 

Jade Cartwright............................................................... 18 

Greg Chidlow...................................................................... 18 

Mary Claessen.................................................................... 18 

Melissa Davis....................................................................... 18 

Sarah Egan.......................................................................... 19 

Jonathan Foster............................................................... 19 

Natalie Gasson................................................................... 20 

Jan Grant............................................................................. 20 

Martin Hagger................................................................... 21 

Neville Hennessey............................................................. 22 

Lauren Hewitt.................................................................... 23 

Josephine Hudson............................................................. 23 

Robert Kane........................................................................ 24 

Suze Leitao........................................................................... 25 

Amanda Lloyd..................................................................... 25 

Jan Piek.................................................................................. 25 

Lynn Priddis......................................................................... 26 

Clare Rees............................................................................ 27 

Clare Roberts.................................................................... 27 

Lynne Roberts.................................................................... 28 

Rosanna Rooney............................................................... 28 

Brooke Sanderson........................................................... 29 

Lyndall Steed..................................................................... 29 

Gillian Stevens................................................................... 29 

Jenny Thornton................................................................ 29 

Anne Whitworth.............................................................. 30 

Cori Williams...................................................................... 30 

Higher Degree by Research Students......................... 32 

Doctor of Philosophy.................................................... 33 

Master of Philosophy..................................................... 37 

Higher Degree by Research Completions................... 38 

Greer Bradbury................................................................. 39 

Jillian Pearsall-Jones..................................................... 39 

Sharon Elsley.................................................................... 40 

Dhyan Stein......................................................................... 41 

Josephine Hurley.............................................................. 41 

Visiting Fellows..................................................................... 42 

John Cairney....................................................................... 43 

DR Peter Fisher................................................................... 43 

Dr Julie Masterson.......................................................... 43 

Dr Scott Yaruss................................................................. 43 

Seminars and Workshops................................................. 44 

17th Denis Glencross Memorial 

Student Conference....................................................... 45 

10th Motor Control & Human 

Skill Conference............................................................... 45 

Building Mental Wealth Seminar............................... 46 

Speech Pathology Honours Research 

Mini conference................................................................ 46 

Psychology Honours Research Seminars.............. 46 

Psychology Fourth Year Research Seminar......... 46 

Closing Statement................................................................ 48

2 

I 

I 

am 

am 

delighted 

delighted 

to 

to 

have 

have 

assumed 

assumed 

the 

the 

Headship 

Headship 

of 

of 

the 

the 

School 

School 

of 

of 

Psychology 

Psychology 

and 

and 

Speech 

Speech 

Pathology 

Pathology 

in 

in 

March 

March 

2012. 

2012. 

As 

As 

this 

this 

report 

report 

shows, 

shows, 

the 

the 

School 

School 

has 

has 

a 

a 

vibrant 

vibrant 

programme 

programme 

of 

of 

research 

research 

and 

and 

teaching 

teaching 

in 

in 

areas 

areas 

that 

that 

have 

have 

strong 

strong 

theoretical 

theoretical 

importance, 

importance, 

but 

but 

which 

which 

also 

also 

have 

have 

clear 

clear 

impact 

impact 

on 

on 

the 

the 

day-to-day 

day-to-day 

life 

life 

of 

of 

the 

the 

public. 

public. 

Over 

Over 

the 

the 

coming 

coming 

years 

years 

you 

you 

can 

can 

expect 

expect 

to 

to 

see 

see 

our 

our 

research 

research 

and 

and 

teaching 

teaching 

grow 

grow 

into 

into 

new 

new 

and 

and 

exciting 

exciting 

areas 

areas 

that 

that 

underscore 

underscore 

our 

our 

commitment 

commitment 

to 

to 

high 

high 

quality 

quality 

scholarship 

scholarship 

and 

and 

attempts 

attempts 

to 

to 

improve 

improve 

quality 

quality 

of 

of 

life. 

life. 

I 

I 

hope 

hope 

you 

you 

find 

find 

this 

this 

report 

report 

interesting 

interesting 

and 

and 

informative, 

informative, 

and 

and 

I 

I 

look 

look 

forward 

forward 

to 

to 

perhaps 

perhaps 

welcoming 

welcoming 

you 

you 

at 

at 

our 

our 

2012 

2012 

Open 

Open 

Day. 

Day. 

With best wishes, 


Adrian North 

Adrian Head of North School 

Head Psychology of School and of Speech Psychology Pathology and Speech Pathology

School of Psychology and Speech Pathology ReCAP ANNUAL REPORT 2011 

3 

2011 HEAD OF 

SCHOOL REPORT 

The School of Psychology and Speech Pathology provides 

undergraduate and postgraduate education in psychology, 

speech pathology and counselling to a substantial number 

of students. Staff is involved in both teaching and research, 

and strives for excellence in both. 

Teaching takes place in ten courses, in each of which high 

standards are maintained. Students report high levels 

of overall satisfaction with their units of study. Recent 

data from the Course Evaluation Questionnaire place the 

Master of Psychology as the top rated course in Australia. 

Graduates from all courses readily find employment in their 

areas of choice. 

Research within the School is highly valued, 

and supported in a number of ways. The 

School boasts a high number of research 

active staff. In 2011 we welcomed Professor 

Martin Hagger as Professor of Psychology. 

His contributions will continue to ensure 

excellent research outcomes for the School. 

The Research Centre for Applied Psychology (ReCAP), 

originally established in 1988, and the centre for 

Psychological Wellbeing Across the Lifespan (PsyLIFE) 

continue to support and encourage the research initiatives 

of staff and students within the School of Psychology and 

Speech Pathology. The primary role of these two centres is 

to facilitate the development and implementation of quality 

research projects by providing seeding funding to assist 

staff and students in developing new research projects, and 

assisting staff to maximise their research outputs. In 2011, 

two new initiatives, a writing retreat for staff, and a student 

summer scholarship program for students progressing from 

2nd to 3rd year, were introduced. 

The research outputs of the School continue to increase. 

In 2011, staff and postgraduate students within the 

School were chief investigators on external research 

funding amounting to over $4 million. This included 

funding from NHMRC (for both a capacity grant and 

several project grants), ARC Discovery grants and 

Healthway project grants. 

Increasing the number and quality of refereed publications 

remains an important priority for the School, and was 

encouraged in 2011 through the awarding of a bonus for 

publication in previously ERA ranked A and A* journals. 

A total of 57 refereed journal articles, 1 book chapter and 

1 refereed conference proceeding were published during 

this year. In addition, numerous papers including several 

invited presentations were given by staff and students 

at conferences of national and international significance. 

These presentations provide suitable avenues for the 

dissemination of their research, and also provide staff and 

students with exposure to up to date developments in their 

particular area of Psychology, Human Communication 

Science or Counselling. 

The post-graduate research program within the School of 

Psychology and Speech Pathology continued to expand 

in 2011. With over 60 students enrolled in the PhD and 

MPhil programs, it is one of the largest programs in the 

University. The School had 5 PhD completions in 2011, and 

a number of other students brought their projects close 

to completion. That we are attracting many students of 

high calibre is evidenced by our success in both University 

scholarship rankings and success with external scholarships. 

For example, we have one student who is the recipient of a 

Healthway Health Promotion Scholarship, and two students 

awarded a Healthway Health Promotion Indigenous 

Research Training Scholarship. Postgraduate students are 

supported in a number of ways. The School of Psychology 

and Speech Pathology, together with ReCAP host an annual 

postgraduate student seminar, the 17th Denis Glencross 

Memorial Student Conference, held in July. This seminar 

provides postgraduate students with an opportunity to 

showcase their research projects with staff and fellow 

students, and to provide a model for fourth-year students 

considering a higher degree by research. In 2011, HDR 

students also presented at the Mark Liveris Seminar, hosted 

by the Faculty. 

The School of Psychology and Speech Pathology is dedicated 

to supporting the University’s commitment to innovation 

and excellence in teaching and research for the benefit of our 

students and the wider community. 

Cori Williams 

Acting Head 

School of Psychology and Speech Pathology

4 

The Research Centre for 

I am delighted to have assumed the Headship of 

the Applied School of Psychology and Speech (ReCAP) Pathology was in 

March 2012. As this report shows, the School has a 

vibrant established programme of in research 1988 and to teaching promote in areas 

that 

an 

have 

interdisciplinary 

strong theoretical importance, 

emphasis 

but which 

also have clear impact on the day-to-day life of the 

public. for Over research the coming and years you consultancy 

can expect to see 

our research and teaching grow into new and exciting 

teams in the School of 

areas that underscore our commitment to high 

quality Psychology scholarship and attempts Speech to improve quality 

of life. I hope you find this report interesting and 

Pathology at Curtin University 

informative, and I look forward to perhaps welcoming 

you at our 2012 Open Day. 

and in the local branch of the 

Commonwealth Science and 


Industry Research Organisation 

Adrian North 

Head (CSIRO). of School of Psychology and Speech Pathology


5 

ACADEMIC STAFF 

Associate Professor and Acting Head of School 

Cori Williams 

Professors 

Martin Hagger 

jan Piek 

Associate Professors 

Brian Bishop jan Grant clare Rees clare Roberts 

Anne Whitworth 

Senior Lecturers 

Sarah Egan natalie Gasson neville Hennessey robert Kane 

Suze Leitao ros Morrow lynn Priddis lynne Roberts 

Rosanna Rooney lyndall Steed jenny Thornton 

Lecturers 

Peter Allen frank Baughman janet Beilby mara Blosfelds 

Lauren Breen jade Cartwright Gregory Chidlow mary Claessen 

Brendon Dellar lauren Hewitt josephine Hudson Ann Jacobs 

Clair Lawson Amanda Lloyd fiona Michel kevin Runions 

Brooke Sanderson 

Gillian Stevens 

Research Fellows 

Lisabeth Finn pek Ru Loh neilson Martin jonathan Foster 

GENERAL STAFF 

Maureen Bell – Finance and Administrative Assistant 

Melissa Bevan and Samm Lawrie – Reception/Administrative Assistant 

Maya Brown – School Business Manager 

Suzanne Gibson – Personal Assistant to Head of School 

Angela Griffiths – Marketing Officer 

Cindy Liew – Research Administration Officer 

Alizah Pomery and Adeline Yeo – Academic and Courses Support Officer 

RESEARCH OFFICERS 

Ari Antonovsky michelle Byrnes sarah Crawford megan McDougall 

Sue McLaren darren Moroney daniela Rigoli 

RESEARCH ASSISTANTS 

K. Balog A. Chen j. Cole j. Twaddle-Edwards 

S. Golding k. Heritage d. West t. Jakovljevic 

L. Liley A. Maketic r.Ward c. McHutchison 

L. McNally l. Timms s. Reid r. Schutze 

R. Tan j. Tidey e. Chee y. Chieng 

K. Du Plessis r. Glaser m. Gouws c. Highman 

S. Holloway A. Jenkins m. Lund j. Marriott 

K. McGerr c. Van Wieringen s. Mohamad Sani c. Reid 

M. Robson m. Smith c. Taylor

6 


the School of Psychology and Speech Pathology in 


vibrant programme of research and teaching in areas 

that have strong theoretical importance, but which 


public. Over the coming years you can expect to see 

our our research research and teaching is grow well-known 

into new and exciting 

areas 

and 

that 

respected 

underscore our 

in 

commitment 

both national 

to high 

quality scholarship and attempts to improve quality 

of and life. I hope international you find this report arenas. 

interesting and 




Adrian North 

Head of School of Psychology and Speech Pathology


7 

AUSSIE 

OPTIMISM 

Chief Researchers: Associate Professor Clare Roberts 

Funded by: 

Mental Health Commission WA 

Project Term: 2006 to June 2012 

Total funding: $902,875 

The Aussie Optimism Program is comprised of three 

classroom based packages: (1) Positive Thinking Skills 

(grade 4-5), (2) Social Life Skills (grade 5-7), and (3) 

Optimistic Thinking Skills (grade 6-8), and a stand-alone 

parent and family program designed to help parents and 

families talk about difficult subject matters such as bullying 

and peer pressure. 

The Aussie Optimism Program is an evidence based mental 

illness prevention program with a solid research background 

and a proven track record with respect to the prevention 

of mental health problems such as internalising problems, 

depression and anxiety, and health risk behaviours such 

as drinking, and smoking in upper primary school children 

and young adolescents. The Program also aims to enhance 

the capacity of schools to promote social and emotional 

wellbeing. The program is designed for young adolescents 

who are transitioning to high school. Two programs are 

useful for this group – Social Life Skills which involves social 

skills and competence, and Optimistic Thinking Skills, which 

attends to student’s thinking styles and cognitions. These 

skills sets are important in the early adolescence phase 

as this is a time of change of schools, friends, socialising 

and increased academic pressure. The Social Life Skills 

and Optimistic Skills programs have been evaluated in 

randomised controlled trials. 

STEPPING STONES - PREVENTING 

CHALLENGING BEHAVIOURS IN 

CHILDREN WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES 

Chief Researchers: Associate Professor Clare Roberts, 

in collaboration with Professor 

Matt Sanders (University of 

Queensland) 

Funded by: Healthway 

Project Term: 2008 to May 2011 


This research continues the development and validation of a 

multi-level parenting intervention system, Stepping Stones 

Triple P (SSTP), for families of children with disabilities. 

The first individual family version of SSTP was developed 

from a Healthway grant in 1998, with collaboration from 

the WA Disability Services Commission, Curtin University’s 

School of Psychology, and the Parenting and Family Support 

Centre at the University of Queensland. This individual 

family–based prevention program resulted in lower levels 

of challenging behaviours, enhanced parenting skills, and 

reduced parental stress (Roberts, Mazzuchelli, Studman and 

Sanders, 2006). 

Two accessible and cost effective intervention formats, 

Group SSTP and Self-directed SSTP have now been developed 

to add to the range of prevention program formats that 

are available to families of children with disabilities. This 

research proposes to evaluate these new prevention formats 

in a randomised controlled trial comparing effects to a 

waitlist control group. Both interventions aim to reduce and 

prevent child behaviour problems, by enhancing parenting 

skills and self-efficacy, and reducing parental stress. 

Such multi-level parenting interventions form part of the 

population health framework of the 2003 - 2008 National 

Mental Health Plan, and are widely available to families of 

typically developing children. Such a system has not been 

widely available to families of children with disabilities, 

despite the increased risks that are present for these 

families. If effective, the two intervention programs should 

reduce the prevalence, burden and costs of challenging 

behaviour in children with an intellectual disability. This 

project is due for completion this year.

8 

ANIMAL 

FUN 

Chief Researchers: Professor Jan Piek, Associate 

Professor Clare Roberts, Professor 

Leon Straker (Physiotherapy), 

Professor Tanya Packer 

(Occupational Therapy), 

Ms Lynn Jensen (Physiotherapy), 

Ms Alma Dender (Occupational 

Therapy), Dr Rosanna Rooney, and 

Dr Nick Barrett. 

Funded by: Mental Health Commission WA 

Project Term: 2009 to 2011 


The incidence of motor problems in WA schools is estimated 

at around 10% (Hoare & Larkin, 1991). Few intervention 

programs are available for pre-primary children who have 

poor motor ability, and those that are available tend to 

focus on improving motor skills without consideration of 

the important social and emotional implications of poor 

motor ability. The Animal Fun Program was developed by a 

team of researchers at Curtin University from the School of 

Psychology and Speech Pathology (Piek, Roberts, Rooney), 

School of Physiotherapy (Straker, Jensen) and School of 

Occupational Therapy and Social Work (Dender, Packer) with 

the aim of promoting social skill development and social 

interaction using both fine and gross motor skills that have 

been developed with the theme of animals and animal-like 

movements. 

Evaluation of the Animal fun program involved 3 schools 

in a pilot study and then 12 schools in a larger study. Both 

studies have been funded by Healthway. The pilot study 

showed improvements in social skill development as a 

result of the program. Although the evaluation process for 

the large study is not complete, the initial findings have 

demonstrated an improvement in motor coordination for 

the children in the intervention schools, but not for children 

in the control schools. Also, the feedback from teachers and 

therapists, both involved in the studies and those who have 

attended presentations on the Animal Fun program in WA 

and NSW have emphasised the need for such a program as 

a resource that should be available in schools. The feedback 

we received from kindergarten and pre-primary teachers 

is that the Animal Fun program is that both children and 

teachers thoroughly enjoy the program. 

The Mental Health Commission has provided funding to 

develop the program (which at present is a brief written 

document) into a valuable teacher resource that will include 

flash cards, and teacher, child and parent manuals. In 

addition, training will be available as an additional resource. 

BUILDING MENTAL WEALTH: IMPROVING 

MENTAL HEALTH FOR BETTER HEALTH 

OUTCOMES AMONG INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS 

Chief Researchers: Professor Jan Piek, Professor 

David Vicary, Professor Dianne 

Wynaden (Nursing & Midwifery), 

Associate Professor Dawn 

Bessarab (Aboriginal Health 

and Educational Research Unit), 

Professor Patricia Davidson (UTS), 

Professor Jill Downie (Faculty of 

Health Sciences), Professor Colleen 

Hayward (ECU), Professor Sandra 

Thompson (CUCRH). 

Funded by: National Health and Medical 

Research Council (NHMRC) 


Total funding: $2,376,600 

The Building Mental Wealth (BMW) project developed as a 

result of a need for further research specifically focusing on 

mental health issues in the Australian Aboriginal and Torres 

Strait Islander population. We know that the Indigenous 

population has much higher rates of mental health 

problems, in particular, a higher suicide rate in proportion 

to the non-Indigenous population. However, despite this 

only a small proportion of the Indigenous population 

access available health services. Why is this? This NHMRC 

capacity building grant is aimed at increasing the number 

of researchers, particularly Aboriginal and Torres Strait 

Islander researchers, investigating this issue of appropriate 

mental health services for our Indigenous population.


9 

The BMW Group is a multi-site and multi cohort research 

group. Geographically researchers are working with 

Aboriginal people living in the Perth metropolitan region, 

the South West of Western Australia, the Murchison Region 

in Western Australia and in Sydney. All of the research 

undertaken by BMW researchers requires the active support 

and input from the Aboriginal community. Further, some 

Aboriginal communities have actively approached the 

BMW group to undertake joint research and program 

development opportunities. 

The primary role of the chief investigators is to provide 

supervision and mentoring for the Team Investigators 

which include a Research Coordinator, 6 Research Fellows, 

and 7 PhD students of whom two are Aboriginal and 

one is Torres Strait Islander, and 1 Master of Philosophy 

student. In addition, the grant has a Cultural Consultant, 

Mr. George Hayden, whose contribution is essential for the 

establishment of links with the Aboriginal community and 

mentoring of the team investigators. 

ENHANCING THE EFFECTS OF THE POSITIVE THINKING 

PROGRAM: A LONGITUDINAL EVALUATION IN 8-9 YEAR OLDS 

Chief Researchers: Rosanna Rooney, Clare Roberts, 

Robert Kane, Monique Nesa, 

Shari Hassan 

Funded by: Healthway 



The current project is a new efficacy trial involving the 

evaluation of an enhanced version of the Aussie Optimism: 

Positive Thinking Skills program. In the new version, the 

cognitive component is more developmentally appropriate 

and emotional competence has been expanded. It 

incorporates the aspects of (i) identification of feelings in 

self and others, (ii) skill in emotional vocabulary, (iii) skill in 

emotional regulation and (iv) incorporating coaching and 

parent booklet. No outcomes are yet available as data is still 

being collected. 

Specific research objectives include the following: 

(a) Establishing baseline levels of anxiety and depressive 

symptomatology and emotional attribution accuracy 

as well as point of prevalence rates for depressive and 

anxiety disorders and emotional attribution. 

(b) Training teachers to implement the AOP-PTS program as 

part of the regular health education program with Year 4 

and 5 aged 8-9 years old. 

(c) Measuring the long-term effectiveness of the AOP-PTS 

intervention compared to a usual care condition in 

terms of the integrity of program implementation, social 

acceptability, mental health symptomatology, and 

prevalence of clinical disorders. 

(d) Measuring the long-term effectiveness of the AOP-PTS 

intervention at 6 and 18-month follow-ups in terms of 

mental health symptomatology, prevalence and onset of 

clinical disorders. 

The main objective of this study is to investigate the efficacy 

of an enhanced version of AOP-PTS, a cognitive-behavioural 

based intervention, designed to prevent depressive and 

anxiety symptoms and disorders among children aged 

8-9 years old. 

The researchers are addressing this objective by conducting 

a randomised controlled trial of the AOP-PTS intervention 

with a usual care condition.

10 

HEAD INJURY 

AND ALZHEIMERS 

Chief Researchers: Jonathan Foster (with Colin 

Masters and David Ames of 

Melbourne University as 

Associate Investigators). 

Funded by: National Health and Medical 

Research Council (NHMRC) 

Project Term: 2011-2013 


Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of 

dementia. With an increase in life expectancy in Australia, 

the profound medical and socioeconomic impact of AD on 

society is expected to increase. The focus of this project 

is to determine whether head injury predisposes to the 

cognitive and/or biological markers of prodromal AD - 

something which has not been undertaken to date in a 

study of such power or scope. 

If a history of head injury predisposes towards 

manifestation of markers associated with AD, we will 

evaluate whether lifestyle and dietary factors may reduce 

this risk. More specifically, the goals of this project are to: 

1. Map individuals’ progression within the CSIRO AIBL 

cohort over time across the clinical spectrum healthy 

aging-mild cognitive impairment-Alzheimer’s disease 

and determine the degree to which an individual’s 

history of significant head injury (involving loss of 

consciousness) predisposes towards the clinical, 

cognitive, neuroimaging (MRI, PIB-PET) and biological 

(e.g. plasma apoE, APP and Aβ) features of healthy 

aging, MCI and AD; 

2. Determine whether lifestyle factors (diet, exercise) 

reduce the risk of AD, especially in individuals with a 

lifetime history of traumatic head injury; 

3. Evaluate whether genetic status (specifically, 

possession of the APOE e4 allele) interacts with 1. 

and 2. above. 

DEVELOPMENT OF RAPID, ONLINE MOTOR 

CONTROL IN CHILDREN 

Chief Researchers: Professor Peter Wilson (ACU, 

Victoria), Professor Jan Piek 

and Professor David Sugden 

(University of Leeds, UK). 

Funded by: ARC Discovery 



The goal of this project is to better understand the 

development of movement skill in children and the nexus 

between action systems and cognition. Using experimental 

and longitudinal methods, this study aims to map the 

motor and cognitive trajectories of a large group of children 

from two sites (Melbourne and Perth), a proportion of whom 

have poor motor skills (termed Developmental Coordination 

Disorder—DCD). 

This will lead to a better understanding of those motor 

control processes that might explain both typical and 

atypical motor development, and the unfolding relations 

between motor and cognitive systems, specifically that 

between spatial and executive systems and networks 

supporting online motor control. 

The initial findings have been presented at the 9th 

International DCD Conference in Switzerland and the 

10th Motor Control and Human Skill Conference in 

Mandurah in 2011.


11 

ESTABLISHING A SUSTAINABLE ROAD TRAUMA 

SUPPORT SERVICE IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA 

Chief Researchers: Dr Lauren Breen, Dr Moira 

O’Connor (Western Australian 

Centre for Cancer and Palliative 

Care, Curtin University), and 

Anh Le (School of Economics and 

Finance, Curtin University). 

Funded by: Department of Health 

Western Australia 

Project Term: 2011 


Traffic crashes remain a significant global health issue 

resulting in the deaths of approximately 1.2 million and the 

injury of 20 to 50 million people every year. The potential for 

psychological distress following a major crash is significant. 

Drivers, passengers, family, friends, colleagues, witnesses, 

emergency service workers, and entire communities may be 

affected. Despite these psychosocial ramifications, there is 

no dedicated road trauma support service in WA, yet such 

services exist in most other Australian states. 

Participatory action research provided a framework for the 

development of a community-based research partnership. 

A stakeholder reference group comprising representatives 

from government and non-government agencies as well 

as community members affected by road trauma was 

instrumental in guiding the establishment of a sustainable 

road trauma support service in and for WA. 

We: 

• investigated current services in WA and demonstrated 

that current services in WA are inadequate to meet the 

varied needs of people affected by road traffic crashes; 

described the efficacy of trauma and bereavement 

service delivery; 

• examined existing road trauma support services in other 

Australian states; and 

• proposed recommendations for a road trauma support 

service for all Western Australians affected by road 

trauma. 

This project has had real, positive impact for Western 

Australians – the state government announced in May 2012 

that it has budgeted $750,000 for the establishment of a 

road trauma support service for WA. Thus, the research has 

led to a direct outcome for the WA community.

12 


the School of Psychology and Speech Pathology in 


vibrant programme of research and teaching in areas 

that have strong theoretical importance, but which 


public. Over the coming years you can expect to see 

our 

The 

research 

School 

and teaching 

boasts 

grow into new and exciting 

areas a high that underscore number our of commitment research to high 

quality scholarship and attempts to improve quality 

of active life. I hope staff. you find this report interesting and 




Adrian North 

Head of School of Psychology and Speech Pathology


13 

PROFESSOR MARTIN HAGGER 

Professor Martin Hagger obtained his undergraduate 

degree and PhD in exercise psychology from Loughborough 

University in the UK and has worked in Psychology Schools 

at the Universities of Sheffield, Essex, and Nottingham. 

He is currently Professor of Psychology in the School of 

Psychology and Speech Pathology at Curtin University, 

Perth, Australia. Prof. Hagger’s research interests are the 

motivation and self-regulation of health behaviour. He is 

interested in how people’s beliefs, attitudes, intentions, and 

motives affect their behaviour and what health professionals 

can do to change health-related behaviour. His research 

applies motivational theories to understand, intervene 

and change health behaviours such as physical activity, 

eating a healthy diet, smoking cessation, alcohol reduction, 

managing drugs in sport, and medication adherence. He is 

editor-in-chief of Health Psychology Review and Psychology 

of Sport and Exercise, Associate Editor of Stress and Health, 

and Editorial Board Member of five other international peerreviewed 

journals. 

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR ANNE WHITWORTH 

Dr Anne Whitworth is a researcher, clinician, and educator 

in the field of speech pathology. She has worked with 

client groups across the ages and, while her main passion 

lies with acquired neurological disorders, and aphasia 

in particular, theoretical and clinical links between adult 

and pediatric client groups abound in her research and 

teaching. Anne is currently Associate Professor at Curtin 

University, having recently headed home after 20 years 

at Newcastle University in the UK. She has recently been 

awarded fellowship of the Royal College of Speech and 

Language Therapists, UK, for her contribution to research 

and education. 

Anne’s particular interests are in developing and evaluating 

theoretically sound assessments and interventions in 

aphasia, and both facilitating and measuring the real 

life impact of therapy for people with communication 

impairments. She has developed a number of assessments 

and therapy protocols that are used widely by clinicians and 

has co-authored a popular textbook for aphasia. 

DOCTOR LAUREN BREEN 

Dr Lauren Breen joined the School of Psychology and Speech 

Pathology in January 2011. Dr Breen’s research interests 

centre on applied research in the domains of community 

health and wellbeing, with specific interests in the following 

domains: Death and dying; Grief, loss, and bereavement; 

Grief counselling; Children and families; Health services; 

Disability and wellness; Carers and care-giving; the nexus 

between research and practice; and Teaching and learning 

for the health professions. She is well-versed in several 

research paradigms but is particularly interested in 

naturalistic research designs. Her research has led to several 

publications in international journals. 

Dr Breen has received funding from Cancer Australia, the 

Cancer Council of WA, the MND Research Institute, and 

the Department of Health (WA), and since joining Curtin 

University, has received an Australian Research Council 

Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. She is an 

active member of the Australian Psychological Society’s 

College of Community Psychologists and serves on the 

state and national committees. She is a member of the 

Australian Psychological Society, the College of Community 

Psychologists, the Society for Community Research 

and Action (Division 27 of the American Psychological 

Association), and the International Society of Critical 

Health Psychology, and is Editor of Australian Community 

Psychologist. 

DOCTOR FRANK BAUGHMAN 

What is it that makes one person more, or less intelligent 

than another? What properties of the cognitive system 

differ between them? Precisely how does intelligent 

behaviour emerge over development? And, what are the 

causes of various developmental disorders? 

These are some of the questions that lie central to Dr Frank 

Baughman’s research interests. While these are not new 

questions, converging evidence from a range of sources are 

beginning to offer new hints as to their answers. 

Dr Baughman obtained his PhD from the University of 

London in 2009, and came to Perth, WA in 2010, to take 

up a one-year postdoctoral position at the UWA. There he 

worked with Prof Mike Anderson, before moving to Curtin 

University, in June 2011. His research is concerned with 

understanding the sources of cognitive variability that is, 

examining the mechanisms that account for individual 

differences and cognitive development. This includes the 

study of what things underlie variability on school tests 

of achievement, standardised measures of intelligence, 

and on tests of problem solving, reasoning and language 

development. 

The use of computational modelling techniques forms a 

large part of the strategy for addressing these questions. 

Dr Baughman uses dynamic systems theory, symbolic 

and connectionist approaches (where appropriate) to 

flesh out verbal theory and to provide explicit tests of 

the mechanisms underlying variability. These different 

computational methodologies provide a way of testing 

precisely how change unfolds over time, and what the 

relative influences are of each part of the implemented 

theory. 

You can read a little more about his research interests, and 

some of the current projects at http://www.ndl-res.com/.

14 

Today, with approximately 

40 full-time academic staff, 

we are committed to providing 

a rewarding and relevant 

learning experience for 

our students.


15 

PETER ALLEN 

Lecturer 

BSc (Hons) 

Brief Summary 

Mr Allen is a lecturer in the School of Psychology and 

Speech Pathology, teaching mainly in research methods 

and statistics in the undergraduate program. 

Overview 

Mr Allen has been teaching at Curtin for a little over 10 years, 

and my research interests include online research methods 

and internet behavior (especially copyright infringement). 

Memberships, Awards and Training 

Guild Excellence in Teaching Awards 2011 – Honourable 

Mention. 

Teaching 

Psychological Science 210 (Unit Coordinator); Psychological 

Science 220 (Unit Coordinator); Psychology Dissertation 

493/494 (Research Supervisor); Psychology Honours 

Dissertation 491/492 (Research Supervisor); Exploring 

Psychology 501 (Unit Coordinator). 

Research Interests 

Internet behavior, copyright infringement (aka. “Piracy”) 

and research methodologies particularly online methods. 

FRANK BAUGHMAN 

Associate Lecturer/Lecturer 

BSc (Psychology), 

MSc (Psychology), PhD 

Brief Summary 

Dr Baughman is a developmental psychologist and 

undergraduate lecturer within Curtin’s School of Psychology 

and Speech Pathology. His research interests are focused 

on questions to do with the nature of individual differences 

in intelligence and development. He currently teaches: (1) 

Individual Differences and Personality; and, (2) Perception. 

Overview 

In Dr Baughman’s research, he uses a blend of empirical 

and computational methodologies to examine the sources 

of differences in cognitive ability. The key goal of his 

research is to understand the mechanisms that account 

for the differences in ability between people of the same 

age (individual differences) and the differences in ability 

between people of different ages (cognitive development). 

That is, what makes a person more or less intelligent? For 

example, he is interested in understanding what accounts 

for variability on school tests of achievement, measures of 

intelligence, tasks involving problem solving, reasoning, and 

language development. For more information regarding 

my research interests, and aims, plus, some of the specific 

projects that are being worked on in the Neurocognitive 

Developmental Laboratory, please see http://www.ndl-res. 

com/. 

Teaching 

Sensation and perception; Individual differences; 

Cognitive development. 


Dr Baughman’s principal research interests lie in 

understanding the mechanisms that influence cognitive 

variability. This includes the study of variability in both 

typical and atypical development. He uses a mix of 

behavioural and computational methodologies. For example, 

in the experimental methods he uses, he incorporates a mix 

of off-line and on-line cognitive tasks. On-line tasks are those 

designed to tap the kind of implicit and automatic processes 

related to abstract, symbolic and strategic thinking. These 

consist of obtaining speed and accuracy data on tasks 

such as the Stroop task, semantic priming and lexical 

access tasks. Tasks of off-line cognition are tasks aimed 

at measuring explicit forms of knowledge gained through 

experience. For instance, these may include Piagetian-style 

tasks such as the balance scale and conservation tasks. 

On-line and off-line tests may thus enable a more sensitive 

reading of children’s cognitive abilities (see e.g., Karmiloff- 

Smith, Tyler, Voice, Sims, Udwin, Howlin and Davies, 1998). 

The computational methods he uses include dynamical 

systems theory, connectionist networks and symbolic 

systems. He uses these different computational approaches 

for a common purpose - to examine what effect variations to 

the parameters that govern a normative model of learning 

have on overall performance. Brain-imaging work is also 

becoming increasingly important in providing evidence that 

may constrain theories of intelligence. Thus, his work also 

aims to integrate brain-imaging techniques with behavioural 

and computational data. 

Specialty Areas 

Cognitive development; Individual differences; 

Computational methodologies; Issues surrounding the 

classification and description of developmental disorders. 

Publications 

Thomas, M. S. C., Baughman, F. D., Karaminis, T., & 

Addyman, C. J. M. (in press). Modelling developmental 

disorders. In C. Marshall (Ed.), Current Issues in 

Developmental Disorders. Psychology Press.

16 

JANET BEILBY 

Lecturer 

BSc (Speech Pathology), 

PGDip (Education), 

MSc (Speech Science) 

BRIAN BISHOP 

Associate Professor 

BSc (Hons), PhD 

Brief Summary 

Ms Beilby is a lecturer to Undergraduate and Masters 

students in Stuttering disorders; Professional Preparation 

and Competencies; and Professional Ethics and 

Medico-legal Ethics. 


Member, Private Speech Path Association of WA; Member, 

Speak Easy Association of Australia; Member, International 

Affiliate American Speech Language Hearing Assoc; Member, 

International Fluency Association; Clinical Supervisor and 

Coordinator, Curtin University Stuttering Treatment Clinic; 

Member, Speech Pathology Australia, 1977 to present; 

Member, International Affiliate of the American Speech 

Language-Hearing Association, 1984 - present; Member, 

International Fluency Association, 1990 - present; Member, 

Speak Easy Association of Australia, 1980 - present. 

Teaching 

Stuttering disorders; Professional preparation and 

competencies; Professional ethics Clinical Supervisor and 

Coordinator of the Stuttering Treatment Clinic; 

Coordinator of the Professional Masters Programme. 


Stuttering Disorders in children and adults; Adolescent 

stuttering and special needs; Psychosocial aspects of early 

stuttering; Medico-legal ethics; Professional issues and 

professional preparation practice. 

Publications 

“SPEECH! SPEECH!” CITE Curtin University Alumni 

Magazine. Volume 17, Winter 2011. pp10-11. 

Lau, S.R., Beilby, J., (2011). Parenting styles and 

attachment in school-aged children who stutter. Journal of 

Communication Disorders. Article first published online: 

9 DEC 2011. DOI: 10.1016/j.jcomdis.2011.12.002. 

Presentations 

Beilby, J. M. “Living with stuttering: A mixed methods 

investigation into the experiences of adults who stutter 

and their partners.” (September 2nd 2011). Ninth Oxford 

Dysfluency Conference (September 1st - 3rd 2011). 

Beilby, J. M. “Living with Stuttering” (November 2011). 

Inaugural CHIRI Conference, Curtin University November 

24th 2011. 

Brief Summary 

Dr Bishop’s interests are in community, social and 

environmental psychology. He has worked with CSIRO on 

natural resource management issues in the last decade. 

He also has interests in Indigenous psychology. 

Membership, Awards and Training 

Fellow, Australian Psychological Society; Fellow, Society 

for Community Research and Action; Fellow, American 

Psychological Association; Member, Editorial Advisory 

Boards, Journal of Community; Member, Applied Social 

Psychology; Member, Community, Work, & Family; 

Australian Psychologist. 

Teaching 

Community psychology; Contemporary professional 

development; Cross-cultural psychology. 


Community psychology; Applied social psychology; 

Indigenous issues; Natural resource management; Public 

participation; Risk analysis; Rural community psychology. 

Publications 

Finn, L. D., Bishop, B. J. & Sparrow, N. (In press). Mutual 

help for mental health: A dynamic model of change and 

identity transformation. American Journal of Community 

Psychology. 

Brown, A. L., Bishop, B. J. & Bellamy, J. (In press). Chasing 

Our Tails: Psychological, institutional and societal paradox 

in natural resource management, sustainability and climate 

change in Australia. American Journal of Community 

Psychology. 

Bishop, B. J., Dzidic, P. & Tucker, D. D. (In press). Haud muto 

factum - Nothing Happens by Being Mute: The Unspoken 

Myths and Metaphors of Climate Change in Rural Australia. 

American Journal of Community Psychology. 

Roberts, C., Kane, R, Thomson, H., Bishop, B., & Hart, B. (In 

press). The prevention of depressive symptoms in rural 

school children: A randomised controlled trial. Journal of 

Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology.


17 

MARA BLOSFELDS 

Lecturer 



Death and dying, grief, loss and bereavement; Grief 

counseling; Children and families; Health service; Disability 

and wellness; Carers and care-giving; The nexus between 

research and practice. 

Teaching Areas 

Cognition 323 (Unit Coordinator); Psychology Dissertation 

493; Psychology Dissertation 494; Brain and Behaviour 100; 

Psychology of Learning 211; Introduction to Psychology 

100; Foundations of Psychology 124. 


Cognition. 

LAUREN BREEN 

Lecturer 

BSc (Hons), Graduate 

Certificate (Tertiary 

Teaching), PhD 

Brief Summary 

Dr Breen joined the School of Psychology and Speech 

Pathology in January 2011. Dr Breen is a Lecturer in 

Undergraduate psychology and has worked in academic 

roles since 2001. Her Dr Breen’s research has led to several 

publications in international journals and she was successful 

in the inaugural round of the Australian Research Council’s 

Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. 


Member, Australian Psychological Society; 

Member, Australian Psychological Society’s College of 

Community Psychologists; 

Member, Society for Community Research and Action; 

Member, International Society of Critical Health Psychology; 

Member, Australian Centre for Grief and Bereavement. 

Publications 

Breen, L. J., O’Connor, M., Le, A. T., & Clarke, J. (2011). 

Establishing a sustainable road trauma support service in 

Western Australia. Perth, Australia: Curtin University. [Report 

to the Department of Health, Western Australia]. 

Breen, L. J., Fernandez, M., O’Connor, M., & Lobb, E. (2011). 

Cancer grief and loss counselling in Western Australia: 

Towards best practice. Perth, Australia: Curtin University. 

[Report to Cancer Council Western Australia]. 

Breen, L. J., Wildy, H., & Saggers, S. (2011). Challenges in 

implementing wellness approaches in childhood disability 

services: Views from the field. International Journal of 

Disability, Development, and Education, 58, 137-153. 

Breen, L. J, Wildy, H., Saggers S., Millsteed, J., & Raghavendra, 

P. (2011). In search of wellness in childhood disability 

services: Allied health professionals’ conceptualisations. 

Disability and Rehabilitation, 33, 862-871. 

Breen, L. J. (2011). Professionals’ experiences of grief 

counselling: Implications for bridging the gap between 

research and practice. Omega: The Journal of Death and 

Dying, 62, 285-303. 

Breen, L. J., & O’Connor, M. (2011). Family and social 

networks after bereavement: Experiences of support, change, 

and isolation. Journal of Family Therapy, 33, 98-120. 

Breen, L. (2011). Behind closed doors: Bereavement and the 

family. InPsych, 33(6), 14-15. 

Aoun, S., Connors, S., Priddis, L., Breen, L. J., & Colyer, S. (in 

press). Motor Neurone Disease family carers’ experiences 

of caring, palliative care, and bereavement: An exploratory 

qualitative study. Palliative Medicine. 

Aoun, S. M., Breen, L. J., O’Connor, M., Rumbold, B., & 

Nordstrom, C. (in press). A public health approach to 

bereavement support services in palliative care. Australian 

and New Zealand Journal of Public Health. 

Teaching 

Science and Professional Practice in Psychology 100 (Unit 

coordinator, Lecturer and Tutor); Psychology Dissertation 

493/494 (Research Supervisor); Advanced Psychological 

Science 320 (Lecturer and Tutor); Psychology Dissertation 

493 (Guest Lecturer).

18 

JADE CARTWRIGHT 

Lecturer, Coordinator 

Master of Speech Pathology 

BSc (Speech Pathology with 

First Class Honours) 

MARY CLAESSEN 

Lecturer 

BAppSc (Speech and 

Hearing) 

Overview 

Ms Cartwright is a Speech Pathologist with 10 years 

experience working in the areas of progressive neurological 

disease and post-stroke rehabilitation in a range of hospital 

and community settings. She is currently completing her 

doctoral studies part time in the area of Primary Progressive 

Aphasia. She has a keen interest in neuroscience and 

principles of neural plasticity. She commenced lecturing at 

Curtin within the Speech Pathology programs in 2009. 


Member, Speech Pathology Australia. 


Cognitive Neuroscience; Dysphagia; Motor Speech Disorders. 


Dementia; Primary Progressive Aphasia; Stroke / Aphasia; 

Dysphagia; Quality of Life. 

Brief Summary 

Mrs Claessen is an experienced speech pathologist with 

experience working in both public and private sectors in 

health and education. She is currently working towards a 

PhD in the area of specific language impairment and literacy 

development as well as teaching at Curtin. 

Overview 

Mrs Claessen teaches within the Clinical Science stream in 

the Speech Pathology programs at Curtin. Her main role 

is as first year coordinator and she endeavours to make 

the transition from high school to university as smooth 

as possible as well as developing a passion for Speech 

Pathology and language in her students. 

She teaches in the area of phonology in the second year of 

her programs where she endeavours to have students use 

the literature to guide their intervention with children with 

speech sound disorders. 

GREG CHIDLOW 

Lecturer 

BAppSc (Psychology), 

Grad Dip Psych (Counselling), 

MPsych (Counselling) 

MELISSA DAVIS 

Academic Coordinator, 

Common First Year 

BA (Hons), Grad Cert 

(Teaching), MPsych 

(Clinical), PhD 

Brief Summary 

Mr Chidlow lectures within the Master of Counselling 

Psychology program and coordinates the Curtin Community 

Clinic at Communicare. 

Overview 

Mr Chidlow lectures in individual and couples psychotherapy 

skills. He has an interest in clinical supervision and provides 

such to Curtin Counselling Psychology students on 

placement at the Community Clinic at Communicare. 


Member, Australian Psychological Society; 

Member, Association of Counselling Psychologists (WA). 

Teaching 

Psychology 701; Psychology 710; Units in Master of 

Psychology including Grief and Trauma and group 

processes. 

Brief Summary 

Dr Davis is a registered Clinical Psychologist with a 

background in clinical work with children, adolescents 

and families. As the Director of Teaching and Learning for 

the School of Psychology she is involved in supporting 

excellence in teaching and learning within the School and 

facilitating collaborations with other staff in the Faculty. 

She is also involved in Interprofessional Learning initiatives 

within the Faculty of Health Sciences. 


Chair, Australian Psychological Society (WA) - College of 

Clinical; Member, National Executive Committee of the APS 

College of Clinical Psychologists; Member, Curtin Activity, 

Food, and Attitudes Program (CAFAP) for Obese Adolescents.


19 

Teaching 

Introduction to Psychology 100; Abnormal Psychology; 

Psychological Assessment. 


Psychology and teaching and learning; Psychological testing 

and measurement. 

Publications 

Heaps, N., Davis, M.C., Straker, L., & Smith, A. (2011). 

Adolescent drug use, psychosocial functioning, and spinal 

pain. Journal of Health Psychology. 16, 688-698. doi: 

10.1177/1359105310386822. 

Davis, M.C. & Wosinski, N.L. (2011). Cognitive errors as 

predictors of adaptive and maladaptive perfectionism 

in children. Journal of Rational Emotive and Cognitive 

Behavioural Therapy. doi: 10.1007/s10942-011-0129-1. 

Davis, M.C. (2011). End-of-chapter questions. In E. Rieger 

(Ed.), Abnormal Psychology (2nd edition). Sydney: 

McGraw Hill. 

SARAH EGAN 

Senior Lecturer 

BA (Hons), MPsych (Clinical), 

PhD 

Brief Summary 

Dr Egan is the director of Clinical Psychology and involved 

in teaching, research, clinical supervision and research 

supervision in clinical psychology. Her primary research 

interest is the treatment of clinical perfectionism. 


Honorary lifetime member, Australian Association 

for Cognitive and Behaviour Therapy; Member, British 

Association for Cognitive and Behaviour Therapy; 

Member, American Association for Cognitive and Behavior 

Therapy; Member, Australian Psychological Society - 

Clinical College. 


Perfectionism; Eating disorders; Obsessive Compulsive 

Disorder; Cognitive Behaviour Therapy in older adults. 

Specialty Areas 

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for clinical perfectionism. 

Publications 

D’Souza, F., Egan, S.J., & Rees, C.S. (2011). The relationship 

between perfectionism, stress and b burnout in clinical 

psychologists. Behaviour Change, 28(1), 17-27. 

Egan, S.J., Piek, J.P., Dyck, M.J., & Kane, R.T. (2011). 

The reliability and validity of the positive and negative 

perfectionism scale. Clinical Psychologist, 15(2). (Accepted 

3.8.2011), doi:10.1111/j.1742-9552.2011.0029. 

Egan, S.J., Wade, T.D., & Shafran, R. (2011). Perfectionism 

as a transdiagnostic process: A clinical review. Clinical 

Psychology Review, 31, 203-212. 

Hoiles, K., Egan, S.J., & Kane, R.T. (in press). The validity of 

the transdiagnostic cognitive behavioural model of eating 

disorders in predicting dietary restraint. Eating Behaviours. 

Accepted 07.11.2011, doi:10.1016/j.eatbeh.2011.11.007. 

Lazzari, C., Egan, S.J., & Rees, C.S. (2011). Behavioural 

activation treatment for depression in older adults 

delivered via videoconferencing: A pilot study. Cognitive 

and Behavioral Practice, 18, 555-565. doi:10.1016/j. 

cbpra.2010.11.009. 

Lethbridge, J., Watson, H., Egan, S.J., Street, H., & Nathan, 

P. (2011). The role of perfectionism, dichotomous thinking, 

shape and weight overvaluation, and conditional goal 

setting in eating disorders. Eating Behaviors, 12, 200-206. 

doi:10.1016/J.EATBEH.2011.04.003. 

Philp, M., Egan, S.J., & Kane, R.T. (in press). Perfectionism, 

over commitment to work and burnout in the workforce. 

Australian Journal of Psychology. Accepted 1/2/2011. 

doi:10.1111/J.1742-9536.2011.0028.X. 

JONATHAN FOSTER 

Associate Professor, 

Senior Research Fellow 

Doctorate (University of 

Oxford) 

Brief Summary 

Dr Foster is associate professor and senior research fellow 

in Neuropsychology and Specialist Neuropsychologist 

(Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency). 

Overview 

The focus of his interests is neuropsychology (especially 

related to changes occurring in neurocognitive function and 

behaviour during the earlier and later years of life, and the 

insight these changes provide into necessary, sufficient and 

exclusive mechanisms underlying human cognition and 

behaviour). 

He is also interested in related areas of cognitive 

psychology, psychopharmacology and clinical psychology, 

in particular concerning memory and regulatory capacities 

(e.g. executive functioning). 

Teaching 

Neuropsychology; Cognitive Psychology; 

Psychopharmacology.

20 


Neuropsychology; Cognitive Neuroscience; Related aspects 

of Clinical and Cognitive Psychology. 

Publications 

Foster JK, Boord P, Smith MA (2011) Neuroevolution and 

neurodegeneration: two sides of the same coin? In Poiani, 

A (ed) Pragmatic Evolution: Applications of Evolutionary 

Theory. Cambridge University Press. 

Greenop KR, Xiao J, Almeida OP, Flicker L, Beer C, Foster JK, 

van Bockxmeer FM, Lautenschlager NT. (2011). Awareness of 

Cognitive Deficits in Older Adults With Cognitiveimpairmentno-dementia 

(CIND): Comparison With Informant Report. 

Alzheimer Disease & Associated Disorders 25, 24-33. 

Smith MA, Riby LM, van Eekelen JAM, Foster JK. (2011). 

Glucose enhancement of human memory: A comprehensive 

research review of the glucose memory facilitation effect. 

Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 35, 770-783. 

Smith MA, Hii HL, Foster JK, van Eekelen JAM. (2011). 

Glucose enhancement of memory is modulated by 

trait anxiety in healthy adolescent males. Journal of 

Psychopharmacology, 25, 60-70. 

Merema M, Speelman C, Kaczmarek E, Foster J. (2011). Age 

and premorbid intelligence suppress complaint-performance 

congruency in raw score measures of memory. International 

psychogeriatrics/IPA 1. 

Sittironnarit G, Ames D, Bush AI, Faux N, Flicker L, Foster J, 

Hilmer S, Lautenschlager NT, Maruff P, Masters CL, others. 

(2011). Effects of Anticholinergic Drugs on Cognitive 

Function in Older Australians: Results from the AIBL Study. 

Dementia and geriatric cognitive disorders, 31, 173–178. 

NATALIE GASSON 

Senior Lecturer, Program 

Director for Undergraduate 

Psychology 


Brief Summary 

Dr Gasson a registered psychologist and the program 

director for Undergraduate Psychology. 


Member, Australian Psychological Society; Co-convenor, 

10th Motor Control and Human Skill Conference, Mandurah, 

WA, 2011; Vice president, Parkinson’s Western Australia; 

Chair, Research Committee of Parkinson’s Western Australia 

Member, Senior research team of Parkinson’s Centre, ECU. 


Developmental Psychology (esp. Adult and Ageing); 

Learning; Physiological Psychology. 


Ageing and Parkinson’s Disease (especially cognition, 

anxiety & depression, sleep, dementia, carers); Infant Motor 

Development; Stigma; Attitudes towards older workers. 

JAN GRANT 


BA (Hons), MA (University 

of WA), PhD (Murdoch 

University) 

Brief Summary 

Associate Professor Jan Grant is Programme Director of 

the PhD and Masters in Counselling Psychology. She is 

also engaged part-time in private practice where she sees 

individuals and couples for psychotherapy and provides 

supervision for therapists. 

Overview 

Associate Professor Jan Grant has been an academic for 

35 years and for the past two decades has specialised in 

postgraduate counselling and psychotherapy training. Her 

specific expertise is in the use of innovative experiential 

methods to integrate theory, research and practice in 

training counselling psychologists. She has written two 

internationally published books, produced DVD training 

resources, initiated joint agency-university training 

projects, and developed innovative new courses and 

curriculum in counselling and psychotherapy. Her current 

research and publications focus is on treatment outcomes, 

supervision of psychotherapy and an international study 

on the professional development of therapists. She has 

also been involved in creating two national associations in 

counselling/psychotherapy and currently is on the National 

Executive of the College of Counselling Psychologists, 

Australian Psychological Society (APS). 


Member, Australian Psychological Society - Counselling 

and Clinical Colleges; Member, Association of Counselling 

Psychologists. 

Teaching 

Psychology 712: Psychopathology and Advanced; 

Psychotherapy Process; Psychology 706: Group 

Psychotherapy; Psychology 704: Individual Psychotherapy. 

Particular interests include: 

Therapeutic Alliance; Group Psychotherapy; Psychodynamic 

Psychotherapy; Attachment and Psychotherapy; 

Supervision; Experiential Methods in Training Therapists.


21 


Supervision of Psychotherapy; Therapist Development; 

Individual Psychotherapy; Psychodynamic Psychotherapy; 

Treatment of Adolescent Intrafamilial Sex Offenders; 

Gender and Identity. 

Publications 

Halse, A., Grant, J., Thornton, J., Indermaur, D., Stevens, 

G. & Chamarette, C. (2011). Intrafamilial adolescent sex 

offenders’ response to psychological treatment. Psychiatry, 

Psychology and Law, iFirst article, 1-15. 

Presentations 

Grant, J., Schofield, M, & Crawford, S. (2011). Do experienced 

supervisors utilize a theory of supervision? Symposium 

paper presented at the Society for Psychotherapy Research 

(SPR 2011) Conference, Bern, 29 June – 2 July. 

Schofield, M.J. & Grant, J.A. (2011). Supervision research 

methodology. Keynote paper presented at the ESCR seminar 

Series on Clinical Supervision, Supervision Practitioner 

Research Network. Leicester, 18-19 February 2011. 

Grant, J.A. & Schofield, M.J. (2011). The process of 

supervision research. Keynote paper presented at the 

ESCR seminar Series on Clinical Supervision, Supervision 

Practitioner Research Network. Leicester, 18-19 February 2011. 

Grant, J.A., Schofield, M.J., & Crawford, S. (2011). Managing 

difficulties in the supervisory relationship. Keynote address 

at the Supervision Research Conference. London, 22 

February 2011. 

Grant, J., Schofield, M, & Crawford, S. (2011). Supervision 

outcomes: Supervisor and supervisee outcomes. Paper 

presented at the 46th Annual Australian Psychological 

Society (APS) Conference, Canberra, 4-8 October. 

MARTIN HAGGER 

Professor 

PhD 

Brief Summary 

Professor Hagger is a research professor with diverse 

research interests in the areas of health and social 

psychology. 

Overview 

He obtained his undergraduate degree and Ph.D. from 

Loughborough University under the supervision of Prof. 

Stuart Biddle. His first academic post was in School of 

Psychology, University of Sheffield as a postdoctoral 

Research Fellow (Feb 1999 to Feb 2002). He then served 

as a lecturer in the Department of Psychology, University 

of Essex (Feb 2002 to Feb 2006) and Reader in Social and 

Health Psychology in the School of Psychology, University 

of Nottingham (Feb 2006 to Apr 2011). He served as Adjunct 

Professor at Curtin University (Oct 2010 to Apr 2011) and 

became a full Professor in Psychology at Curtin from April 

2011. He is a Chartered and Registered Health Psychologist 

with the British Psychological Society (BPS) and UK Health 

Professions Council (HPC). He is a former Chair of the BPS 

Division of Health Psychology and a founder member and 

inaugural Honorary Treasurer of the BPS Division of Sport 

and Exercise Psychology. 


Member, British Psychological Society, Division of Health 

Psychology; Member, British Psychological Society, Division 

of Sport and Exercise Psychology; Accredited member, 

British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences; 

Member, British Psychological Society Social Psychology 

Section; Member, European Association of Experimental 

Social Psychology; Member, European Health Psychology 

Society; Member, Self-Determination Theory Faculty; 

Member, Society for Personality and Social Psychology; 

Member, Social Psychology Network; Member, Society 

for the Study of Motivation; Member, UK Society of 

Behavioural Medicine. 


His main research focus is the social processes involved in 

people’s ‘self-regulation’ of health behaviour. His research 

applies social cognitive and motivational theories as the 

Theory of Planned Behaviour and Self-Determination 

Theory to understand and to intervene and change diverse 

health behaviours such as exercise, dieting, binge drinking, 

and attendance to cancer screening. He is also involved 

in numerous social and health psychology projects such 

as (1) the effects of physical self-perceptions and on 

exercise behaviour, (2) the influences of self-control and 

ego-depletion on persistence on behaviours requiring selfcontrol, 

(3) a motivational and implemental intervention to 

reduce binge drinking in young employees, (4) cross-cultural 

approaches to multidimensional and hierarchical models of 

self-esteem, social physique anxiety, and models of social 

cognition in health contexts, and (5) illness perceptions and 

health-related behaviour. His principal research collaborator 

Dr. Nikos Chatzisarantis at the National Institute of 

Education at Nanyang Technical University, Singapore. He 

also has research collaborators in Estonia, Finland, Greece, 

Hong Kong, Hungary, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, 

Turkey and, of course, the UK. 

Publications 

Chan, D. K. C., Spray, C., & Hagger, M. S. (2011). Treatment 

motivation for rehabilitation after a sport injury: Application 

of the trans-contextual model. Psychology of Sport and 

Exercise, 12, 83-92. doi: 10.1016/j.psychsport.2010.08.005. 

Dahm, T., Neshat-Doost, H. T., Golden, A.-M., Horn, E., 

Hagger, M. S., & Dalgleish, T. (2011). Age shall not weary us: 

Deleterious effects of self-regulation depletion are specific to 

younger adults. PLoS ONE, 6, e26351. doi: 10.1371/journal. 

pone.0026351.

22 

Hagger, M. S., & Chatzisarantis, N. L. D. (2011). Causality 

orientations moderate the undermining effect of rewards 

on intrinsic motivation. Journal of Experimental Social 

Psychology, 47, 485-489. doi: 10.1016/j.jesp.2010.10.010. 

Hagger, M. S., & Chatzisarantis, N. L. D. (2011). Never the 

twain shall meet? Quantitative psychological researchers’ 

perspectives on qualitative research. Qualitative 

Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, 3, 266–277. doi: 

10.1080/2159676X.2011.607185. 

Hagger, M. S., Hein, V., & Chatzisarantis, N. L. D. (2011). 

Achievement goals, physical self-concept and social 

physique anxiety in a physical activity context. Journal 

of Applied Social Psychology, 41, 1299-1339. doi: 

10.1111/j.1559-1816.2011.00761.x. 

Hagger, M. S., Lonsdale, A., & Chatzisarantis, N. L. D. 

(2011). Effectiveness of a brief intervention using mental 

simulations in reducing alcohol consumption in corporate 

employees. Psychology, Health and Medicine, 16, 375-392. 

doi: 10.1080/13548506.2011.554568. 

Hardcastle, S., & Hagger, M. S. (2011). “You can’t do it on 

your own”: Experiences of a motivational interviewing 

intervention on physical activity and dietary behaviour. 

Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 12, 314-323. doi: 

10.1016/j.psychsport.2011.01.001. 

Jacobs, N., Hagger, M. S., Streukens, S., De Bourdeaudhuij, 

I., & Claes, N. (2011). Testing an integrated model 

of the Theory of Planned Behaviour and Self- 

Determination Theory for different energy-balance 

related behaviours and intervention intensities. British 

Journal of Health Psychology, 16, 113–134. doi: 

10.1348/135910710X519305. 

Jõesaar, H., Hein, V., & Hagger, M. S. (2011). Peer influence 

on young athletes’ need satisfaction, intrinsic motivation 

and persistence in sport: A 12-month prospective study. 

Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 2, 500-508. doi: 

10.1016/j.psychsport.2011.04.005. 

Lindwall, M., Aşçı, & Hagger, M. S. (2011). Factorial validity 

and measurement invariance of the revised Physical 

Self-Perception Profile (PSPP-R) in three countries. 

Psychology, Health and Medicine, 16, 115-128. doi: 

10.1080/13548506.2010.52156. 

Lindwall, M., Aşçı, F. H., Palmeira, A., Fox, K. R., & Hagger, 

M. S. (2011). The importance of importance in the physical 

self: Support for the theoretically appealing but empirically 

elusive model of James. Journal of Personality, 79, 303-334. 

doi: 10.1111/j.1467-6494.2010.00678.x. 

Lindwall, M., Larsmann, P., & Hagger, M. S. (2011). The 

reciprocal relationship between physical activity and 

depression in older European adults: A prospective crosslagged 

panel design using SHARE data. Health Psychology, 

30, 453–462. doi: 10.1037/a0023268. 

McCormack, L., Joseph, S., & Hagger, M. S. (2011). Vicarious 

growth in wives of Vietnam veterans: A phenomenological 

investigation into decades of ‘lived’ experience. 

Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 51, 273-290. doi: 

10.1177/0022167810377506. 

McLachlan, S., & Hagger, M. S. (2011). The influence of 

chronically-accessible autonomous and controlling motives 

on physical activity within an extended theory of planned 

behaviour. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 41, 

445-470. doi: 10.1111/j.1559-1816.2010.00721.x. 

McLachlan, S., & Hagger, M. S. (2011). Do people differentiate 

between intrinsic and extrinsic goals in physical activity 

behavior? Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 33, 

273-288. 

NEVILLE HENNESSEY 



Brief Summary 

Dr Hennessey lectures primarily in the Bachelor of Science 

(Speech Pathology) program at Curtin University, and 

coordinates the Honours program in Speech Pathology. 

He also supervises research students in Speech Pathology 

and Psychology, ranging from Honours to PhD. 

Teaching 

Speech Science; Cognitive Psychology; Research Methods 

and Statistics. 


Cognitive processes in language perception and production; 

Dyslexia and reading development; Acquired and 

developmental language disorders; Speech motor disorders 

including stuttering; Human performance; Speech science 

including digital signal processing of normal and disordered 

speech and swallowing. 

Publications 

Ciccone, N., Hennessey, N., & Stokes, S. (in press). 

Community based early intervention for language delay: 

Treatment outcomes and parent satisfaction. International 

Journal of Language and Communication Disorders. 

Highman, C., Leitão, S., Hennessey, N. W., & Piek, J. (in 

press). Prelinguistic communication development in children 

with childhood apraxia of speech: A retrospective analysis. 

International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. 

Lau, S.R., Beilby, J., Byrnes, M., & Hennessey, N. (2011). 

Parenting styles and attachment in school-aged children 

who stutter. Journal of Communication Disorders. 

Article first published online: 9 DEC 2011. doi: 10.1016/j. 

jcomdis.2011.12.002.


23 

LAUREN HEWITT 

Lecturer 

BSc (Hons), 


BA (Criminology), PhD 

Brief Summary 

Dr Hewitt is a lecturer in undergraduate psychology. 

Teaching 

Foundations of Psychology 124; Social Psychology 212; 

Psychology Dissertation 493/494 (Research Supervisor); 

Psychology Honours Dissertation 491/492 (Research 

Supervisor); Psychological Science 210 and 220; 

Introduction to Psychology 100; Cognition 323. 


Psychology in the legal system; Eyewitness testimony and 

identification; False memories and memory distortion; 

Social influence; Collaborative memory; Jury decisions; 

Applied experimental research. 

Publications 

French, L., Garry, M., & Mori K. (2011). Relative–Not 

Absolute–Judgments of Credibility Affect Susceptibility 

to Misinformation Conveyed During Discussion. 

Acta Psychologica, 136, 119 – 128. doi:10.1016/j. 

actpsy.2010.10.009 

O’Connor, M., Fisher, C., French, L., Halkett, G., Jiwa, M., & 

Hughes J. (2011). Exploring the community pharmacist’s 

role in palliative care: Focusing on the person not just the 

prescription. Patient Education and Counselling, 83 (3), 

458 – 464. doi:10.1016/j.pec.2011.04.037 

Overview 

Ms Hudson has worked in WA and London in the public 

and private domain including hospice/palliative care, 

the community setting, private practice and the tertiary 

sector. She has extensive clinical experience working 

with both adults and children in working with loss, grief 

and bereavement; trauma; suicide bereavement; HIV/ 

AIDS; separation; chronic illness; anxiety, depression; and 

relationship issues. Her professional interests are in the 

areas of loss, grief, bereavement, suicide and trauma; 

ethical and professional practice issues and clinical 

supervision. Her years of working as a Health Professional 

have given her a keen understanding of the crucial 

importance of working with people to reach 

desired outcomes. 

Josephine uses a variety of teaching methods and 

interventions to allow the students to collaborate with 

each other in their learning, and to foster group cohesion, 

cooperation and collegiality. It is a highly interactive 

model that encourages participation and enhances 

communication skills, develops a supportive and open 

group and heightens awareness of cultural diversity and 

the role of language. 

In 2007 Ms Hudson led the restructure of the Master 

of Counselling - Health Sciences, Graduate Diploma in 

Counselling and the Graduate Diploma in Coaching. 


Clinical Member, Psychotherapists and Counsellors 

Association of Western Australia; Clinical Member, 

Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia; 

Member, Australian Centre for Grief and Bereavement; 

Member, ARBOR Expert Reference Group, Ministerial Council 

for Suicide Prevention. 

JOSEPHINE HUDSON 

Lecturer 

BA (SocSc), MHlthCouns 

Teaching 

Interpersonal Communications 500; Interpersonal 

Processes 666; Socially Relevant Contexts 663; Loss and 

Grief 662; Counselling Practicum 668; Clinical Supervision 

of Master of Counselling - Health Sciences and Graduate 

Diploma in Counselling students. 

Brief Summary 

Ms Hudson is the Program Director for the Master of 

Counselling - Health Sciences (PACFA Accredited), the 

Graduate Diploma in Counselling and the Graduate 

Diploma in Coaching in the School of Psychology and 

Speech Pathology at Curtin University. She has 38 years 

experience in the health profession and has qualifications 

in Counselling, Sociology and Anthropology, and Nursing. 

She is also very active in her profession and holds a 

number of external portfolios and memberships.

24 

ROBERT KANE 


BA (Hons), PhD 

Brief Summary 

Dr Kane is employed as a senior lecturer in the 

School of Psychology and Speech Pathology. 

Overview 

Dr Kane is the School’s statistical consultant and 

coordinator of their Masters Research methods unit. In his 

role as statistical consultant, he provides methodological 

advice to Honours, Masters, and PhD students. In addition, 

he is a statistical consultant for the journal First Language, 

and Nursing Research; He is an ad hoc reviewer for the 

Journal of Clinical Psychology, the Journal of Occupational 

and Organisational Psychology, and Mcgraw-Hill Australia 

(statistical texts). 


Member, Statistical Society of Australia Institute; 

Member, Australian Epidemiological Association; 

Member, International Epidemiological Association; 

Member, Suicide Prevention Australia; Member, Australian 

Association for Cognitive and Behaviour Therapy; 

Member, Mental Health Promotion Action Link; 

Member, Australian Psychological Society. 

Teaching 

His area of expertise is research design and data analysis 

in applied research. He is the unit controller for the external 

unit Research Methods 703, which is a core unit in the 

Master of Psychology and PhD (Clinical Psychology) 

programs. The unit reviews emerging strategies in applied 

psychological research. The emphasis is on research design 

rather than statistics, and on quantitative rather than 

qualitative methods. 


He has provided methodological and statistical guidance 

as a chief investigator on one NHMRC project, two ARC 

projects, and four Healthway projects. These projects, 

which were all concerned with the evaluations of 

school-based interventions promoting mental health and 

resilience in children and adolescents, have generated 

12 publications in national and international journals 

and the results have been disseminated at international 

conferences in Boston, Copenhagen, Barcelona, Florence, 

Mumbai, and Berlin. In 2008, on the basis of this 

research, his colleagues and himself were awarded Suicide 

Prevention Australia’s LIFE Award in the Youth Category. 

In his role as a methodological and statistical advisor, 

he has been involved in projects investigating topics 

as diverse as (a) the psychosocial correlates of motor 

coordination in adolescents (published in Pediatrics), (b) 

intergroup anxiety in the formation of attitudes toward 

Indigenous Australians and refugees (accepted for 

publication by the Journal of Applied Social Psychology), 

(c) parental coping with the death of a twin or higher 

order multiple (published in Twin Research & Human 

Genetics), (d) developmental changes in the structure 

of ability across childhood (published in the European 

Journal of Developmental Psychology), and (e) comparing 

frontotemporal dementia to Alzheimer’s disease in terms 

of carer burden (published in Dementia: The International 

Journal of Social Research and Practice and the 

Australasian Journal on Aging). He has also co-authored 

several meta-analyses looking at the effect of behavioural 

activation interventions on depressive symptomatology 

(published in Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice and 

the Journal of Positive Psychology); and his colleagues 

and himself have recently completed a meta-analyses 

looking at the impact of cognitive behavioural therapy on 

psychotic symptomatology (recently submitted to Clinical 

Psychology Review). 

He has supervised 15 PhD students to completion, and he 

is currently involved in the supervision of 24 PhD students. 

Publications 



perfectionism scale. Clinical Psychologist, 15(3), 121-132. 

doi: 10.1111/j.1742-9552.2011.00029. 

Egan, S., Hoiles, K., & Kane, R.T. (2011). The validity of the 

transdiagnostic cognitive behavioural model of eating 

disorders in predicting dietary restraint. Eating Behaviours. 

Online early view doi:10.1016/j.eatbeh.2011.11.007. 

Philp, M.W., Egan, S.J., & Kane, R.T. (2011). Perfectionism, 

over commitment to work, and burnout in the workforce. 

Australian Journal of Psychology. Online early view 

doi:10.1111/j.1742-9536.2011.00028.x 

Roberts, C., Williams, R., Kane, R.T., Pintabonna, Y., 

Cross, D., Zubrick, S., & Silburn, S. (2011). Impact of a 

mental health promotion program on substance use in 

young adolescents. Advances in Mental Health, 10, 1, 

72 - 82. Special issue on Promoting Youth Mental Health 

through Early Intervention. E-journal: http://amh.econtentmanagement.com 

Rooney, R., Nesdale, D., Kane, R.T., Hattie, J., & 

Goonewardene, R. (2011). The development of the 

Universal Ethnic Identity Scale (UEIS) for use in an 

Australian context. The Australian Psychologist. Online 

early view doi: 10.1111/j.1742-9544.2011.00040.x 

Turoy-Smith, K., Kane, R.T., & Pedersen, A. (accepted for 

publication 13.7.2011). The willingness of a society to act 

on behalf of Indigenous Australians and refugees: The role 

of contact, intergroup anxiety, prejudice and support for 

legislative change. Journal of Applied Social Psychology.


25 

SUZE LEITAO 


PhD, CPSP, FSPAA 


press). Prelinguistic communication development in 

children with childhood apraxia of speech: A retrospective 

analysis. International Journal of Speech-Language 

Pathology. 

Brief Summary 

Dr Leitao is a speech pathologist, teacher and researcher 

working as a senior lecturer 3 days per week in the School 

of Psychology and Speech Pathology at Curtin. 

Dr Leitao always focused on the links between clinical 

practice and research and how the two should inform 

each other. Her main area of speech pathology practice 

is school age language and literacy with an emphasis on 

phonological awareness and representations. This is also 

reflected in her key areas of research. 

Overview 

After working for many years as a clinician and completing 

her PhD, Dr Leitao moved into part-time teaching and 

supervision at Curtin in 2003. She is delighted to supervise 

a range of excellent Honours and PhD students and they 

continue to have a thriving research group which covers 

many areas such as: language and literacy, discourse 

processing, working memory, phonological awareness and 

phonological representations, and children from cultural 

and linguistically diverse backgrounds. She is also an 

active member of Speech Pathology Australia and currently 

Chair of the SPA Ethics Board. 

AMANDA LLOYD 

Lecturer, Clinical Coordinator 

BA (Hons), MSc 

Brief Summary 

Amanda is a Clinical Coordinator and Lecturer in the 

School of Psychology and Speech Pathology. 

Overview 

Amanda’s areas of interest include Early Intervention, 

Hearing Impairment, and Clinical Education. 

Teaching 

Speech Pathology Practice; Clinical Science. 

JAN PIEK 

Professor 

BSc (Hons), PhD (UWA) 


Fellow, Speech Pathology Association of Australia; 

Member, Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists 

(UK); Certified Practising Speech Pathologist. 

Teaching 

She teaches mainly in the area of clinical science, research 

and evidence based practice and professional issues across 

the age span. She also supervises a range of Honours 

research students. 


Specific language impairment; Phonological processing 

(phonological awareness, phonological representations); 

Literacy - reading and spelling; Dyslexia; Discourse 

processing; Text production - oral and written; Ethics and 

professional practice; Language development and cultural/ 

linguistic diversity. 

Publications 

Golding, S. Leitão, S. & Williams, C. (2011) Speech and 

language development: Knowledge and experiences of 

foster carers. Acquiring Knowledge in Speech, Language 

& Hearing. 

Brief Summary 

Professor Jan Piek is Professor of Developmental 

Psychology and Director of Research and Development in 

the School of Psychology and Speech Pathology. She has 

been on staff at Curtin University since 1990. During this 

period she has established several research programs in 

the fields of motor development, developmental disability 

and Indigenous mental health. 


Member, Advisory Subgroup (Developmental Coordination 

Disorder) for the American Psychiatric Association DSM-IV 

Neurodevelopmental Disorders Work Group; Section Editor, 

Human Movement Science; Scientific Committee, 9th 

International Conference on Developmental Coordination 

Disorder, Lucerne, Switzerland, June, 2011; Scientific 

Committee, Australasian Society for Psychiatric Research 

(ASPR) Conference (to be held in Perth, WA, December 

2012); Member, Australian Psychological Society 

Member, Australasian Human Development Association 

Convenor, 10th Motor Control and Human Skill Workshop,

26 

Mandurah, November 2011; Member, University Academic 

Promotions Committee; Member, University ERA Reference 

Group; Member, Faculty of Health Sciences R&D Committee; 

Director, Research and Development, School of Psychology 

and Speech Pathology. 

Teaching 

Developmental Psychology; Infant sensory-motor 

development; Developmental Coordination Disorder; 

Child Psychopathology. 


Infant motor development; Motor disabilities in children; 

Child psychopathology; Building Mental Wealth - improving 

mental health services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait 

Inlanders. 

Publications 

Piek, J P. & Rigoli, D. (in press). Psychosocial and 

Behavioral Problems in Children with DCD. In J. Cairney 

(Ed) Developmental coordination disorder in children: 

consequences and concurrent problems. University of 

Toronto Press. 

Piek, J.P. (2011). Chapter 2: Sensory development and 

motor control in infants and children. In Thomas Korff & 

Mark de Ste Croix (Eds) Developmental Biomechanics and 

Motor Control, pp. 27-49. London: Routledge 

Miyahara, M., & Piek, J. (2011). Chapter 104. Physical 

Disability and Self-Esteem. In Roger J.R. Levesque (Ed.) 

Encyclopedia of Adolescence, (Vol 4), pp 2079-2083, 

NY: Springer. 

Dyck, M.J., & Piek, J.P. (in press) Developmental delays 

among children with ADHD: Consequence, comorbidity or 

contributing cause? Journal of Attention Disorders. 

Rigoli, D., Piek, J.P. & Kane, R. (in press) Motor skills and 

psychosocial correlates in a normal adolescent sample. 

Pediatrics. 

Pannekoek, L., Rigoli, D., Piek, J.P., Barrett, N.C. & 

Schoemaker, M. (in press). The Revised DCDQ: Is It a 

Suitable Screening Measure for Motor Difficulties in 

Adolescents? Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly. 


press). Prelinguistic communication development in 

children with childhood apraxia of speech: A retrospective 

analysis. International Journal of Speech-Language 

Pathology. 

Dyck, M.J., Piek, J.P. & Patrick, J. (2011). The validity of 

psychiatric diagnoses: The case of ‘specific’ developmental 

disorders. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 32, 

2704-2713. 



perfectionism scale. Clinical Psychologist, 15(2), 121-132. 

doi: 10.1111/j.1742-9552.2011.00029.x 

Loh, P-R., Piek, J.P., & Barrett, N.C. (2011) Comorbid ADHD 

and DCD: Examining cognitive functions using WISC-IV 

Research in Developmental Disabilities, 32, 1260-1269. 

Pearsall-Jones, J.G., Piek, J.P., Rigoli, D., Martin, N., & 

Levy, F. (2011) Motor disorder and anxiety and depressive 

symptomatology: A monozygotic co-twin control 

approach. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 32, 

1245-1252. 

Pearsall-Jones, J.G., Piek, J.P., Steed, L., McDougall, M.R. 

& Levy, F. (2011). Monozygotic twins concordant and 

discordant for DCD: two sides to the story. Twin Research & 

Human Genetics, 14, 79-87. 

Howard, A.L., Robinson, M., Smith, G.J., Piek, J.P., & Oddy, 

W.H. (2011). Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder 

(ADHD) is associated with a ‘Western’ dietary pattern in 

adolescents. Journal of Attention Disorders, 15, 403 - 411. 

Straker, L.M., Campbell, A.C., Jensen, L.M., Metcalf, D.R., 

Smith, A.J., Abbott, R.A., Pollock, C.M., Piek, J.P. (2011). 

Rationale, design and methods for a randomised and 

controlled trial of the impact of virtual reality games on 

motor competence, physical activity, and mental health 

in children with developmental coordination disorder. BMC 

Public Health, 11:654 doi:10.1186/1471-2458-11-654. 

LYNN PRIDDIS 


MPsych (Counselling), 

MPsych (Clinical) 

Brief Summary 

Dr Priddis is a counselling and clinical psychologist who 

specialises in teaching, research and clinical practice in 

the field of parenting issues and relationship work with 

young families from the perspective of psychodynamic and 

attachment theories. She is the current National President 

of the Australian Infant Mental Health Association. 

Memberships, Awards and Training; Member, Counselling 

College APS; Member, Clinical College APS; Member, World 

Association of Infant Mental Health; Member, Australian 

Association of Infant Mental Health; Member, WA Branch of 

AAIMH; Member, Australian Health Promotion Association; 

2011 Finalist Mental Health Commission “Good Outcomes 

Award” for Tuned in Parenting Programme (Curtin/NGALA). 

Teaching 

Interventions across the Lifespan; Family and Couples 

Therapy theory; Group Psychotherapy at Masters Degree 

level. 


Research using Attachment and Reflective Functioning 

theories in applied settings e.g. couples and families with 

IPV issues, alcohol and drug issues, children with health 

issues (PMH), children with aggression problems (Family 

Pathways), aboriginal families (Derbarl Yerrigan), mothers 

in prison (Boronia), fathers, foster families (ARCS/DCP),


27 

families in the family court and child protection (DCP / 

Legal Aid) and in families who simply do not have their 

own sound models of parenting to draw upon for various 

reasons including trauma. 

Parent-child relationships and group interventions such as 

Tuned in Parenting programme at Ngala and Rockingham 

CAMHS and the Sensitive Parenting programme at CDC. 

Publications 

Priddis, L. E., and G. Wells. 2011. Innovations in 

interprofessional education and collaboration in a West 

Australian community health organisation. Journal of 

Interprofessional Care, 25, 154-155. 

Howieson, J., and L. E. Priddis. 2011. Building Resilience for 

Separating Parents Through Mentalizing and Constructive 

Lawyering Techniques. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 

18 (2), 202-211. 

Priddis, L.E & Wallace, M (2011). Exploration of 

Intergenerational Aspects of Affect regulation in the 

context of substance use. The Family Journal:Counseling 

and Therapy for Couples and Families, 19(2), 147-153. 

Priddis, L.E & Shields, L (2011). Interactions between staff 

and parents of hospitalised children: lessons from world 

war one to present day. Paediatric Nursing, 23, 2, 14-20. 

CLARE REES 


MPsych (Clinical), PhD 

Brief Summary 

Associate Professor Clare Rees is the director of Graduate 

Studies at School of Psychology and Speech Pathology and 

the acting head of Discipline (Psychology). 


Nature and treatment of anxiety disorders, particularly 

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder; Telepsychology and 

videoconferencing; Personality; Evidence-Based Therapy. 

Publications 

Schneider, K. & Rees, C.S. (in press) Evaluation of a 

Combined Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Interpersonal 

Process Group in the Psychotherapy Training of Clinical 

Psychologists. Australian Psychologist (accepted Dec 

2011). 

Lazzari, C., Egan, S.J., & Rees, C.S. (2011). Behavioural 

Activation Treatment for Depression in Older Adults 

Delivered via Videoconferencing: A Pilot Study. Cognitive 

and Behavioural Practice, 18, 555-565. 

Lee, Y.H. & Rees, C.S. (2011) Is exposure and response 

prevention treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder as 

aversive as we think? Clinical Psychologist, 15, 17-21. 

Rees, C.S., Smith, A.J., O’Sullivan, P.B., Kendall, G.E, & 

Straker, L.M. (2011) Back and neck pain are related to 

mental health problems in adolescence. BMC Public Health, 

11:382, 

D’Souza, F., Egan, S.J., & Rees, C.S. (2011). The relationship 

between perfectionism, stress and burnout in Clinical 

Psychologists. Behaviour Change, 28(1): 17-27. 

Rees, C.S., Smith, A.J., O’Sullivan, P.B., Kendall, G.E, & 

Straker, L.M. (2011) Back and neck pain are related to 

mental health problems in adolescence. BMC Public Health, 

11:382. 

CLARE ROBERTS 


BA (Hons), MPsych (Clinical), 

PhD 

Brief Summary 

Associate Professor Clare Roberts is an Associate Professor 

of Clinical Psychology in the School of Psychology and 

Speech Pathology. 

Overview 

Her research interests include mental health promotion, 

and the prevention of anxiety and depression. Additional 

research projects relate to parenting research with the 

aim to decrease oppositional and conduct disorders in 

young children and to prevent behavioural and emotional 

problems in children with developmental disabilities. 


Member, Australian Psychological Society; Member, APS 

College of Educational and Developmental Psychologists; 

Member, Editorial Advisory Board: Behaviour Change; 

Member, Triple P: Scientific and Professional Advisory 

Committee; Member, Beyond Blue: National Depression 

Initiative Advisory Reference Group; Member, Australian 

Association of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy; Member, 

IASSID International Research Network on Social 

Integration on Persons with Disabilities. 

Teaching 

Master of Psychology (Clinical) and the PhD (Clinical 

Psychology) courses. 

Units taught include: 

Child Clinical Psychology; Child Psychotherapy; 

Developmental Disability.

28 

Publications 

Cross, D. S., H. Monks, M. R. Hall, T. Shaw, Y. C. Pintabona, E. L. 

Erceg, G. J. Hamilton, C. M. Roberts, S. K. Waters, and L. Lester. 

(2011). Three-year results of the Friendly Schools whole-ofschool 

intervention on children’s bullying behaviour. British 

Educational Research Journal, 37, 105-129. 

Carter, O. B., L. Patterson, R. J. Donovan, M. T. Ewing, and 

C. M. Roberts. (2011). Children’s understanding of the 

selling versus persuasive intent of junk food advertising: 

Implications for regulation. Social Science and Medicine, 

72, 962-968. 

Roberts, C., Williams, R., Kane, R., Pintabona, Y., Cross, 

D., Zubrick, S., & Silburn, S. (2011). Impact of a mental 

health promotion program on substance use in young 

adolescents. Advances in Mental Health, 10, 72 – 82. 

Roberts, C. M., Pintabona, Y., Kane, R., Ronstant, K., Cross, 

D. (2011). Dissemination of a school-based mental health 

promotion program. The Aussie Optimism program. CHIRI 

Conference, Curtin University. 

LYNNE ROBERTS 


BSc (Hons), PhD, GradCert 

Teaching 

Overview 

Dr Roberts is a senior lecturer in the School of Psychology 

and Speech Pathology at Curtin University. She is the 

fourth year and Honours coordinator in psychology. 

Teaching 

Teaching Areas - Undergraduate; Quality Assurance in 

Psychological Research 441; Honours Dissertation 491 & 

492; Supervision of Honours and PhD students. 


Public attitudes to crime and justice; Online social 

interaction; Online research methods; Cybercrime and 

cybervictimisation; Techno ethics; Research ethics; 

Teaching in Higher Education. 

Publications 

Roberts, L., Spiranovic, C. & Indermaur, D. (2011) A country 

not divided: A comparison of public punitiveness and 

confidence in sentencing across Australia. Australian and 

New Zealand Journal of Criminology, 44, 370-386. doi: 

10.1177/0004865811419059. 

Spiranovic, C. A., Roberts, L. D. & Indermaur, D. (available 

online as iFirst article 11 Jul 2011). What predicts 

punitiveness? An examination of predictors of punitive 

attitudes towards offenders in Australia. Psychiatry, 

Psychology and Law. doi:10.1080/13218719.2011.561766. 

Spiranovic, C. A., Roberts, L. D., Indermaur, D., Warner, K., 

& Gelb, K. (available online as iFirst article 26/12/2011). 

Public preferences for sentencing purposes: What 

difference does offender age, criminal history and 

offence type make? Criminology and Criminal Justice. 

doi:0.1177/1748895811431847. 

ROSANNA ROONEY 


BSc (Hons), MPsych (Clinical), 

PhD (UWA) 

Brief Summary 

Dr Rooney is a senior lecturer at the School of Psychology 

and Speech Pathology at Curtin University. She teaches 

Professional Practice and Social and Behavioural Health in 

the Clinical Masters Program. 

Overview 

She has worked as a Clinical Psychologist (and registrar) 

in a variety of settings including King Edward memorial 

Hospital, Osborne Park Clinic and have been in private 

practice for ten years. Her clinical interests include anxiety 

and depression in adults and children and couples work. 

Teaching 

Professional Practice and Social and Behavioural Health; 

Cross-Cultural and Indigenous; Psychology. 


Her research interests include depression, postnatal 

depression across cultures, mental health across cultures, 

health psychology, anxiety and depression in children and 

couples. She is the principal investigator of the Aussie 

Optimism Program: Positive Thinking Skills and they have 

been awarded a $340,000 Healthway grant for 2010 to 

2012. She is also currently investigating the prevention 

and treatment of postnatal depression across cultures 

after being awarded several grants from WA Perinatal 

mental health. 

Publications 

Rooney, R. (2011). Post-natal depression across cultures: 

A case study. e-medici, www.emedici.com. 

Rooney, R., Kane, R., Steed, L., Nesdale, D., Hattie, J. and 

Goonewardene, R. (2011). Development of a universal 

measure of ethnic identity. Australian Psychologist.


29 

BROOKE SANDERSON 

Lecturer, Clinical 

Coordinator 

Bachelor of Science (Human 

Communication Science) 

GILLIAN STEVENS 

Lecturer 


PG Dip (Psychology), 

MPsych (Counselling) 

Overview 

In 2011, Miss Sanderson’s role at Curtin was the 

coordination of 3rd year undergraduate and 1st year 

Masters Speech Pathology students. 


Member, Speech Pathology Australia; Member, Hanen. 


Clinical Sciences and Speech Pathology Practice. 


Australia Psychology Society; Association of Counselling 

Psychologists. 


Units in Master of Psychology (Counselling); Bachelor of 

Psychology and Master of Counselling. 

Research interests 

Gender Roles; Ethics. 

LYNDALL STEED 


MPsych, PhD 

Publications 


G. & Chamarette, C. (2011). Intrafamilial adolescent sex 

offenders’ response to psychological treatment. 

Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, iFirst article, 1-15. 

Overview 

Dr Steed’s main roles within the School are in supervision 

of research and School representation on the Human 

Research Ethics Committee. 

JENNY THORNTON 


BSc (Hons), Dip Ed, MPsych, 

PhD 


Member of Australian Psychological Society. 

Teaching 

Counselling. 


Health Psychology. 

Publications 

Erceg-Hurn, D. & Steed, L. (2011). Does Exposure to 

Cigarette Health Warnings Elicit Psychological Reactance in 

Smokers? Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 41, 219-237. 

Pearsall-Jones, J. Piek, J, Steed, L, McDougall, M & Levy, F. 

(2011). Monozygotic twins concordant and discordant for 

DCD: Two sides to the story. Twin Research and Human 

Genetics, 14, 79-87. 

Brief Summary 

Dr Thornton is a Counselling Psychologist and Clinical 

Psychologist with a background in clinical work with 

adults. She predominantly involved in teaching, research, 

clinical supervision and research supervision in Counselling 

Psychology. Her particular interest is in training and 

supervision. 


Director, Australian Psychology Accreditation Council 

Chair, NT/SA/WA Regional Board of the Psychology Board 

of Australia; Member, Australian Psychological Society; 

Member, APS College of Counselling Psychology; 

Member, APS College of Clinical Psychology; 

Registered Psychologist. 

Teaching 

Field Placement Coordinator; Psychology 701 - 

Psychotherapy skills; Psychology 704 - Individual 

psychotherapy; Psychology 712 - Advanced psychotherapy 

and psychopathology; Psychology 723 - Social and 

Behavioural Health - Pain component; Psychology

30 

Professional Practice 795 (supervision component); 

Psychology Practicum 696/697/698. 

General areas of teaching expertise include: 

Individual Psychotherapy; Interpersonal Process 

Psychotherapy; Existential Psychotherapy; Cognitive 

Behaviour Therapy; Chronic Pain; Counselling Skills; 

Personality Disorders; Trauma. 


Professional training and supervision; Individual 

Psychotherapy; Interpersonal Process and Resistance; 

Therapeutic ruptures; Sexual Abuse; EMDR/EFT; Trauma/ 

PTSD; Chronic pain. 

Publications 


G, & Chamarette, C. (2011). Intrafamilial adolescent 

sex offenders’ response to psychological treatment. 

Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 1-15. 

Jones, S., Thornton, J.A., & Andrews, H.B. (2011). Efficacy 

of emotional freedom techniques (EFT) in reducing public 

speaking anxiety: A randomized controlled trial. Energy 

Psychology, 3, 19-32. 

ANNE WHITWORTH 


BAppSci, MA Prelim 

(Linguistics), PhD 


Awarded fellowship of the Royal College of Speech and 

Language Therapists, UK, for contribution to research 

and education. 


Research in Speech Pathology Practice; Evidence Based 

Practice in Human Communication Sciences; Cognitive 

Neuroscience. 

Research interests 

Cognitive neuropsychological approaches to the 

assessment and intervention of aphasia; Sentence 

processing impairments in aphasia; Narrative and 

discourse approaches to intervention; Maximising and 

capturing real-life change in aphasia intervention; Optimal 

delivery of speech pathology services. 

Publications 

Waldron, H., Whitworth, A. & Howard, D. (2011b) 

Comparing monitoring and production based approaches 

to the treatment of phonological assembly difficulties in 

aphasia. Aphasiology, 25 (10), 1153-1173. 

Plant, C., Webster, J. & Whitworth, A. (2011) Category 

norm data and relationships with lexical frequency within 

verb semantic categories. Behaviour Res Methods. 2011; 

43(2),424-40. 

Waldron, H., Whitworth, A. & Howard, D. (2011a) Therapy 

for phonological assembly difficulties: A case series. 

Aphasiology, 25(4), 434-455. 

Overview 

Dr Whitworth is a researcher, clinician, and educator in 

the field of speech pathology and acquired neurological 

impairments, in particular, aphasia. Her interests are 

in increasing understanding of how language and 

communication breakdown following neurological 

insult, developing and evaluating theoretically sound 

assessments and interventions in aphasia, and both 

facilitating and measuring the real life impact of 

therapy for people with communication impairments. 

A particular area of interest is in working with people 

who have sentence processing difficulties. Dr Whitworth 

has developed a number of assessments and therapy 

protocols that are used widely by therapists, including 

a comprehensive battery of assessments for Japanese 

speakers with aphasia, in collaboration with colleagues in 

the UK and in Tokyo. She has co-written a popular textbook 

for aphasia and has recently published a set of resources 

for use by speech pathologists (http://research.ncl. 

ac.uk/aphasia/resources.html). Exploring narrative as an 

intervention in aphasia is a recent area of interest that she 

has developed during a two year research fellowship with 

the UK Health Foundation. 

CORI WILLIAMS 


B.App.Sci. (Speech & 

Hearing) B.A.(A.S.)(Hons) 

Dip. Ed. PhD., CPSP 

Brief Summary 

Cori has been a member of staff at Curtin since 2000, 

and director of Speech Pathology programs between mid 

2006 and early 2011. She is an active member of Speech 

Pathology Australia, and immediate past President 

of the Association. Her research interests encompass 

multicultural and indigenous issues in speech pathology, 

language and literacy and hearing impairment. 


Member, immediate past President Speech Pathology 

Australia; International affiliate, ASHA; Recognition of 

Service award, SPA, 2004.


31 

Teaching 

Cori generally teaches first year units in Language 

Development, second year units in Speech and Hearing 

Science and supervises Honours and Postgraduate 

research. 

Cori also provides specialist lectures, looking at language 

and hearing issues in the Indigenous Australian population, 

and on issues in identifying and treating language 

difficulties in children from multilingual backgrounds. 


Cori’s research interests encompass language development 

and disorders, language and literacy, cross cultural issues 

and Indigenous issues in language development and 

disorders. 

Publications 

Golding, S., C. J. Williams, and S. K. Leitao. 2011. Speech 

and language development: Knowledge and experiences of 

foster carers. ACQuiring Knowledge in Speech, Language 

and Hearing 13: 12-19. 

Williams, C. J. 2011. Working with children from culturally 

and linguistically diverse background: Implications for 

assessment and intervention. ACQuiring Knowledge in 

Speech, Language and Hearing 13: 106-111.

32 

Curtin’s new multi-million 

dollar graduate research hub 

dedicated to health sciences 

postgraduate research 

students is providing 

students with access to 

state-of-the-art facilities 

in a central research 

environment.


33 

DOCTOR OF 

PHILOSOPHY 

Student Title Supervisor 

Ari Antonovsky Influence of workplace climate factors on plant reliability. Prof C Pollock 

Prof L Straker 

Hayley Arnet 

Christine Battle-Longbottom 

The rituals of medicine: Exploring the general practice 

consultation using simulated consultations. 

Psychological sequelae in early childhood amongst children 

diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. 

Dr S Egan 

Dr G Halkett 

Dr R Kane 

Dr L Priddis 

Jacqueline Bicknell Exploring therapists’ experiences in the field of trauma. Dr L Steed 

Greer Bradbury 

Children and the fly-in/fly-out lifestyle: Intermittent father 

absence and the implications for children. 

Prof J Piek 

A/Prof C Roberts 

Dr R Kane 

Stephen Bright 

Dominant discourses and narratives of substance use: 

exploring an aetiological model of depression and anxiety 

among methadone maintenance clients. 

Dr R Kane 

A/Prof B Bishop 

Sarah Burns Aggression and psychopathy in children and adolescents. Dr L Roberts 

Dr S Egan 

Dr R Kane 

Emily Castell 

Daryl Chow 

Mary Claessen 

Nicolas Connault 

Dawson Cooke 

Kathleen Dewar 

Ruth Drake-Brockman 

Dolores Elek-Roser 

Jenny Ellison 

Sharon Elsley 

Ashley Fenner 

Growing relationships: Meanings, experiences and 

aspirations of people with intellectual disability. 

The study of Supershrinks: Development and deliberate 

practices of highly effective psychotherapists. 

Phonological processing skills in children with specific 

language impairment. 

Therapists’ motivation to offer exposure-based treatment 

to clients with anxiety disorders: A self-determination 

theory perspective. 

Parental reflective functioning of fathers and its relevance 

for children’s health and development: a population-based 

study. 

Personality and personological predictors of the 

development of psychological sense of community in 

adolescents between the ages of 11-14. 

The development and evaluation of a universal family 

intervention to prevent the development of internalizing 

problems in younger adolescents. 

Development and assessment of the readiness for 

treatment screening tool for perfectionism. 

The impact of personality structure on outcomes 

of mediation. 

Cognitive social and emotional factors in young boys at 

risk of disruptive behavior disorders. 

Socio-environment factors that moderate the relationship 

between overweight status and mental health disorders 

in children. 



Prof E Cocks 

Dr G Merriman 

Dr J Thornton 

A/Prof J Grant 

Dr R Kane 

Dr S D Miller 

Dr S Leitao 

A/Prof C Williams 

Dr N Barrett 

A/Prof C Rees 

Dr L Priddis 

Dr G Kendall 

Dr Rob Cavanagh 


Dr R Rooney 

Dr R Kane 


Dr L Steed 

Dr R Kane 

Dr S Egan 

Dr L Roberts 

Prof J Piek 


Dr J Thornton 

Dr R Kane 

Prof J Piek 

Prof M Dyck 

Prof M Hagger 

Dr M Davis

34 


Amy Finlay-Jones 

Self-warmth versus self-criticism: An investigation into Dr S Egan 

the efficacy of compassion-based interventions in the 

treatment of clinical perfectionism. 

David Garratt-Reed 

An exploration of the cognitive mechanisms underlying 

risk-aversion in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. 

A/Prof C Rees 

Dr L Steed 

Dr R Kane 

Darren Garvey 

Fiona Geddes 

Nick Gerrish 

Shannon Golding 

Magdalena Goryczko 

“Of all that is seen and unseen”: A discourse analysis of 

student and teacher talk about Indigenous studies. 

Managers, mates and the role of social exchange: A multilevel 

model of safety climate and proactive safety behavior. 

Meaning reconstruction and its relationship to post-traumatic 

growth in mothers grieving the death of a child to cancer. 

The knowledge, beliefs and experiences of parents who 

adopt children from international institutions: Their 

understanding of the importance of the home environment 

and its effect on the child’s development. 

Privileging the client’s voice: A qualitative study of client’s 

views on what factors in therapy account for change. 


Prof J Piek 

Prof C Pollock 

Dr L Roberts 

Dr L Steed 


Dr S Leitao 


Dr J Thornton 

Lydia Guerrini A dynamic model of sexuality. A/Prof C Rees 

Alicia Handley 

A randomized controlled trial of group cognitive 

behavioural therapy for clinical perfectionism. 

A/Prof C Rees 

Dr S Egan 

Dr R Kane 

Laura Harris 

Prof J Piek 

Brody Heritage 

Kyle Heritage 

Carolyn Hofmeester 

Kimberley Hoiles 

Clarifying the relationship between organizational culture 

and values using an ASA perspective. 

Lagged relationships between a multi-level model of safety 

climate and employee safety outcomes. 

Taking action on climate change: A social-relational study 

of south-west coastal governance. 

A randomised control trial of guided self-help cognitive 

behavioural therapy for clinical perfectionism. 


Dr L Roberts 

Dr P Sevastos 


Dr L Roberts 


A/Prof L Stocker 

G Symes 

Dr S Egan 

A/Prof C Rees 

Dr R Kane 

Josephine Hudson Clinical supervision, ethics and the law. Dr J Thornton 

A/Prof S Millett 

Josephine Hurley 

Ella Humphry 

Theresa Kidd 

Andrea Kysely 

Lee Poh Choo (Christina) 

Mimma Lamattina 

The effects of psychological contract congruence on 

the emotional exhaustion and work-related attitudes of 

Western Australia public sector teachers. 

The development of ethnic identity and its relationship with 

depression in children from 8-9 years onwards. 

Assessing the efficacy and social validity of a manualised, 

family-based group cognitive behavioural therapy for 

adolescents with high-functioning autism and comorbid 

anxiety disorder. 

An investigation of video conference-based couples 

counseling for sexual dysfunction. 

Learning and empathy skills: The effect of social cognitive 

and emotion processing abilities in children with DBD. 

Working Therapeutically with Perth metropolitan aboriginal 

people: An investigation into the cultural competence of 

non-aboriginal counsellors/therapists. 

A/Prof Clare Roberts 

Dr Peter Sevastos 

Dr R Rooney 

Dr L Steed 

Dr R Kane 


Dr M Davis 


Dr G Merriman 

Prof J Piek 

Dr N Hennessey 

M Claessen 

Dr R Kane 

A/Prof C Rees 

Dr M Davis 

A/Prof D Vicary


35 


Zoe Leviston 

Mortality, anxiety and worldview: Associations with 


climate change. 

Dr K Runions 

Anne Marie Lewis 

Amanda Lloyd 

Phonological and speech motor deficits in Developmental 

Apraxia of Speech and Phonological Disorder. 

A developmental sequence of theory of mind in children 

with cochlear implants. 

Dr N Hennessey 

Prof J Piek 

Prof J Piek 


Gayle Maloney The aetiology of perfectionism. Dr S Egan 

A/Prof C Rees 

Dr R Kane 

Jeremy Marriott Asperger’s disorder: A musical treatment for child anxiety. Prof J Piek 

Dr R Kane 

Felicity Millman 

Darren Moroney 

Ben Mullings 

Patrick O’Neill 

Irene Ooi 

Janice Paige 

Linda Pannekoek 

Caitlin Pearcy 

Jillian Pearsall-Jones 

Kate Povee 

Kelly Prandl 

Josephine Ratna 

Autism subtypes based on behavioural, biological and 

genetic information. 

Exploring the role of mother-child relationships in the 

context of early environmental stressors 

An evaluation of therapeutic alliance and outcomes in an 

online counseling program. 

Job insecurity and its impact on job-related affective 

well-being: Testing a model of reciprocal causation. 

The efficacy and social validity of a group Cognitive 

Behavioural Therapy for young migrants from 

war-affected countries. 

Healing from intrafamilial child sexual abuse: The role of 

relational processes between the survivor and the offender. 

Development of an overarching motivational model in the 

physical domain. 

Metacognitive therapy compared to cognitive behavioural 

therapy as a transdiagnostic treatment. 

An investigation of attentional and motor deficits in 

children and adolescents using the monozygotic 

co-twin design. 

This is me: A participatory action research project 

exploring the identities and social roles of people with 

intellectual disabilities. 

Exploration of Nyoongar women’s explanatory model 

of stress during pregnancy and the development of a 

culturally sensitive assessment tool. 

Prevention of depressive symptoms in Indonesian women 

through promotion of optimism and resilience program. 

Prof D Hay 

Dr J Bell 

Dr N Martin 

A/Prof D Groth 

Dr R Kane 

Dr L Priddis 

Dr K Runions 


A/Prof C Rees 

Dr R Kane 


Dr P Sevastos 

Dr R Rooney 


Prof B Wright 

Dr R Kane 

Dr L Steed 

A/Prof D Vicary 

Prof J Piek 

Prof M Hagger 

Dr R Kane 

Dr S Egan 

Prof J Piek 

Dr N Martin 

Dr L Steed 


Dr L Roberts 

Prof E Cocks 

Dr R Rooney 



Dr R Kane 

Carly Reid Assessing modern parenting dimensions. Prof J Piek 


Dr L Roberts 

Daniela Rigoli 

Developmental Coordination Disorder and its cognitive, 

academic and psychosocial implications: A test of the 

nonverbal learning disabilities model. 

Prof J Piek 

Prof J Oosterlaan 

Dr M Davis 

Dr R Kane 

Catherine Roberts Response profiles to sequential stimuli. Dr M Blosfelds 

Prof J Piek

36 


Matthew Ruggiero 

Cognitive processes underlying the inverted-U hypothesis: 

The effect of distraction on music performance. 

Dr J Thornton 

Dr M Blosfelds 

Dr R Kane 

Jamayah Saili 

Marie Sakotic 

Elizabeth Seah 

Antonette Seiler 

Andrea Shoebridge 

Petra Skeffington 

Karen Smart 

Dhyan Stein 

Daniel Stubbings 

Lisa Studman 

Maxine Symes 

Lakkhina Troeung 

Life experience of professional Malay women who have not 

married: an exploration of the psychosocial cultural issues. 

An investigation into the characteristics of people who 

flourish during retirement. 

Patterns of reflective functioning in families of adolescents 

with eating disorders. 

The effectiveness of a computer supported intervention 

targeting orthographic processing for children with 

impaired word identification. 

The relationship between media depiction and women’s 

experience of menopause. 

Improving outcomes in treatment of complex PTSD: 

Does a values-based therapy component promote 

therapeutic gains? 

Investigating the relationship between peer support 

program participation and mental and physical 

health outcomes. 

Determinants of effective counseling: An exploratory study 

of the explicit and tacit understandings of 

‘expert’ practitioners. 

The efficacy & effectiveness of videoconference-based 

cognitive-behavioural therapy for the treatment of 

psychological disorders: A multi-method investigation. 

Development and evaluation of a program designed to 

facilitate family adaptation in families with a child who 

has a disability. 

Domestic violence: The experience of women who currently 

live with an abusive male. 

A randomized controlled trial of cognitive behavioural 

therapy for the treatment of anxiety and depression in 

Parkinson’s Disease. 

Dr R Rooney 

Dr L Steed 


Dr L Priddis 

Prof J Piek 

Dr S Leitao 

Dr M Blosfelds 

Dr L Steed 

Dr L Roberts 

A/Prof C Rees 

Dr R Kane 

Prof J Piek 


Dr D Costello 

A/Prof C Rees 

Dr L Roberts 


Dr R Kane 

Prof D Hay 

Dr L Steed 

A/Prof C Rees 

Dr L Breen 

Dr S Egan 

Dr N Gasson 

Dr R Kane 

Dr B Dellar 

Deming Wang Stigma associated with Parkinson’s Disease and stroke. Dr S Egan 

Dr N Gasson 

Dr B Dellar 

Roslyn Ward 

Jenine Wenn 

Laura Willis 

Martina Zivic 

The effectiveness of PROMPT therapy for children with 

cerebral palsy. 

Treatment for Prolonged Grief Disorder: A mixed-method, 

controlled trial of metacognitive therapy. 

Conceptualising varying patterns of drug use: Exploring 

drug users’ socially constructed conceptualizations of 

drug use in the search for an alternative discourse. 

Risk and protective factors amongst sexually 

abused youth. 

Dr S Leitao 

Mr G Strauss 

Dr M O’Connor 

A/Prof C Rees 

Dr L Breen 

Dr A Marsh 


A/Prof C Rees 

Dr S Egan


37 

MASTER OF 

PHILOSOPHY 


Caris Lae Jalla 

Yarning with Aboriginal children and young people in Prof J Piek 

Western Australia. 

Dr J Pearsall-Jones 

Ioannis Svarnou 

Assessing the dynamics of changes in self-efficacy in CBT 

and relaxation therapy treatment for people with migraine 

and co-morbid depression and anxiety. 

A/Prof C Roberts

38 

Our high-quality research 

focuses on real-world problems 

and providing solutions to 

benefit community, business and 

industry. Curtin’s international 

reputation for being a strong 

partner in industry-driven 

research ensures graduates 

enjoy outstanding opportunities 

to become innovators in 

their fields.


39 

GREER BRADBURY 

Children and the Fly-in/Fly-out lifestyle: 

Employment related paternal absence and 

the implications for children. 

Supervisors: Jan Piek, Bob Kane 

There has been growing interest in the implications of 

paternal fly-in/fly-out employment (FIFO) for families 

and children. The current research had a dual aim, first 

to investigate children’s well-being in relation to family 

functioning and paternal FIFO employment characteristics 

and, second, to access children’s own experience, 

perceptions and attitudes about the FIFO lifestyle and 

employment-related paternal absence. The research 

was multi-method in design, with a quantitative study 

measuring child, parent and family functioning and a 

two-stepped qualitative component consisting of a content 

analysis of written responses and a thematic analysis of 

semi-structured interviews with children. 

Forty-eight children and their parents (i.e., 48 mothers, 

47 fathers) from 49 families completed the quantitative 

questionnaires. Overall, the children’s emotionalbehavioural 

functioning was healthy and not significantly 

related to paternal FIFO employment characteristics. The 

boys reported more emotional-behavioural difficulties 

than girls, in particular hyperactivity. The children’s 

well-being was associated with several maternal-reported 

variables but none of the paternal-reported variables. 

However, the children’s level of emotional-behavioural 

functioning was predicted by their self-report of paternal 

care and nurturance. Addressing parental well-being, the 

participating women reported more emotional difficulties 

than the men, with over one third of the women reporting 

stress symptoms in the moderate to severe clinical range. 

While the majority of children and their parents reported 

healthy family functioning and the parents reported 

healthy relationship quality, over 50% of the mother and 

fathers in the study reported parenting conflict in the 

clinical range. 

The extended, quality time with their fathers and the 

financial remuneration of paternal FIFO employment 

were the key benefits of the FIFO lifestyle for children. 

The adolescents in the study viewed employment-related 

paternal absences as a respite from fathering as well as 

a loss of paternal support. The main costs of the FIFO 

lifestyle for the children were the negative emotions 

related to paternal absence, the loss of physical and 

emotional paternal support, and the restriction to their 

lifestyle and activities. A subset of 15 children from 

the original study and 12 of their siblings (n = 27) were 

interviewed. The majority of the children demonstrated 

successful adaptation to paternal FIFO employment. The 

key themes to emerge from these interviews were the 

children’s emotional and personal changes (e.g., increased 

responsibility, greater independence) and family changes 

(e.g., alternating households, family self-reliance). The 

children demonstrated knowledge of their father’s work 

and were also aware of the potential impact of FIFO 

employment on relationships. 

The overall findings suggest that paternal FIFO 

employment does not act as a discreet homogeneous 

risk factor for children. However, there was some evidence 

that boys negotiate employment-related paternal 

absences differently from girls, with boys expressing 

more ambivalence toward paternal absences. The 

significant finding of high maternal stress in the study 

indicates that mothers may “buffer ” the strains of regular 

family disruption from the other family members. The 

participating children’s ability to balance the benefits 

of the FIFO lifestyle with the costs of paternal absences, 

to understand parental employment decisions, and to 

demonstrate resilience to family changes was positive 

news for FIFO families and those families considering the 

FIFO option. 

JILLIAN PEARSALL-JONES 

An investigation of attentional and motor 

deficits in children and adolescents using the 

monozygotic co-twin control design. 

Supervisors: Jan Piek, Neilson Martin, Lyndall Steed 

The thesis is a series of papers published in peer 

reviewed journals, which explored movement and 

attention disorders in children and adolescents using a 

monozygotic co-twin control design. A number of studies 

were undertaken to explore similarities and differences 

between identical twins in sets of twins in which: 

1/ only one twin had a movement or attentional disorder; 

2/ both twins had movement disorder or attentional 

disorder; 3/ one or both twins had both a movement and 

attentional disorder; and 4/ neither twin had a movement 

nor attentional disorder. Results provided an overview of 

causal pathways for movement and attentional disorders. 

It also looked at the relationship between these disorders 

and symptoms of depression – with the highest numbers 

of symptoms for depression found in twins with both 

movement and attention disorders. There were more 

symptoms of depression in twins with movement disorder

40 

than in those without. Another study, not included in the 

thesis but part of the wider project, examined symptoms 

of anxiety in twins with or without movement disorder, and 

found more symptoms of anxiety in twins with movement 

disorder than in those without, although if both twins had 

movement disorder, this effect was not as marked. The 

papers also gave insight into twin perceptions of family 

functioning and of the relationship between twins. The 

study culminated in the hypothesis that, rather than being 

different disorders as currently classified in major medical 

classification systems, movement disorders fall on a 

continuum from mild Developmental Coordination Disorder 

to Cerebral Palsy. 

Publications 

Pearsall-Jones, Jillian G., Piek, Jan P., Rigoli, Daniela, Martin, 

Neilson C., & Levy, Florence (2011). Motor disorder and 

anxious and depressive symptomatology: A monozygotic cotwin 

control approach. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 

32 (4), 1245-1252. 

Pearsall-Jones, J. G., Piek, J. P. Steed, L., McDougall, M. R., & 

Levy, F. (2011). Monozygotic twins concordant and discordant 

for DCD: Two sides to the story. Twin Research and Human 

Genetics, 14, 79-87. 

Pearsall-Jones, J. G., Piek, J. P. & Levy, F. (2010). Etiological 

pathways for developmental coordination disorder and 

attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: shared or discrete? 

Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics, 10, 491-494. 

Pearsall-Jones, J. G., Piek, J. P., & Levy, F. (2010). 

Developmental Coordination Disorder and Cerebral Palsy: 

Categories or a Continuum? Human Movement Science, 29, 

787-798. 

Pearsall-Jones, J. G., Piek, J. P., Rigoli, D., Martin, N. C., & Levy, 

F. (2009). An investigation into etiological pathways of DCD 

and ADHD using a monozygotic twin design. Twin Research 

and Human Genetics, 12, 381-391. 

Pearsall-Jones, J. G., Piek, J. P., Martin, N. C., Rigoli, D., Levy, F., 

& Hay, D. A. (2008). A monozygotic twin design to investigate 

etiological factors for DCD and ADHD. Journal of Pediatric 

Neurology, 6, 209-219. 

Piek, J. P., Rigoli, D., Pearsall-Jones, J. G., Martin, N. C., 

Hay, D. A., Bennett, K. S., & Levy, F. (2007). Depressive 

symptomatology in child and adolescent twins with 

attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and/or developmental 

coordination disorder. Twin Research and Human Genetics, 

10, 587-596. 

Bennett, K. S., Hay, D. A. Piek, J. P., Pearsall-Jones, J. G., Levy, 

F., & Martin, N. C. (2006). The Australian Twin ADHD Project: 

current status and future directions. Twin Research and 

Human Genetics, 9(6), 718-26. 

Hay, D. A., McStephen, M. Levy, F., & Pearsall-Jones, J. G. 

(2002). Recruitment and attrition in Twin Register studies of 

childhood behavior: The example of the Australian Twin ADHD 

Project. Twin Research, 5(5), 324-328. 

SHARON ELSLEY 

Cognitive social and emotional factors 

in young boys at risk of disruptive 

behaviour disorders. 

Supervisors: Jan Piek, Murray Dyck (Griffith University) 

This study aimed to determine the relationship between 

a subset of cognitive, social and emotional factors which 

may be related to disruptive behaviours in young boys at 

risk of disruptive behaviour disorders. An aim was to create 

a profile from these variables which would best explain 

disruptive behaviours and social skills deficits in two age 

groups in this cross-sectional study. The boys were recruited 

from low-socioeconomic communities in Western Australia, 

and they had not previously been identified as being at 

risk of disruptive behaviour disorders. Three studies were 

conducted. Study 1 investigated 4 to 5 year old boys (N=43) 

on Verbal IQ (Wechsler, 1989), Spatial Perspective Taking 

(Flavell, Botkin, Fry, Wright & Jarvis, 1968), Perceptual 

Organisation (Wechsler, 1989), Emotion Understanding 

and Emotion Recognition (ERS: Dyck, Ferguson & Schochet, 

2001), and Dispositional Empathy (Bryant, 1982) or 

Concern for Others. Study 2 was an observation of the boys 

from Study 1 for Parent-Child Mutuality (Deater-Deckard, 

Pylas & Petrill, 1997), to examine the dyadic relationship 

between mother and son as a measure of their social skills 

and behaviours. Study 3 investigated 7 to 8 year old boys 

(N=46) on Verbal IQ (Wechsler, 1992), Spatial Perspective 

Taking (Piaget & Inhelder, 1956), Emotion Understanding 

and Emotion Recognition (ERS: Dyck et al. 2001), 

Dispositional Empathy (Bryant, 1982), and parent and 

teacher ratings on the Social Skills Rating Scale (Gresham & 

Elliott, 1990). 

Results for Study 1 showed that Spatial Perspective Taking 

(SPt) was significantly lower for the boys with disruptive 

behaviours compared to the non-disruptive group and 

SPt was the defining factor for group membership, with 

Emotion Recognition losing significance due to the 

analysis of multiple univariate variables. Mother-reported 

internalising and social problems were significantly 

higher for the disruptive group. For Study 2, boys 

with disruptive behaviours and their mothers showed 

lower mutuality with significantly less reciprocity, less 

emotionally responsiveness and less cooperation than 

the non-disruptive boys and their mothers. The disruptive 

group also had lower mother-son dyadic positivity and 

communication, and higher negativity. Dispositional 

Empathy or Concern for Others predicted Mother-Child 

Mutuality (MCM). In Study 3, the boys with disruptive 

behaviours had significantly lower Verbal IQ, Emotion


41 

Recognition, Emotion Understanding, and Social Skills 

than the non-disruptive group. The most important factor 

in defining group membership was Emotion Recognition, 

and Social Skills were predicted by Emotion Understanding. 

Both disruptive groups had concomitant mother-report 

internalising behaviours and social problems. 

These findings suggest a need for recognition of 

significant co-occurring difficulties experienced by young 

boys with unidentified disruptive behaviours living in 

low socioeconomic environments. Importantly, these 

difficulties appear to manifest themselves differently 

dependent on the age of the boys. The findings for 

these samples indicate a need for further research and 

community awareness of cognitive, social cognitive and 

empathy factors in the clinical assessment and treatment 

of young boys with disruptive behaviours. 

DHYAN STEIN 

What makes therapy work? An exploratory 

study of the understanding of ‘Expert’ 

Psychotherapeutic Practitioners 

Supervisors: Brian Bishop 

‘What makes therapy work’ has been the subject of more 

than four decades of empirical research, yet responses 

to this question are equivocal. To some extent this 

uncertainty stems from inherent assumptions informing 

this quest. These rationalist tenets reflect a medical 

model ethos embedded in scientism that emulates 

Aristotle’s techne. Such an approach legitimizes ‘truth’ 

claims adhering to an objective, externalized view of 

reality. Although the reliability and validity of this form 

of propositional knowledge cannot be denied, this thesis 

explores the determinants of effective psychotherapy 

from an entirely different perspective. This paradigmatic 

shift stems from the desire to illuminate the human 

realm on the premise that knowledge is constructed in 

a mutable, uncertain world that is never fully knowable. 

Thus, whilst this study is not intended to replace the 

contribution of empirical research, it offers an alternative 

perspective grounded in situated understandings and lived 

experience. This constructivist position examines this 

issue based on explicit and implicit practitioner procedural 

understandings. Informed by Aristotle’s phronesis, 

this phenomenological view acknowledges subjective 

and intersubjective knowledge derived from practice 

wisdom. Within the context of this study these phronetic 

understandings are gleaned from the perceptions of 

‘expert’ West Australian psychotherapists. 

JOSEPHINE HURLEY 

The effects of psychological contract 

congruence on the emotional exhaustion and 

work-related attitudes of Western Australian 

public sector teachers. 

Supervisors: Clare Roberts 

Occupational stress in educational settings is a growing 

problem that results in substantial cost to individual 

employees and education organisations across the country. 

The changing nature of work has placed unprecedented 

demands on teachers. Over time valued job features 

within the workplace have undergone complex changes, 

and the ability of teachers to make ongoing adjustments 

to work practices has been reduced. As a result teachers’ 

question their psychological contract with their employer. 

To date very few studies have investigated the concept 

of the psychological contract in school organisational 

settings. This research investigates the impact of the 

psychological contract on job attitudes, psychological 

health, organisational attitudes and work-related behaviour. 

Control variables (age, gender, tenure part-time/fulltime, 

teacher classification, work arrangements and 

temperament) were investigated in relation to a range of 

individual and organisational outcomes such as intrinsic job 

satisfaction, emotional exhaustion, organizational trust and 

commitment; and intention to turnover as they relate to the 

psychological contract. This research show how the state 

of teachers’ psychological contract impacts on their job 

and therefore the school organisation. A stratified random 

sample of 1710 teachers from 138 government schools 

across the state of Western Australia were surveyed with 

measures of psychological contract; trust, commitment, 

career intentions, intrinsic job satisfaction and emotional 

exhaustion. Humanitarian values component is statistically 

related to teachers’ implicit psychological contract and 

organisational humanitarian vales are statistically related 

to contract fulfillment. Hierarchical multiple regression 

analyses supported the hypotheses of fit based on the 

discrepancy test. The results show that the psychological 

contract does have a significant impact on work related 

outcomes at the individual and organisational level. These 

findings support the research that the psychological 

contract is an important concept in understanding the 

employment relationship. Theoretical implications in 

relation to individual and organizational outcomes 

are discussed.

42 

We are proud of our applied 

and relevant focus, and the 

School runs a number of public 

access clinics on Curtin’s 

Bentley campus providing 

students the opportunity for 

real-world experience.


43 

JOHN CAIRNEY 

John Cairney is the inaugural holder of the McMaster Family 

Medicine Professorship in Child Health Research. He is 

also an Associate Professor in the departments of Family 

Medicine, Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences and 

Kinesiology at McMaster University, and a core a member 

of the Offord Centre for Child Studies, and the CanChild 

Centre for Childhood Disability Research. From 2005 to 

2008, John held a Canada Research Chair in Psychiatric 

Epidemiology from the Department of Psychiatry at the 

University of Toronto, and was a also Senior Scientist in 

the Health Systems Research and Consulting Unit at the 

Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). He was the 

youngest scientist to be awarded a Canada Research Chair 

at CAMH, and the youngest member of the Department 

of Psychiatry at University of Toronto to hold such a 

distinction. John is currently a Principal Investigator on two 

large, Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) funded 

studies examining the changes over time in cardiovascular 

risk factors (e.g. obesity, physical fitness, hypertension) in 

a large sample of children with coordination problems and a 

study that examines the association between coordination 

problems, depression and social anxiety in school age 

children. During his visit to Curtin he was a Plenary speaker 

at the Inaugural Annual CHIRI Conference and was a 

keynote speaker at the 10th Motor Control and Human Skill 

Conference held in Mandurah. 

DR PETER FISHER 

Dr Peter Fisher is a Senior Lecturer in Clinical Psychology at 

the University of Liverpool, UK. He has published over 

40 articles and book chapters on metacognitive therapy and 

cognitive therapy. Currently, his main research interests 

focus on the development and evaluation of metacognitive 

therapy for emotional disorders in adult mental health and 

physical health populations. He has lectured and conducted 

workshops on metacognitive therapy nationally and 

internationally. He currently acts as supervisor and tutor for 

the Metacognitive Therapy-Institute. He recently published 

his first book; P. Fisher & A. Wells. (2009). Metacognitive 

Therapy, Routledge, London. 

During Dr Fishers’ visit in 2011, he worked on a grant 

proposal with Associate Prof Clare Rees and also held a 

seminar and lecture on Metacognitive therapy. 

DR JULIE MASTERSON 

Julie Masterson is Professor of Communication Sciences and 

Disorders at Missouri State University, where she teaches 

courses in phonology, language-learning disabilities, and 

research design. Dr Masterson is a Fellow of the American 

Speech-Language-Hearing Association and served as 

Vice President for Research and Technology for ASHA 

and President of the Council of Academic Programs in 

Communication Sciences and Disorders. Dr Masterson 

has over 150 presentations and publications in the areas 

of language and literacy. Her current research focuses on 

optimal methods for assessment and documentation of 

treatment outcomes and Response to Intervention, spelling 

skills in individuals with sensory impairments, and the 

relationship between phonological productions and 

literacy skills. 

DR SCOTT YARUSS 

Dr Scott Yaruss was a visiting PsychLife Fellow in the School 

of Psychology and Speech Pathology in July 2011. 

Dr Yaruss is Director of the MA and MS programs in 

Speech-language Pathology at the University of Pittsburgh. 

He is also co-director of the Stuttering Centre of Western 

Pennsylvania. He is an international expert in the areas 

of linguistic and motoric factors that influence the 

development of fluency and stuttering in children. His work 

is aimed at improving the diagnosis and treatment of people 

who stutter through assessment of current clinical practices 

and documentation of treatment outcomes. His research 

interests are also in the areas of treatment efficacy and 

evidenced based practice. 

Dr Yaruss has devised clinical assessment tools that are 

the basis for the assessments used in the Curtin University 

Stuttering Treatment Clinic. During his Fellowship, he 

conducted collaborative research with staff from the 

School of Psychology and Speech Pathology in the areas 

of psychosocial impact of stuttering in children and 

adolescents and treatment programs for adults who stutter. 

He co-authored 2 papers with Janet Beilby on the use of the 

OASES measurement tool in clinical populations during the 

Fellowship visit. He also worked with staff on counselling 

programs for Tertiary learners and conducted a staff 

seminar for the School of Psychology and Speech Pathology. 

Dr Yaruss conducted a seminar/workshop for undergraduate 

and post graduate students and community based clinicians 

on the topic of “Stuttering: A Comprehensive Approach to a 

Complex Disorders.”

44 

The discipline of Psychology 

was awarded a ranking of 

4 (out of 5) in the recent 

Excellence in Research for 

Australia exercise, indicating 

that our research is formally 

rated as ‘Above World Ranking’.


45 

17TH DENIS GLENCROSS MEMORIAL 

STUDENT CONFERENCE 

The School of Psychology and Speech Pathology and the 

Research Centre for Applied Psychology held the 17th 

Denis Glencross Memorial Student Conference on the 8th 

July 2011. The Conference is named after the late Professor 

Glencross in recognition of his leadership within the 

School of Psychology and his national and international 

research contribution. 

The seminar provided an overview of the research activities 

in the School’s postgraduate research program, and offers 

an opportunity for interaction among staff and students. As 

a result of the large number of graduates enrolling for higher 

degrees by research in Psychology and Speech Pathology, 

only a limited number of students present at each seminar. 

The expectation is that students will present twice during 

the course of their graduate time at Curtin; at an early 

stage to indicate what they plan to do and later to discuss 

their achievements. 

With the increasing number of research students in our 

School, this conference becomes ever more important, 

both for staff to keep up-to-date with the work of our 

students and for students to learn by the experiences of 

others in coping with the many challenges of a successful 

research project. The topics indicate the diverse expertise 

that exists for postgraduate supervision in the School of 

Psychology and Speech Pathology at Curtin University. 

The joint initiatives of staff and students in implementing 

research opportunities is developing the perception of Curtin 

University as a preferred venue for study and research in 

applied psychology and speech pathology. 

10TH MOTOR CONTROL & HUMAN SKILL CONFERENCE 

Held at The Sebel, Mandurah from 

29th November – 2nd December 2011 

Professor Denis Glencross organised the inaugural Motor 

Control & Human Skill Research Workshop in 1991 to 

provide a forum for an Australian Interest group that was 

formed at the Motor Neurosciences Symposium held at 

Collingwood in Ontario, Canada in 1988. As a result of 

this successful meeting Professor Glencross established 

this meeting as a biennial conference which became 

an important gathering for both new and established 

researchers renowned for their research endeavours in 

the area of motor control and human skill. Following the 

sudden death of Professor Glencross in 1994, this event has 

continued under the guidance of Professor Jan Piek and with 

the support of the Research Centre for Applied Psychology 

at Curtin University. The conference is aimed at examining 

both theoretical and applied research from disciplines such 

as psychology, human movement studies, physiotherapy, 

neurology and kinesiology. Such a broad range of interests 

produces many different perspectives to the understanding 

of the coordination and control of movement. In particular, 

it provides a forum for the analysis of the diverse theoretical 

approaches employed in the study of motor control, and the 

application of these theories to the investigation of 

such areas as elite performance, motor development and 

motor disability. 

An important component of these meetings has been 

the support of early career researchers, particularly 

postgraduate research students. In honour of Professor 

Glencross and in recognition of his commitment to research 

students, the conference has promoted student submissions 

with the establishment of the Denis Glencross Memorial 

Young Scholar Award for the best poster presentation by 

a student. 

Furthermore, the conference has always resulted in a 

published series of papers, either as an edited book or a 

special issue. In recent years, the proceedings have been 

published in Human Movement Science.

46 

BUILDING MENTAL WEALTH SEMINAR 

This event, held on the 21st November 2011, highlighted the 

research activities and outcomes of the team investigators 

in the Building Mental Wealth NHMRC Capacity grant. 

This grant aims to improve the mental health outcomes 

for Indigenous Australians. At the inaugural seminar 

Professor Aileen Moreton-Robinson, Professor of Indigenous 

Studies at the Queensland University of Technology gave 

a keynote address on the topic of “Building Indigenous 

Research Capacity”. 

This seminar was aimed at building the capacity of 

individual researchers in the BMW grant, and to assist with 

the dissemination of their project findings to academics, 

clinicians, service providers, and the community. This was 

an important forum to also build partnerships in the area of 

Indigenous Mental Health and Wellbeing. 

PSYCHOLOGY FOURTH YEAR RESEARCH SEMINAR 

The School of Psychology and Speech Pathology held the 

2011 Psychology Fourth Year Research Seminar in July 

2011. This seminar provided an overview of the research 

activities undertaken by groups of fourth year psychology 

students under the supervision of a staff member, and 

provided an opportunity for interaction among staff, 

supervisors and students. Each group of students presented 

on their research project, providing an overview of their 

project and current stage of progress. This seminar provided 

an avenue for students to develop their oral presentation 

skills and to obtain feedback from staff and students on 

their research. 

SPEECH PATHOLOGY HONOURS RESEARCH 

MINICONFERENCE 

This is an annual event where Speech Pathology Honours 

students present their research findings. This invitation 

extends to all Speech Pathology students, community 

Speech Pathologists and Health Science staff in general. 

Each year a variety of projects are undertaken and 2011 

was no exception with research topics including autism, 

aphasia, dyslexia, childhood apraxia of speech, 

and stuttering. 

PSYCHOLOGY HONOURS RESEARCH SEMINARS 

The School of Psychology and Speech Pathology held the 

2011 Honours Research Seminars across three afternoons 

in July and August 2011. These seminars provided an 

overview of the research activities in the School’s honours 

program, and offered an opportunity for interaction among 

staff, supervisors and students. Each honours student 

presented on their research project, providing an overview of 

their project and current stage of progress. These seminars 

provided an avenue for students to develop their oral 

presentation skills and to obtain feedback from staff and 

students on their research. The 36 students presented on 

a range of research topics including perfectionism, body 

image, psychological sense of community, life satisfaction, 

mental health problems and pro-environmental behaviour.


47

48 

The research performance of the School of 

Psychology and Speech Pathology has achieved 

demonstrable improvements in all areas of research 

performance as evidenced by the improvements 

in the number and quality of research outputs, in 

grant capture across all research-active staff, and 

completion of HDR students. This demonstrates 

the pivotal role that the School plays within the 

Health Sciences Faculty and the University aims 

to establish Curtin as a global leader in research 

in health. Further, it is clear that the projects 

outlined in the current report make an important 

contribution to Curtin’s research impact and, 

looking ahead, such projects would be excellent 

examples for Curtin’s submission to the upcoming 

pilot of an Excellence in Innovation for Australia 

which aims to evaluate the impact of research in 

Australia. This provides a sound platform for the 

future development of research within the School 

and the School executive is developing new and 

innovative ways to improve research output and 

foster greater research capacity. Such initiatives 

include research incentives and internships, 

strategic targeting of new staff members with 

outstanding research profiles in keeping with 

current strengths, the proposal of new research 

groups, the development of a cohesive and 

appropriate set of research groupings to foster 

collaborative outputs and mentoring of early career 

staff, developing new ways of recruiting the best 

students to enrol in HDR programmes, and running 

grant and research writing workshops to facilitate 

new collaborative projects. These innovations will 

ensure continued sustainable growth in research 

capacity and outputs in the next year and beyond. 

Martin Hagger 

PhD 

Professor of Psychology

Contact 

School of Psychology 

and Speech Pathology 

Curtin University 

Kent Street 

Bentley WA 6102 

GPO Box U1987 

Perth WA 6845 

Tel: +61 8 9266 9825 

Web: healthscience.curtin.edu.au 

© Copyright Curtin University 2013 CRICOS Provider Code 00301J (WA), 02637B (NSW) 

Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of Technology 052630

ReSeaRch centRe foR aPPlied PSychology (RecaP) - Health ...

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?