Dr Lance Slade

My main teaching area is Developmental Psychology, with a special interest in its applied relevance to social and educational contexts. My current teaching responsibilities, by level, are as follows:

• Level 5 (Year 2): I Convene and teach on the Social and Developmental Psychology and convene and teach the Psychology and Education module.
• Level 6 (Year 3): I teach on the Psychology of the Family module.
• Masters Conversion Course: I teach on the Developmental Psychology module.

Supervision: I supervise research projects at undergraduate and post-graduate (MSc, PsychD and PhD) level, using a range of quantitative methodologies (e.g., questionnaire, observation and experimental measures) both within nursery and school settings, as well as lab based studies and involving both typically and atypically developed children and adults. More recently I have begun to supervise projects using and integrating eyetracking approaches.

My main research interest is in the development and application of social cognition, particularly theory-of-mind understanding. I am interested in

• how theory- of-mind understanding impacts on social and behavioural adjustment and interaction across the lifespan and also its relevance for certain professions (e.g., teachers and counsellors)
• the role theory-of-mind understanding has in other aspects of cognitive development such as children’s emerging reading comprehension (and for academic achievement more generally).
• the factors that promote theory-of mind: cognitive factors (particularly language and executive functions) and social factors such as attachment orientation but particularly aspects of parenting style and family interaction (e.g., maternal mental state talk and mind-mindedness).

I also have an interest in other aspects of development, including learning and motivation (achievement goals) and the effect of consumer culture and media exposure on children’s well-being.

Doctoral supervision (current and completed projects)

• Talking about the children: An investigation into the dispositional or relational basis of mind-mindedness.(S. Goode, PhD, current).
• Understanding social behaviour: The impact of self-awareness of own behaviour in University students.(K. Holsey, PhD, current)
• A longitudinal investigation into the relation between early theory of mind and later reading comprehension ability: Exploring metacognition and mental state talk within the home literacy environment. (S. Jackson, PhD, completed 2019)
• Domain general attention processes and stimuli properties underlying atypical social attention in high-functioning adults with ASD. (S. Skipkauskaite, PhD, completed 2018)
• A longitudinal investigation of the social, cognitive and social cognitive predictors of reading comprehension (L. Atkinson, PhD, completed 2015)
• Neural and behavioural correlates of perspective taking in adults (M. Nielsen, PhD, completed 2015).
• Attachment and mentalizing in counselling psychologists and psychotherapists: An exploration using self-report, behavioural and eye-tracking measures (M. Hill, PsychD, completed 2013)

Selected conference presentations

• Jackson, S., Slade, L., McCormick, S., & Levy, J.P. (2018). The longitudinal contribution of broad metacognition versus theory of mind in early listening comprehension. Poster to be presented at the Twenty-Firth Meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading, Brighton, July 18-21.
• Skripkauskaite, S., Mayer, J., Aksentijevic, A., & Slade, L. (2018). Viewing of Social and Non-Social Information in Natural Scenes in High-Functioning Adults with ASD. Poster presented at the International Society for Autism Research (INSAR) Annual Meeting, de Doelen ICC Rotterdam, Netherlands, May 9-12
• Jackson, S., Slade, L., McCormick, S., & Levy, J.P (2017). The role of broad metacognition versus socially specific metacognition in preschool listening comprehension. Paper presented at the BPS Developmental Section Conference, Crowne Plaza, Stratford-upon-Avon, Sept 13-15
• Atkinson, L., Powell, D., Slade, L., & Levy, J.P. (2016). The role of preschool language and social cognition unexpected poor comprehension: A retrospective analysis. Poster presented at the Twenty-Third Annual Meeting Society for the Scientific Study of Reading, Porto, Portugal, July 13-16
• Slade, L. (2014). Attachment orientation and theory of mind in adolescence. Poster presented at the BPS Developmental Section Conference Amsterdam, September 3-5
• Chesson, L., Powell, D., Slade, L., & Levy, J. (2014). Investigating the influence of home literacy practices on the developmental pathways of early reading comprehension, Symposium paper presented at the Twenty-First Annual Meeting Society for the Scientific Study of Reading, Santa Fe, New Mexico, July 16-19