Methodological messiness: a call for a multi-perspective approach to cognition

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Time: 12.00pm - 1.00pm
Venue: Room 2001, John Galsworthy building, Penrhyn Road campus, Penrhyn Road, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey KT1 2EE
Price: free

About the talk

With increased attention being paid to methodological and theoretical reform, this talk will address how the use of qualitative methods can support hypothesis generation in cognitive psychology. I will argue that the use of inductive observation can identify hitherto unrecognised mechanisms and phenomena which can then form the basis of further research. This is particularly important if cognition is considered a form of situated sensemaking, taking place within a complex dynamic of people, environment and things.

This talk will outline the basics of a pragmatist approach to knowledge that argues that as researchers we are epistemic agents embedded in communities which enforce certain normative standards which bear continual reassessment. I shall illustrate the argument by drawing on eye tracking research conducted with Greek ceramicists as part of an ERC funded project, eye tracking and video work undertaken as part of a craft focused project as well as experimental work conducted in lab.

About the speak

Wendy Ross is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology and Ethics and Open Science lead at London Metropolitan University. Her research interests are the cognitive states and processes that underlie creativity, insight problem solving, future thinking and serendipity from an extended cognition perspective.

She has ongoing collaborations with makers, anthropologists, philosophers and transdisciplinary researchers including being the eye tracking expert for the ERC funded Handmade Project. She is associate editor of Possibility Studies and Society and the Creativity Research Journal as well co-chair of the Serendipity Society, secretary of the Possibility Studies Network and secretary of the BPS Cognitive Psychology Section.

She obtained her PhD from Kingston University in 2021 under the supervision of Frédéric Vallée-Tourangeau and is delighted to be back!

For further information about this event:

Contact: Dr Goffredina Spanò
Email: G.Spano@kingston.ac.uk