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Sam Day

BA, MSc


DPhil Candidate

Focusing on the processing and integration of complex social and emotional stimuli

Emotions and Social Relations

Having completed both the Experimental Psychology BA and Psychological Research MSc degrees at Oxford (and Brasenose), I am now beginning my DPhil. I am interested in exploring how social and emotional stimuli - particularly facial expressions such as smiles - are processed and integrated together in order to guide effective social functioning.

More specifically, I aim to study how various factors including emotional expression, personal and group identity, behavioural history, trustworthiness, and situational context are all combined at a moment-to-moment level to influence social decision-making and behavioural judgements. This research will involve isolated processing paradigms and brain recordings, as well as a particular emphasis on the more ecological "Second-Person" approach to social psychology.

In addition, I hope to assess how these processes may be affected in clinical populations - particularly those with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

My work will be supervised by Dr Danielle Shore, with co-supervision from Prof Geoff Bird. I am funded by the ESRC's 1+3 Grand Union DTP.