School of Psychology research

Our research helps health professionals, educators, charities, government and business understand how we think, behave and interact to meet a range of personal, social and economic challenges.

We engage with different communities, professional groups, organisations and businesses in many different ways. Individuals, families and organisations participate in our research studies while our staff and students engage with employers and businesses through placements, consultancy projects and specialist professional training provision.

Below are details of the research centres and groups in the School of Psychology and of our current research projects. Please contact us by following the links provided if you would like to be involved.

Groups

Man looking out a window

Cognition and Neuroscience

Conducts research into cognition and cognitive neuroscience in the areas of visual cognition, attention and memory; and language and communication.

Kids playing

Developmental Psychology

Promotes research and scholarship in all areas of developmental psychology.

Man behind bars

Forensic Psychology

Conducts research into the effects of psychological processes on crime and law and the psychological effects of criminal justice systems.

People on the street

Social Psychology

Conducts research into all areas of social psychology, with some work overlapping into organisational and cognitive science.

Centres

People clapping on a theatre

Centre for the Study of Group Processes

Conducts research into the social psychological processes affecting group and intergroup relations.

Lighting match

Centre of Research & Education in Forensic Psychology

Conducts high-impact psychological research to further our understanding of key forensic issues of social significance.

Projects and labs

Autism Research at Kent

Examines the effects of Autism Spectrum Disorder on social communication, visual attention and everyday functioning.

Kent Child Development Unit

Carries out a wide range of research and outreach activities in developmental psychology.

Firefighters handling fire

FIPMO/FIPP

Intervention programmes for offenders who deliberately set fires.

House of Parliament

Political Psychology

Fosters interdisciplinary research on the links between psychological processes and politics.

Scrabble spelling Brexit and EU

Political and Social Change

Charts changing political attitudes in Kent and Scotland.

Strategies to Oppose Prejudice (STOP)

Researching the origins of prejudice and how to combat it.

Research on Children in Schools

Working with nurseries, schools and families to understand how children learn about their world.

Man looking out a window

Kent face matching test

The Kent Face Matching Test (KFMT) is a published resource that provides a challenging test of 1-to-1 face matching.