Our Research

The Department of Psychology at Maynooth University is a unique and dynamic environment for research and it is leading globally in some key areas. Our research is published in some of the world’s premier psychology and interdisciplinary journals, and by the world’s leading book publishers. We are currently producing around 100 scholarly articles, project reports and policy briefs, each year; presenting at national and international conferences; and participating in major global decision-making bodies.

We collaborate locally, nationally and globally. Our research partners with and impacts on individuals and communities, service users and providers, industry, governments, civil society and United Nations agencies. We have a strong ethos of engaged research; and also value the importance of basic research and theory building.

With some award winning psychologists, we are strong both in core areas of psychology and new hybrid interdisciplinary areas. Our cohort of post-doctoral researchers and PhD scholars reflects a breadth of interests, experiences, methodologies and a work environment characterised by a warm welcoming atmosphere. Our undergraduates engage in research, including research placements within and outside the university, and our final year students attend our regular seminar series of visiting speakers.

Maynooth psychology makes an internationally distinctive and vibrant contribution to research and practice with a focus on four intersecting themes:

Rehabilitation, Disability & Health Psychology – focusing mostly on the psychology of the well-being of individuals and communities and their service provision, in terms of impairments/disability, assistive technologies, coping and empowerment; using quantitative and qualitative methods.

Mental Health, Community & Positive Psychology – focusing mostly on the psychology of mental health and well-being of individuals, families and communities, as well as on service provision and evaluation, particularly (but not exclusively) with a focus on vulnerability, marginalisation, resilience, and personal growth (and based, on mixed methods strategies/approaches).

Neuroscience, Behaviour & Cognition – focusing mostly on the psychology of experimental methods to understand and address fundamental challenges in intelligence, thought processes, neuronal functioning and human and animal behaviour.

Organisations, Systems and Policy – focusing mostly on the psychology of complex systems problems, of inter-relatedness and change; using qualitative, quantitative and policy techniques, working with a broad range of businesses, service providers and international agencies.

Importantly, and unusually, most of our staff are active across more than one of these areas. This is a characteristic that we deliberatively cultivate, allowing for insights and initiatives to flourish beyond narrow research or disciplinary boundaries.

As a university, Maynooth embraces an ethos of Engaged Research; nowhere is this more apparent than in the Department of Psychology, where staff members lead the Centre for Mental Health and Community Research (CMHCR), and the ALL (Assisting Living & Learning) Institute; our staff are also affiliated to other interdisciplinary research institutes, the Maynooth University Social Science Institute and Maynooth Human Health Institute.

Our award-winning psychologists have been recognised in a diversity of ways, including for commercialisation (MU Commercialisation Office Annual Commercialisation of IP Award); for brain representation (The Brain Art Prize); for Humanitarian work (American Psychological Association International Humanitarian Award); and we have the only psychologist in Ireland to be awarded a Gold Medal for research by the Royal Irish Academy.

Beyond publications, impact, global presence and recognition by awards; each one of us is enthusiastically engaged in research that pushes the frontiers of knowledge and often makes a real difference to how people think, feel or act. Below you can see how our research impacts across our 4 intersecting themes. Clicking on a staff member’s name will allow you to find out more about that individual’s research programme, associated publications and other activities. Please feel free to contact any of us directly.

Departmental Research Infrastructure

The department has a range of infrastructure to support and enable research. The department is equipped with a total of nine research dedicated cubicles. Of these, six are for general use, each equipped with a PC running appropriate software for experimental psychology (e.g. E-Prime, PsyScope, InQuist, Super Lab, PEBL). Such cubicles are widely used by both undergraduate and post-graduate students in their research work. Two cubicles are dedicated for use in EEG recordings, and as such are electrically-shielded and accompanied by a separate preparation space. These cubicles house two 128 electrode ERP recording systems (which can be combined for a very high density 256 channel system). The department also has a lower-density EEG system that is typically used off-site (eg. in hospitals) in collaborative projects. One cubicle is dedicated to the use of virtual reality, via an Occulus Rift headset and a bespoke high processing capacity PC. This system is currently used in modelling cognitive factors pertinent to driving performance.

For Psychophysiology, we have a range of equipment for use in biological and cognitive psychology. Amongst the available equipment are two polygraph systems (BioPac) for ECG, GSR, EMG and other physiological measurement, a transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) system for cognitive neuroscience, a Tobii 1750 Eye Tracker for eye movement detection during behavioural tasks, Actiwatches (~50) for use in the objective long-term measurement of activity, sleep and circadian rhythms and a Dynamap system for monitoring heart rate and blood pressure. The department has also recently acquired a Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) system with NeuroNavigation for brain stimulation studies in cognitive neuroscience. The department has a number of facilities for behavioural neuroscience, including a rodent behaviour laboratory equipped for conducting various learning and behavioural paradigms. The laboratory is equipped for Morris Water Maze investigations of spatial memory (via an EthoVision tracking system), as well as a number of other tests (eight arm radial maze, elevated plus maze, tail suspension test, forced swim test, open field test, sucrose preference test, open field test). The department has recently acquired a system for the wireless recoding of EEG in freely behaving rodents to further enhance capacity in behavioural neuroscience. The department also has a separate facility for examining circadian rhythms in behaviour in rodents and has access to a number of operant chambers for small rodents. In addition, there is a dedicated “wet” laboratory for neuroscience and biological psychology. This lab includes facilities for immunohistochemistry of brain tissue, specialised equipment for measurement of circadian rhythms at the genetic level, microscopy, electrophysiological recording, biochemical analysis and a plate reader for hormone assays. The research hardware in the department is supported by a number of software packages, including: E-Prime, PsyScope and InQuist for building experiments; Qualtrics for on-line data gathering; SPSS and Matlab, R for data analysis; and MAX-QDA and WeftQDA for qualitative analysis.

Illustrative examples of influence and impact across the four departmental research themes

Neuroscience, Behaviour & Cognitive Psychology

We have developed an online game-based intervention – SMART - which is the only cognitive enhancement method to have been repeatedly shown to increase general intelligence and educational aptitude, to a clinically significant degree. It is now used by hundreds of clinics and schools worldwide and is changing our understanding of the stability of human intellectual capacity, its functional components, and how to enhance it.
Prof Bryan Roche

Our research on the neuroscience of spatial navigation is relevant to Alzheimer's disease where disorientation and spatial memory problems are often the first deficits observed. For instance, we have shown that the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus have important roles not previously understood.
Prof Sean Commins

Our research focuses on using virtual reality (VR) and serious gaming for neuropsychological assessment. These methods hold the potential to be more engaging and more accurate than traditional approaches. For instance, we have shown that a VR-based test for Neuropsychological Assessment shows a 95% of accuracy in both correctly detecting ADHD cases and correctly discarding non ADHD individuals between ages 6 and 16. We have also seen that a combination of Luria and Kaplan´s work on a process-based approach to cognitive assessment, applied to developed improved modified versions of widely used cognitive screening tests (like the MoCA) and integrated with technological developments in VR, may improve neuropsychological assessment and the cognitive section of a diagnostic process in MCI and dementia.
Dr Unai Diaz-Orueta

Our research explores reminiscence therapy, through a group-based guided recollection of events, on preserving memory in healthy older participants and those with a diagnosis of dementia. This research is engaging local communities to enhancing cognition, well-being and mental health in older populations.
Prof Richard Roche

Rehabilitation, Disability & Health Psychology

Our research has been influential in advancing understanding of the impact of psychological factors in assistive technology use. For instance, I led an international interdisciplinary group to produce a position paper on ‘Assistive Technology and People’ based on discussions at the Global Research, Innovation, and Education on Assistive Technology (GREAT) Summit, held at the World Health Organisation (WHO) headquarters in Geneva in August 2017.
Professor Deirdre Desmond, Co-Director, ALL Institute

Using qualitative and quantitative methods, we developed a group-based self-management intervention targeting the specific and unique needs of head and neck cancer survivors following their completion of primary treatment. We are currently conducting a feasibility study of this intervention with patients from three Irish hospitals, funded by the Health Research Board’s Definitive Interventions and Feasibility Awards.
Dr Laura Coffey

Our research has been examining the role of childhood self-control in forecasting health and economic outcomes later in life (e.g. pension savings, smoking, longevity). Funded by the ESRC and NIHR in the UK we have also estimated the psychological determinants and consequences of unemployment and the health impact of the Winter Fuel Payment state benefit. Audiences for this work have included the Irish Department of Health and Economic and Social Research Institute, Skills Development Scotland, and the Children and Families Directorate within the Scottish government.
Dr Michael Daly

Our research on cancer survivors and caregivers demonstrated that retrospective and prospective appraisals - specifically the way in which people reflect on their past experiences, as well as how they represent their future prognosis - influences their current well-being. We are exploring how best negative expectations and appraisals may be overcome so that people cope better with their condition.
Dr Rebecca Maguire

Our research on light's effects on the circadian system and health led to my inclusion on an Expert Panel at the National Institute of Environmental Health (NIEHS)/National Toxicology Program (USA). Our research suggests that shift work be included as a known carcinogen in the Report on Carcinogens. As 20% of the working population undertakes shift work, this is a matter of utmost interest for public health.
Prof Andrew Coogan

Mental Health, Community & Positive Psychology

The research in the Centre for Mental Health and Community Research (CMHCR) has positively impacted hundreds of research participants and other stakeholders, whilst raising awareness of important societal challenges, helping to inform health and social service practice and policy, adding new knowledge and promoting understanding of mental health and well-being, both nationally and internationally.
Prof Sinéad McGilloway, Founder Director, CMHCR

Our research has played a key role, both nationally and internationally, in helping to develop, implement and evaluate complex health and social care interventions for vulnerable children and their families. This work - which has involved extensive community engagement - illustrates, amongst other things, the importance of early intervention and prevention in promoting and supporting family mental health and well-being in the early years.
Dr Grainne Hickey, Post-Doctoral Researcher (CMHCR) and Prof Sinéad McGilloway, CMHCR

Our research has directly contributed to the development of new diagnostic criteria for the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) descriptions of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Complex PTSD (CPTSD) which are the internationally renowned manuals for diagnosing/classifying mental health problems.
Prof Philip Hyland

Our research has been developing, implementing and evaluating complex health and social care interventions for vulnerable children and their families. Funded by the Health Research Board in Ireland and the National Institute for Health Research in the UK; engaging with service users, providers and policy makers throughout.
Dr Grainne Hickey, Post-Doctoral Researchery

Our research offers novel findings that straightforward, cost-effective positive psychological interventions can be harnessed to improve happiness and socialrelationships, both key markers of mental and physical health. We are working towards building an evidence base identifying how positive psychological constructs, such as gratitude and resilience, are not only important for psychological health, but also protective for markers of physical health, both somatic and biomarkers. This not only impacts positive psychology, but also clinical and health psychology from which it traverses.
Dr Brenda O'Connell

Organisational, Systems and Policy Psychology

Our research on social justice considers how to scale-up good practices at the level of small-scale community projects, to the national level and to create the systems-change that will sustain theme. This work is with government and civil society and is particularly focused on gender and disability; in Ireland, Mexico, France and Laos.
Dr Ana Maria Sanchez Rodriguez, Post-Doctoral Researcher

Our research have influenced Shell’s holistic health programme; including their development of a more tailored programme adapted to seafarers. In the context of promoting organisational justice, positive health interventions may be particularly effective.
Dr Joanne McVeigh

Our research focuses on promoting social inclusion, especially for people with disabilities. Working with civil society, government, corporates and United Nations agencies; we have contributed to new policies and practices, particularly in Africa and Asia; and have key leadership roles in a number of prominent global consortia.
Prof Mac MacLachlan, Director, ALL Institute

Research

Undergraduate Studies

Postgraduate Studies

International

Search form

Maynooth University Department of Psychology