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Prof David D Clarke
School of Psychology, University
of Nottingham, NG7 2RD |
• University Education etc
University of
Cambridge (Haswell Exhibitioner, Sidney Sussex College)
2nd MB 1970; BA
(Medical Sciences & Psychology) 1971; MA 1975; PhD (Social & Political
Sciences) 1987
University
of Oxford (St John's College)
MA 1976; DPhil
(Psychology) 1976
British
Psychological Society
FBPsS 1985; CPsychol
1988; CSci 2007
• Appointments Held
Department of Experimental
Psychology, University of Oxford
1975-76 Research Associate; 1976-83 Research Officer; 1983-87 Senior
Research Officer
Wolfson College, Oxford
1976-82 Junior Research
Fellow; 1982-87 Research Fellow; 1987- Member of Common Room; 1992 Visiting
Scholar
School of Psychology,
University of Nottingham
1987-91 Lecturer in Psychology; 1987- Director, Action Analysis Group; 1987-
Co-Director, Accident Research Unit; 1991-99 Reader; 1999- Professor of
Psychology; 1999-2000 Director of Teaching; 2000-01 Chair of University
Postgraduate Studies Committee; 2001-05 & 2009- Head of School of Psychology; 2007-
Chair of University of Nottingham Transport Research; 2007- Professor of the
Institute of Mental Health.
• Research Interests
"Of all the truths relating to
phenomena, the most valuable to us are those which relate to the order of their
succession. On a knowledge of these is founded every reasonable anticipation of
future facts, and whatever power we possess of influencing those facts to our
advantage." (John Stuart Mill, 1851)
My research is about sequences of
actions and events. Partly this is for practical reasons - patterns of events,
if understood appropriately, can be steered towards good outcomes and away from
bad ones. Partly it is for theoretical reasons - the sequence of events
produced by any system is characteristic of its internal processes. This
provides a good way of doing research even when experiments as such are
impossible, perhaps because the topic involves lives or events in the past, or
because the interesting causal factors are too difficult or too vital to
manipulate for experimental purposes.
There are three general
objectives. One is to find new, different and better ways to extract patterns
from sequences of events. The second is to find out more about the processes
which make the sequences as they are. The third is to exploit the practical
applications of these methods and findings.
There is no particular topic. This
approach works with events in the short term, such as episodes of
human-computer interaction, or the long term such as life stories and
relationships; with practical problems such as work-place violence, or
theoretical ones such as language change.
Three terms describe the way I try
to go about this:
Natural psychology - The reintegration of scientific and
everyday psychological ideas. As well as the conventional approach to
psychology, calling to mind a view of science and applying it to 'human
nature', we need the complementary approach, calling to mind our understanding
of human nature and working to make it more systematic and scientific. I think
this is a pressing need for some parts of psychology. If we cannot find room
for the lay person's psychology in what we do, there is not much chance of them
finding room for our psychology in what they do.
Extended sequence analysis - The methods and research possibilities
that lie just beyond the basic stochastic techniques of sequence analysis -
exploring and extending the 'zone of proximal development' of this approach.
Structured judgement methods - Research approaches that rely on expert
interpretation of (sometimes qualitative) data, but framed within rigorous
standardised procedures to increase reliability and validity.
This is partly a 'holistic'
approach. Episodes of behaviour often have to be pieced together to see what
they are part of, as much as taken to bits to see what they are made of.
• Current Activities
Over the last few years I have mainly
worked on road accidents, reconstructing the sequential patterns in several
thousand accidents from police case-files in major projects for the Department
for Transport.
I am also the chair of UNTR (University of Nottingham Transport Research). This
brings together over 100 researchers across the Faculties of Science and
Engineering, attracting around 8 million pounds a year in research grants and
contracts, with 30 million pounds worth of current research in Aerospace alone.
As well as funding from research councils and government departments, we have
strategic alliances with Airbus, BAE Systems, Ford, GE, Highways Agency, Honda,
Jaguar, Network Rail, Rolls-Royce and Shell. We have 6 EPSRC Platform Grants
related to transport research, in addition to the Nottingham IMRC and
collaboration in the Rail Research Centre, FP7 Clean Sky Initiative, and the ECON2
Marie Curie Fellowship Programme.
I was a founder member of the
University of Nottingham 'Institute for the Study of Genetics, Biorsisks and
Society' (IGBiS), which later became the 'Institute for Science and Society'
(ISS). This multi-disciplinary institute began by studying the psychological,
social, legal, and historical implications of the new biological techniques of
genomics, genetic modification, cloning, and other developments in
biotechnology, as well as contemporary biological hazards like prion diseases,
and the current risks in agriculture and food production. As ISS, the Institute now provides a focus on the socially
responsible use of innovations in clinical and biological sciences and their
associated technologies, including clinical genetics; the cloning of
domesticated animals; functional foods; and the impact of environmental
change. The University has long been a centre of excellence in
researching these areas and now brings the disciplines of social science, law
and the humanities into the arena. The Institute's core staff are funded by a
programme grant from the Leverhulme Trust but it also receives significant
funding from the Wellcome Trust and from ESRC. The portfolio of research
funding is around £3 million.
With Dr Ellen Townsend (formerly
of IGBiS), I am studying the ways in which emotional responses to risk can
frame belief and decision-making.
Some of my research students are
studying episodes of violent crime, including rapes, sexual assaults, and pub
fights, looking for predictable patterns and 'switch points', which could be
used help us prevent or contain serious incidents.
Next, I want to look in more
detail at the processes controlling the serial organisation of behaviour,
including some aspects the relation between emotion, cognition and action, and
a peculiar temporal asymmetry that occurs in some behaviour sequences, which we
call the 'super-reversal effect'.
• Ideas for PhDs
If you
are thinking of applying to do a PhD with me, I would be interested in
discussing a range of possible ideas and projects. Please contact me to to
check out your plans before applying formally to the University. Here are three
suggestions to be thinking about:
Analysis
of causal mechanisms in road accidents
We have an
extensive database of highly detailed accident reports developed over many
years of research. Some analysis has been done already and reported in a number
of journal articles, but there is potential for a lot more investigation based
on this rich source of data.
Applications
and development of sequence analysis methods
Sequence
analysis can be a highly effective way of analysing complex behavioural data
and solving practical problems. It is used in animal ethology, and some studies
of interpersonal behaviour, but in general is not widely known and used in
psychology. There are many interesting real-world problems that have not yet
been tackled in this way, and scope to modify, develop and customize the
techniques (both quantitative and qualitative) for a range of new uses.
Emotion
decision and action
Traditionally,
most studies of how people select and plan a course of action have dealt mainly
with rational cognitive considerations. But this is now changing. Emotion is a
hot topic. Many actions are best explained and predicted according to how
someone feels about an action, its consequences, or the person or thing it is
directed towards. Sometimes without realising it, we respond to imaginary
situations, and lay down plans that will trigger automatically if similar
circumstances arise. There are various projects to be done describing and
classifying the patterns of emotion, thought and action that recur most often
and affect people most forcefully.
• Research Grants
These
include projects for the ESRC on …
- 'The sequential structure of social
behaviour applied to social skills and group conflict' (1975-80)
- 'The social psychology of long-term
relationships' (1980-85)
- 'The role of emotion in processes of
high-level interaction and control' (1985-87)
- 'Configurations for autonomous
development in cognitive systems' (1985-88)
- 'Attribution theory in transport
research' (1988-89).
- 'Understanding new forms of digital
record for e-Social Science' (2005-2008) - a 'node' of the ESRC 'National
Centre for e-Social Science' based in Manchester, with colleagues in
Computer Science, English, and Psychology
- 'New methods for
predicting violent incidents in clinical settings' (2007-2010): 'CASE' studentship
also the Joint Research Councils'
Initiative in Cognitive Science and Human-Computer Interaction
- 'A multidisciplinary exploration of
the problem of joint action' (1990-92),
and TRL/DETR/DTLR/DfT etc
- 'The analysis of pre-accident
sequences' (1989-91),
- 'Causal mapping of selected road
accident cases' (1992-95)
- 'In depth accident causation study of
young drivers' (1998-2001)
- 'In depth study of motorcycle and work
related accidents' (2001-2005)
- 'In depth study of trends in fatal
accidents' (2005-2006).
- 'Car driver skills and attitudes in relation to
motorcycle safety (Phase 1)' Co-investigator. (2006)
- 'A detailed analysis of the circumstances
surrounding child-pedestrian road-accidents in the Greater Manchester
area' (2006
- 2007), with NRSI and Greater Manchester Police Authority
- Grant to establish
Transport Research as a strategic priority of the University (2007-2008)
from University of Nottingham Research Committee, and the Schools of Civil
Engineering; Mechanical, Materials and Manufacturing Engineering;
Psychology; Electrical & Electronic Engineering; and Computer Science
& Information Technology.
- 'Driver Behavioural
Profiling - Feasibility Study' (2007) Co-investigator. The Vehicle and
Operator Services Agency.
- 'Analysis of deprivation
in fatal road-traffic accidents' (2007).
- 'In-depth study of road
traffic accidents involving older drivers' (2007-09).
- 'Car driver skills and attitudes in relation to motorcycle safety (Phases 2-5)' Co-investigator. (2007 - 2009)
- Grant from Transport for London for a case-study of cyclist fatalities. (2008)
- Grant from Transport Research Laboratory Ltd for feasibility study of analysis methods for fatal road traffic collisions. (2009)
• Selected Recent
Papers
Weyman, A. K. and Clarke, D. D.
(2003) Investigating the influence of organisational role on perceptions of
risk in deep coal mines. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(3), 404-412. ISSN 0021-9010.Weyman, A. K., Clarke, D. D. and
Cox, T. (2003) Developing a factor model of coal miners' attributions on
risk-taking at work. Work & Stress, 17(4), 306-320. ISSN 0267-8373.
Townsend, E., Clarke, D. D. and
Travis, B. (2004) Effects of context and feelings on perceptions of genetically
modified food. Risk Analysis, 24(5), 1369 - 1384. ISSN 0272-4332.
Clarke, D. D., Ward, P. J. and Truman, W. A. (2005)
Voluntary risk-taking and skill deficits in young driver accidents. Accident
Analysis and Prevention, 37(3), 523-529. ISSN 0001-4575.
Clarke, D. D., Forsyth,
R. S., and Wright, R. L. (2005) A statistical profile of road accidents during
cross-flow turns. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 37(4),
721-730. ISSN 0001-4575.
Fossi, J., Clarke, D. D.
and Lawrence, L. (2005) Bedroom rape: Sequences of sexual behavior in stranger
assaults. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 20(11), 1444-1466. ISSN
0886-2605.
Clarke, D. D., Ward, P., Bartle,
C. and Truman, W. (2006) Young driver accidents in the UK: The influence of
age, experience, and time of day. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 38(5),
872-879. ISSN 0001-4575.
Milton, N., Clarke, D. and
Shadbolt, N. (2006). Knowledge engineering and psychology: Towards a closer
relationship. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 64(12),
1214-1229.
Nerlich, B., Clarke,
D. D. and Ulph, F. (2007) Risks and benefits of nanotechnology: How young
adults perceive possible advances in nanomedicine compared with conventional
treatments. Health, Risk & Society, 9(2), 159 - 171. ISSN: 1469-8331
(electronic), 1369-8575 (paper).
Clarke, D. D., Ward,
P. J., Bartle, C., and Truman, W. A. (2007) The role of motorcyclist and other
driver behaviour in two types of serious accident in the UK. Accident
Analysis and Prevention, 39(5), 974-981. ISSN 0001-4575.
Crundall,
D. E., Humphrey, K., and Clarke, D. D. (2008) Perception and appraisal of
approaching motorcycles at junctions. Transportation Research Part F, 11,
159–167. ISSN 1369-8478.
Crundall, D. E., Bibby, P., Clarke, D. D., Ward, P., and Bartle, C. (2008) Car drivers’ attitudes towards motorcyclists: A survey. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 40, 983–993. ISSN 0001-4575.
Forsyth,
R. S., Clarke, D. D., and Lam, P. (2008) Timelines, talk and
transcription: A chronometric approach to simultaneous speech. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics, 13(2), 225-250. ISSN 1384-6655.
Clarke, D. D., Ward, P. J., Bartle, C. and Truman, W. A. (2009) Work-related road traffic collisions in the UK. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 41, 354-351. ISSN 0001-4575.
Turner, K. and Clarke, D. D. (2009) Aggression in Intellectual Disability - A New Approach. Mental Health Review Journal, 14(2), 28-36. ISSN 1361-9322.
• Further Information
For more publications, click here.
Research grants are listed here.
Successful PhD students are here.
Last updated 17/08/09
Author David Clarke
http://www.psychology.nottingham.ac.uk/staff/ddc