Richard Stephens
The psychology lecturer proposes new research into swearing as emotional self-regulation, has a flash of inspiration in the bath, avoids a pile of marking, and hears from a fan in Chicago…
MondayBefore teaching recommences I'm enjoying freedom from timetable constraint. I begin the day answering e-mails. Students are asking about exams, seeking to arrange meetings, or requesting coursework extensions due to extenuating circumstances – something Keele is increasingly keen to be responsive to. I discuss an upcoming research meeting with a collaborator at Utrecht University, and correspond about an invitation to deliver a keynote at APOGEE 2012 student conference in India this March. A pile of marking – third year psychobiology assignments – lurks menacingly. I ignore this and instead prepare an application for research ethics review for a study on alcohol hangover effects on performance. In the evening I veg on the sofa reading an Inspector Morse novel.
TuesdayPartly inspired by Morse I have a research idea in the bath: do people better perform lateral thinking problems after consuming alcohol? I make a note of it. This often happens. I tackle the ferocious build-up of e-mail. As well as exam and extension queries I'm asked to provide a reference for a job application. A Canadian journalist asks me to fact check an article on my research showing that swearing can be a useful short-term strategy for dealing with pain. I attend a talk by John Williams of the Wellcome Trust on research funding opportunities. In the afternoon I liaise with admin and academic staff over teaching in the upcoming semester. I frown at the pile of marking as I leave for home.
WednesdayA nice start to the day when I receive a letter from a Chicago mother who has written to people around the world whose work she admires – wow, I'm one – asking for a few lines of advice for her son on his first birthday. I'll have to think about that. A committee meeting is followed by a supervision meeting with an MSc student researching clinical psychologists' experiences of swearing in their workplace. There is an issue over research ethics clearance – our research ethics committee suggests we need NHS research ethics clearance, but we don't agree and must find evidence to mount a response. I finally succumb to the marking.
ThursdayMy daughter and I attend her school's breakfast club where we eat delicious cream cheese bagels and chat to her friends and other parents. Then it's back to the PC. I have set aside today to continue writing a funding application for research on swearing as emotional self-regulation. This takes all day but is fun and I don't even think about the marking. I read some interesting research by James Gross of Stanford University on emotional self-regulation. He discusses how we are not at the beck and call of our emotions, but that we employ strategies to exert control over them. One example is viewing a job interview as an opportunity to gain skills and experience rather than as a test of personal worth.
FridayBreakfast club again, followed by further efforts at taming the e-mail beast. A student is looking for a PhD supervisor. I suggest a study looking at effects of alcohol hangover on athletes' sports performance. I agree to peer-review an article. I make travel arrangements for a talk in London and finalise arrangements for teaching. I catch up with a collaborator at Long Island University, New York. We discuss yet another research ethics application, this time for a study on whether swearing makes people stronger. A TV researcher e-mails asking if the benefits for pain tolerance from swearing compare with painkilling drugs such as paracetamol. I respond in a 200-word e-mail saying, essentially, that I don't know. I mark assignments all afternoon and pick up chips on the journey home.
SaturdayI take our daughter for a horse-riding lesson on a bright cold winter day. Next we head to the supermarket – yes, daughter, you can sit in the trolley even though you are seven years old and taking up almost half the available space for shopping. In the afternoon we have a family stroll to a newly opened deli for coffee and cake before meandering home through the local park.
SundaySunday involves swimming and family visiting for dinner. I'm back on the e-mail later on to confirm flight details for India and to prepare for a meeting tomorrow morning helping facilitate an MSc student's dissertation research with an external agency. It occurs to me what advice I should impart to the young man in Chicago – and for what it's worth I'll share it here. It is to always think for yourself and to have the courage to ask if you don't understand.
Dr Richard Stephens is a senior psychology lecturer at Keele University in the United KingdomThis article originally appeared on PublicServiceEurope.com: Seven days - a week in the life of Richard Stephens
As we are not nocturnal animals by nature, then we must benefit from sunlight, in several ways. It then follows that we can deal with sunlight - maybe we need to be more in touch with how to deal with exposure. This research shows that we do not know all the ways that we use sunlight naturally, which is probably true of other environmental factors. I will be very interested in outcomes of further research. Is there any research about sunlight and cognition?
