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Personal Profile For Dr Nigel Holt
Senior Lecturer: Psychology. School of Science, Society and Management.
DPhil. [University of York], BSc(Hons) [University of Reading].
Personal Statement:
I am a senior lecturer in psychology at Bath Spa University, and Higher Education Academy Director of Learning and Teaching in Psychology at this University. Current research interests include investigations of how speech is perceived in difficult environments such as those with reverberation, and has been directed towards improvement of artificial hearing aids. The interaction of sound and vision interact in the encoding and retrieval of memories is also of interest in this respect. A collaboration with colleagues at Bath University in Psychology and Engineering looking into noise generated by wind flow over motorcycle helmets is underway and is related to how well people cope with difficult and complex multi-tasks such as motorcycling, while experiencing noise. I am also investigating the use of PodCasts in Higher education, in particular the teaching of Psychology at University Level. In my spare time I am a senior examiner at A level at both AS and A2, and speak at A level conferences around the country, and consulting with schools on the delivery of their A-level psychology. I am employed occasionally to speak for the Higher Education Academy to groups on how to construct materials to teach undergraduates, and how to deal with diverse cohorts of students. I have begun a collaboration with the National University of Singapore investigating whether bi-linguals perceive certain types of speech differently from mono-linguals using a categorical perception paradigm. This project has now been extended to include data information from bilinguals in Amsterdam, making it a very exciting, multi-national project. I completed a series of experiments in 2007 on the importance of face-perception to different types of road-users with a leading researcher in traffic psychology at Bath University, and these data are being prepared for publication. I also collaborate with a colleague in psychology at Reading University. We investigate the relationship between sound and memory and have published in 2007 in the area. In 2008 I published a level 1 undergraduate psychology text co-edited with colleagues in Leeds, Goldsmiths in London, and in Amsterdam and am currently preparing its second edition, and a textbook for those interested in carrying out research with people, with one of my collaborators at Bath University, Ian Walker. In addition to this, I have co-authored 2 AS level psychology textbooks, published in 2008, and an A2 book pulblished in 2009. In addition to this I co-authored a GCSE book on the subject, also published in 2009, and an A2 study guide appearing in 2010. I also co-edit the Insights in Psychology series from Palgrave appearing in late 2010. Finally, I co-manage a project on open-access peer-reviewed publishing called 'philica' which you may find on the internet (www.philica.com) which was licensed in 2010 to EBSO.
Professional Qualifications:
Membership of Professional Bodies/Subject Associations:
Teaching Specialism:
Cognition and Perception: At level 5, cognition in general, but with specialisms in perception and memory
Auditory Psychophysics: investigating the relationship between the stimulus (in this case sound) and the percept (what is actually perceived).
Key Publications/Exhibitions/Performances:
Holt, N. and Lewis, R. (2009) A2 Psychology: The Student's textbook. Crown House, UK.
Woods, B., Holt, N., Lewis, R., and Carrington V. (2009) Psychology for GCSE: Understanding Psychology, Hodder, London.
Holt, N. and Lewis, R. (2010) A2 Psychology: The Study Guide. Crown House, UK.
Passer, M., Smith, R., Holt, N., Bremner, A.J., Sutherland, E., and Vliek, M. (2008). Psychology: The science of mind and behaviour. London, UK: McGraw-Hill.
Holt, N. and Lewis, R. (2008) AS psychology: The Student's textbook. Crown House, UK.
Holt, N. and Lewis R.(2008) AS psychology: The Study Guide. Crown House, UK.
Holt, N. and Walker I.(2008) Research with People. Palgrave Macmillan, London.
Podcasting in psychology: the use of electronic media in supplementary teaching. Holt, N., Walker, I., and Crawley J. PLAT 2008
Reverberant Auditory Environments: The effects of Multiple Echoes on Distraction by 'Irrelevant' Speech. C. Philip Beaman and Nigel J Holt Applied Cognitive Psychology, Vol 20, Pp1-14 (2006)
The Problem with People:Faces, figures and vulnerable road users. Walker, I., Brosnan, M., and Holt N. (2006) RoSPA 71st Road Safety Congress, 27 Feb-1March 2006
Effects of a Complex Reflection on Vowel Identification Watkins A. J. and Holt N.J.Acustica - Acta Acustica Vol 86 (2000) 532-542
Perception of Reverberant Speech, Experiments in Virtual Auditory Conditions Holt, N.J. and Watkins, A.J. British Journal of Audiology, Vol 35.2 141
Speech Discrimination in Room Reververation Holt N.J. and Watkins A.J. British Journal of Audiology, Vol 36 126
Current Scholarship:
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FUNDED RESEARCH
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A collaboration with Mechanical Engineering at The University of Bath into Hearing amongst Motorcyclists funded by Leverhulme. Project funding begins in 2010
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NON-FUNDED RESEARCH
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Reverberation, irrelevant sound and memory
Wind-Noise and Motorcycling: Survey
Categorical Perception of Tonal Contrasts in Language in Mandarin/English Bilinguals
Classification and measurement of Pain using established psychophysical comparisons
Continued research into the interaction of road users at busy traffic junctions. Data collection complete.
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CONSULTANCY
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Automated measurements of hearing loss -
A-Level Psychology: Applying the Specification
Teaching and Learning in Higher Education
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ADDITIONAL
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Media: HTV West, Points West and BBC Radio Somerset.
http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/are-you-addicted-to-your-iphone-and-is-it-screwing-up-your-life--677867
External Examiners:
May 2006. Appointed external examiner in psychology to Richmond American University.
December 2008. Appointed external examiner in Psychology to Sheffield Hallam University.
April 2009. External Observer. Robert Gordon University school of social sciences revalidation procedure.
June 2010. Apointed external examiner for the international psychology course in Athens, Greece co-ordinated by Hertfordhire University.
Other External Roles:
Senior Examiner at AS and A2 Psychology with the AQA
Consultant, continuing professional development of secondary school teachers. Research methods and statistics in psychology. AQA examination board.
Recent Professional Updating:
Last Updated: 19 March 2010.
This page is created by the above named individual. The views expressed are theirs and are not those of Bath Spa University. BSU is not responsible for the content of any external sites referenced.