BIOGRAPHY

Helen joined the Psychology department at Essex in 2001 as an undergraduate. In 2004, having completed her first degree, Helen was awarded funding from the Economic and Social Research Council to undertake four years of postgraduate study. In 2005 she obtained an MSc in Psychological Research Methods and in 2009 was awarded her PhD in “Interpretation Bias and Social Anxiety”. In 2009 she was appointed as a lecturer in the department.

RESEARCH OVERVIEW

Helen’s research looks at how negative biases in the interpretation of ambiguous social information influences social anxiety. More specifically, her research concerns developing ways of successfully modifying the negative interpretation style in high anxious individuals’ by “training” people to adopt a positive rather than negative interpretation bias. This induction of positive interpretation biases has been found to reduce levels of social anxiety and generally increase emotional resilience in high anxious people. 

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

Standage, H., Harris Bawden, J., & Fox, E., (submitted). The Influence of Social Comparison on Cognitive Bias Modification. Journal of Abnormal Psychology.

Fox, E., & Standage, H. (2012). Variation on the serotonin transporter gene and bias in the interpretation of ambiguity. Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 24, 106-114. download.pdf

Fox, E., Derakshan, N., & Standage, H. (2011). The assessment of human attention. In Karl Christophe Klauer, Christoph Stahl, and Andreas Voss (Eds) Cognitive Methods in Social Psychology. Guilford Press. (pp. 15-47).

Standage, H., Ashwin, C., & Fox, E. (2010). Is manipulation of mood a critical component of cognitive bias modification procedures? Behaviour Research and Therapy, 48, 4-10. download.pdf

Standage, H., Ashwin, C., & Fox, E.  (2009). Comparing visual and auditory presentation for the modification of interpretation bias. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 40, 558-570. download.pdf