Eight projects, in plain language.
Selected work from the BSc (Hons) Psychology at the University of Sunderland — empirical research, critical reviews, health-psychology intervention design, a policy-style report on online misinformation, and a sketchbook-and-exhibition project on Fear of Cancer Recurrence. Each entry distils the key takeaways.
- PSY332
A Path to Healing — psychological burden of cancer (empirical project)
Cross-sectional MANOVA study comparing how gender shapes psychology students' knowledge, attitudes and empathy toward the psychological burden of cancer patients. Supervised by Dr Sidra Afzal.
Key findings
- Cancer is a biopsychosocial experience — anxiety, depression, existential fear and PTSD are common across diagnosis, treatment and remission (Mitchell et al., 2011).
- Engel's (1977) biopsychosocial model frames the project: biology, psychology and society co-produce illness and recovery.
- Roughly 1 in 2 cancer patients reaches clinically significant distress (Mehnert et al., 2018) — distress is the rule, not the exception.
- Chronic stress and isolation disrupt immune function and inflammation, hindering recovery (Chida et al., 2008; Antoni, 2013).
- Females typically score higher on affective empathy and report more positive attitudes toward illness (Christov-Moore et al., 2014).
- Knowledge findings about cancer in student samples are mixed — gender doesn't reliably predict factual knowledge (Kala et al., 2023).
- Suffering can also foster post-traumatic growth — adversity is not only damage (Tedeschi & Calhoun, 2004).
- Tools used: Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (TEQ), adapted Kala et al. knowledge/attitudes items, JASP MANOVA with Wilks' Lambda + Pillai's Trace.
- Psychology students are an under-studied population — their attitudes shape the next generation of clinicians.
- Practical implication: training must explicitly build compassionate, psychosocial preparedness — not just diagnostic skill.
- PSY358
Dissertation — affective touch, CT afferents and autism
Literature review (7,480 words) integrating neuroscience of CT-afferent affective touch with autism, sensory processing and emotion regulation.
Key findings
- C-Tactile (CT) afferents are unmyelinated nerves tuned to slow, gentle, skin-temperature stroking — the neural substrate of affective touch.
- CT input projects to the insular cortex, encoding the social-emotional value of touch rather than its spatial detail.
- Autistic individuals frequently show atypical responses to affective touch — sometimes aversive, sometimes hyporesponsive.
- Early caregiving touch shapes oxytocin and HPA-axis development, with long-term effects on stress regulation.
- Excitation/inhibition imbalance models (Rubenstein) help explain altered sensory processing in autism.
- Sensory-based interventions and weighted/deep-pressure approaches show promise but evidence remains heterogeneous.
- EMDR and other body-based therapies are being trialled with autistic adults for trauma (Fisher et al.).
- Affective touch is a candidate mechanism linking sensory profile to social motivation and loneliness in autism.
- Methodological gap: most CT-afferent work uses non-autistic adult samples — autistic cohorts remain under-represented.
- Clinical implication: touch-based support must be consent-led and individually titrated, never assumed comforting.
- PSY378
Critical review — caffeine vs. nicotine (Psychology of Addiction)
DSM-5-TR comparison of Tobacco Use Disorder and the proposed Caffeine Use Disorder, evaluated through Incentive Sensitization, Operant Conditioning and Koob & Volkow's three-stage cycle.
Key findings
- Tobacco Use Disorder is a full DSM-5-TR diagnosis; Caffeine Use Disorder remains in Section III for further study.
- Nicotine acts on nicotinic acetylcholine receptors → strong mesolimbic dopamine release → fast tolerance and craving.
- Caffeine works mostly as an adenosine receptor antagonist — increases dopamine but with far less sensitisation.
- Incentive Sensitisation (Robinson & Berridge, 2008): repeated use makes 'wanting' grow while 'liking' fades.
- Operant conditioning: caffeine is positively reinforced (alertness); smoking is negatively reinforced (relieves withdrawal/anxiety).
- Koob & Volkow's three stages — binge/intoxication → withdrawal/negative affect → preoccupation/anticipation — fit nicotine far better than caffeine.
- Nicotine cessation has 60–75% relapse at 6–12 months; only 3–7% quit long-term without support (Hughes; Chaiton; Laniado-Laborín).
- Nicotine replacement therapy increases quit rates 50–60% vs. placebo (Hartmann-Boyce et al., 2018).
- Only ~8% of caffeine users meet proposed CUD research criteria — clinically far less disruptive (Sweeney et al., 2020).
- High neuroticism, low conscientiousness, chronic stress and genetic load (Kendler et al., 2003) raise vulnerability to both.
- PSY380
From Pain to Transcendence — generational trauma, bullying, empathy
Online news essay integrating developmental, environmental and social psychology to explain how trauma transmits across generations and how the cycle can break.
Key findings
- Generational trauma transmits via parental behaviour, emotional climate and relational expectations (Yehuda & Lehrner, 2018).
- Early adversity activates the HPA axis and elevates cortisol, becoming biologically embedded (Gunnar & Quevedo, 2007; Johnson et al., 2013).
- Authoritarian and neglectful parenting both predict aggression, low self-esteem and poor emotional regulation (Norman et al., 2012).
- Bowlby's internal working models translate repeated criticism into beliefs like 'I'm not good enough' or 'love is unpredictable'.
- Strange Situation classifications vary cross-culturally — 'insecure' can be a cultural adaptation, not dysfunction (Mesman et al., 2016).
- Household chaos predicts long-term aggression, hyper-reactivity and weakened executive function more than school or peer stress (Evans & Kim, 2013).
- Adolescents are uniquely sensitive to peer evaluation and belonging while the prefrontal cortex is still maturing (Steinberg, 2017).
- Bullying often externalises pain — low self-esteem, envy and unmet belonging drive aggression toward peers.
- Orchid/dandelion model (Ellis & Boyce): the same adversity can wound or strengthen depending on sensitivity and support.
- ACT, trauma-informed schools (HEARTS) and post-traumatic growth (Tedeschi & Calhoun) can convert pain into empathy and resilience.
- PSY373
Eat Smart. Think Sharp. — campus 5-a-day intervention
Four-week health-psychology behaviour-change programme for 18–25 students: WhatsApp prompts, leaflet, infographic, planner, tracker, buddy guide, video and pre/post evaluation.
Key findings
- Target behaviour: ≥5 portions of fruit & veg per day, sustained across one month.
- 12-message WhatsApp sequence (3/week × 4 weeks) staged: Awareness → Skills & Planning → Tracking → Maintenance.
- Portion literacy uses hand-based heuristics (fist, palm, cupped hands) — accessible without scales or apps.
- Budget framing addresses the #1 student barrier: frozen veg, own-brand staples, flatmate splits.
- Snack-swap sheet operationalises substitution, a core behaviour-change technique (BCT).
- SMART goal sheets translate intention into specific, weekly, reviewable actions.
- Self-monitoring habit tracker (7×5 grid) leverages tick-box reinforcement and streak psychology.
- Buddy/peer-accountability system uses social support without shaming — a research-backed maintenance lever.
- 1-minute modelling video targets self-efficacy and outcome expectations (Bandura).
- Pre/post questionnaire measures behaviour, attitudes, self-efficacy, intentions and perceived barriers for evaluation.
- PSY272 (a)
UN Report — magical thinking & online misinformation
Policy-style review of how manifestation, astrology, angel numbers, crystal healing and online tarot spread on TikTok/Instagram/Reddit/YouTube — and how to counter it.
Key findings
- Magical thinking meets real psychological needs: control, meaning, identity and emotional regulation under uncertainty.
- Langer's (1975) illusion of control explains manifestation rituals — overestimating influence over random outcomes.
- Rotter's external locus of control predicts higher trust in fate, luck, astrology and psychic guidance.
- Forer effect: vague, flattering statements feel personally true — the engine of horoscopes.
- Ono (1987): intermittent reinforcement keeps superstitious behaviour alive even when the link is illusory.
- Bandura's social learning: belief spreads through parents, peers and visually persuasive influencer content.
- Confirmation bias + algorithmic feeds create echo chambers that crowd out skeptical viewpoints.
- Real harms: scams, dangerous health advice, delayed help-seeking, erosion of public scientific literacy.
- Misinformation is profitable — personalised manifestation guides and crystals monetise belief.
- Five-lever response: critical-thinking education, platform accountability, public awareness, digital skepticism, accessible CBT.
- PSY272 (b)
Investigative storyboard — Why do people believe in ghosts?
Six-segment documentary storyboard with empirical justification, mapping cognitive, cultural, emotional and physiological drivers of ghost belief.
Key findings
- Confirmation bias: pre-existing belief filters ambiguous events into 'evidence' (French & Stone, 2004).
- Fear of the unknown activates the Hypersensitive Agency Detection Device (HADD) — better to over-detect than miss a predator.
- Cultural and religious narratives (Christianity, Hinduism, Halloween, East-Asian ghost traditions) normalise belief.
- Continuing-bonds grief (Klass & Goss, 2018): ongoing connection with the deceased can be felt as presence.
- Bereavement hallucinations — auditory, visual or sensed presence — are common and non-pathological.
- Media cultivation: horror film and social-media paranormal content shift baseline beliefs about what's plausible.
- Sleep paralysis: ~50% lifetime prevalence of at least one episode; hallucinations during paralysis are often read as ghosts (Sharpless & Barber, 2011).
- Pareidolia: the brain over-extracts faces and figures from noise — shadows, clouds, photos.
- Infrasound (low-frequency sound) can cause nausea, unease and visual distortions, often labelled 'haunted'.
- Belief in ghosts is best understood as multi-causal — cognitive, cultural, emotional and physiological mechanisms compound.
- Sketchbook & Exhibition
Fear of Cancer Recurrence — a poetic-academic sketchbook
A hand-made sketchbook and exhibition project translating the scientific literature on Fear of Cancer Recurrence (FCR) into a poetic, visual, autobiographical inquiry. Built from a testicular-cancer survivor's perspective — equal parts scoping review, poetic enquiry and art journal.
Key findings
- Topic: Fear of Cancer Recurrence (FCR) — the worry or fear that cancer may return or progress (Vickberg, 2003; Lebel et al., 2016; Herschbach & Dinkel, 2014).
- Prevalence: 39–97% of cancer survivors experience some FCR; 22–87% report moderate-to-high, persistent levels (Li et al., 2026 scoping review).
- Adaptive vs. maladaptive: mild FCR can drive healthy vigilance (check-ups, lifestyle); persistent FCR is linked to anxiety, depression, sleep disturbance, cognitive impairment and reduced quality of life.
- Most-studied treatments: CBT, mindfulness-based interventions and ACT — frequently effective, but evidence is fragmented and clinical thresholds remain unclear.
- Field-level gap: of 122 studies reviewed by Li et al. (2026), only 23% clearly defined FCR and 18 different measurement instruments were used — conceptual fragmentation and limited construct validity.
- Theoretical lens 1 — Common-Sense Model of Self-Regulation (Leventhal et al., 2008): identity, cause, timeline, consequences, controllability and coping representations shape how survivors respond to recurrence cues.
- Theoretical lens 2 — Socioemotional Selectivity Theory (Carstensen): a foreshortened future shifts goals toward meaning, presence and emotionally close relationships (Ryan & Hoyt, 2018).
- Adult self-image after testicular cancer: surgery, chemotherapy and infertility threats impact masculinity, fertility, sexual function and body image (Dahl et al., 2005; Rossen et al., 2009).
- Future-oriented goal pursuit and a sense of meaning mediate post-cancer wellbeing — hope and identity rebuilding matter as much as symptom reduction.
- Hope reconceptualised (dynamic systems): hope is not just a feeling but a multi-component system — agency, pathways, achievements, mechanisms — that changes over time (Pan et al., 2023).
- Hope predicts academic success, protects against suicide risk and acts as an adjustment mechanism in adversity — but it can also distract from real threats when it becomes unrealistic (critical evaluation included).
- Critical evaluation of the hope literature: heavy reliance on educational/Western samples (US, Israel) limits generalisability to clinical cancer populations; need for clearer definitions and unified measures across domains.
- Conclusion: a shift from trying to eliminate fear → learning to regulate it, with clearer definitions, standardised measurement and more mechanism-focused research.
- Companion narrative — 'This is my scar' (4 Feb 2022 diagnosis · 7 Feb 2022 surgery): scar as catalyst for identity reconstruction, meaning-craving and resilience.
- Stages-of-grief journey: denial → anger → bargaining → depression and self-harm → hope, sparked by music ('new beginnings… a new life is awaiting us').
- FEAR mind-map: emotional response, reaction to threat, survival mechanism, vulnerability — Forget Everything And Run, or Face Everything And Rise.
- Types of fear mapped: physical (chronic, death), psychological (uncertainty, loss of control), social (judgement, rejection, loss of purpose).
- Responses to fear: psychological (anxiety, intrusive thoughts, hypervigilance, panic, rumination), physical (headache, tension, fight/flight/freeze/fawn).
- How fear develops: past experiences, trauma, memory, learning, uncertainty, beliefs/expectations, cultural influences — and how it changes, persists or transforms over time.
- Function of fear (when adaptive): protection, awareness, survival, motivation — vs. when fear becomes maladaptive and self-harming.
- Poetic Enquiry — Part 3 — colour-coded final piece: Purple = return of the past (memories that don't stay in memory but affect the present); Blue = emotional depletion, fatigue, the way prolonged anxiety creates exhaustion; Green = hope and resilience through love and personal expression — not certainty of full recovery, but the possibility of moving forward.
- Found-poetry method: cut-out lines ('But the ghosts of the past stand ahead my racing car', 'My emotional comfort runs full out of gas', 'My headlights try their best to push through the dark I'm trapped in', 'And keep my thoughts and me from going all too far') re-arranged into a survivor's voice.
- Visual layer: scar photography, blood-painted hands, angel wings, paper sculptures, song-lyric collage and the song 'The Dark' as soundtrack — embodied, multi-modal data.
- Embedded references include: Leventhal et al. (2008), Ryan & Hoyt (2018), Pan et al. (2023), Li et al. (2026), Vickberg (2003), Lebel et al. (2016), Dahl et al. (2005), Rossen et al. (2009), Carstensen's SST, ACT, CBT and Mindfulness literature.
- Exhibition aim: make FCR research legible and felt — for survivors, carers, clinicians and the general public — and demonstrate that lived experience is a legitimate epistemic source alongside the empirical evidence base.
- Take-home line (from the sketchbook): 'We can let the bad things that happened to us define who we are, or we can define who we are. I chose the second — you?'