Lecturer
Overview
I am primarily an emotion researcher. I am particularly interested in empathic responses, and the construct of empathy (Affective arousal, Affective perspective taking, and Empathic concern / Motivated empathy).
I am also interested in how specific patterns of social media usage by ourselves and those we connect with, impact our empathic and compassionate responses, and overall emotional state.
I use several methods to research emotional responses, including eye-tracking, which can reveal how eye-gaze patterns to faces may relate to the quality of social interaction.
I am keen to work with highly motivated students who are generally interested in emotion research, eye-tracking, or are interested in the emotional impact of social media use.
In 2018 I will have some broad thesis project topics related to my areas of research.
If any of this interests you, and you'd like to meet to discuss, feel free to email me at d.cowan@psy.uq.edu.au.
Research Interests
- Emotion
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Empathy
Construct of Empathy (Affective Arousal, Affective Perspective Taking, Empathic Concern / Motivated Empathy) - Facial Expression Recognition
Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Queensland
Publications
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Other Outputs: The empathic gaze and how to find it: eye-gaze behaviour to expressions of emotion
Cowan, David Gary (2015). The empathic gaze and how to find it: eye-gaze behaviour to expressions of emotion PhD Thesis, School of Psychology, The University of Queensland. doi:10.14264/uql.2015.843
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Journal Article: Recent trends in testing social cognition
Henry, Julie D., Cowan, David G., Lee, Teresa and Sachdev, Perminder S. (2015) Recent trends in testing social cognition. Current Opinion in Psychiatry, 28 2: 133-140. doi:10.1097/YCO.0000000000000139
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Journal Article: Motivated empathy: the mechanics of the empathic gaze
Cowan, David G., Vanman, Eric J. and Nielsen, Mark (2014) Motivated empathy: the mechanics of the empathic gaze. Cognition and Emotion, 28 8: 1522-1530. doi:10.1080/02699931.2014.890563
Publications
Journal Article
-
Recent trends in testing social cognition
Henry, Julie D., Cowan, David G., Lee, Teresa and Sachdev, Perminder S. (2015) Recent trends in testing social cognition. Current Opinion in Psychiatry, 28 2: 133-140. doi:10.1097/YCO.0000000000000139
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Motivated empathy: the mechanics of the empathic gaze
Cowan, David G., Vanman, Eric J. and Nielsen, Mark (2014) Motivated empathy: the mechanics of the empathic gaze. Cognition and Emotion, 28 8: 1522-1530. doi:10.1080/02699931.2014.890563
Other Outputs
-
The empathic gaze and how to find it: eye-gaze behaviour to expressions of emotion
Cowan, David Gary (2015). The empathic gaze and how to find it: eye-gaze behaviour to expressions of emotion PhD Thesis, School of Psychology, The University of Queensland. doi:10.14264/uql.2015.843
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The face interference effect: A new perspective on the automaticity of holistic face processing
Cowan, David (2010). The face interference effect: A new perspective on the automaticity of holistic face processing Honours Thesis, School of Psychology, The University of Queensland.
