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Dr David Cowan

Lecturer

School of Psychology
Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences
d.cowan@psy.uq.edu.au
+61 7 334 67561

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
  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

View all Publications

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

  • 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

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