I am an applied cognitive researcher working across various different domains. Most of this work is carried out within two broad areas: clinical psychology, and forensic and criminal justice work.
My clinical work focuses broadly on wellbeing, and is concerned with the measurement, manifestation and treatment of stress, anxiety and depression. I work with different cohorts who often experience elevated levels of stress due to the context they are in, in particular women in the perinatal period, and those occupationally exposed to stressful situations (such as emergency responders). As part of this work, I am involved in research into the implementation and effectiveness of eHealth tools to promote mental health and support wellbeing.
Beyond this, I am also interested in the ill-health effects of exposure to neurotoxic compounds (particularly organophosphates) in terms of general cognitive deficits and mood disorder.
My more forensic research examines how well people perform as witnesses (i.e. in terms of face recognition). I am particularly interested in how we become experts in face recognition, how this changes with age, and what cognitive and neural mechanisms and/or social behaviours may underlie this expertise. Of additional interest to me is how social interest and exposure to certain groups of people may affect our ability to recognise them. I also carry out work examining police attitudes towards line-up procedures and investigating potential barriers to implementing more evidence-based policing.
Experience
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2016–presentSenior lecturer, The Open Univeristy
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2011–2016Lecturer, The Open Univeristy
Education
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2010University of Sussex, DPhil Psychology
Publications
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2019Entitlement to tell on police Facebook sites, Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking
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2018Advice for Health Care Professionals and Users: An Evaluation of Websites for Perinatal Anxiety. , JMIR mental health
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2018Are you talking to me? , Narrative Inquiry
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2016An emerging concern: Toxic fumes in airplane cabins, Cortex
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2016Reflections on the process of using systematic review techniques to evaluate the literature regarding the neurotoxicity of low level exposure to organophosphate pesticides. , Environment International
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2016What’s your poison? Neurobehavioural consequences of exposure to industrial, agricultural and environmental chemicals, Cortex
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2016Anxiety and depression following cumulative low-level exposure to organophosphate pesticides., Environmental Research
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2014Effects of mental health self-efficacy on outcomes of a mobile phone and web intervention for mild-to-moderate depression, anxiety and stress: secondary analysis of a randomised controlled trial. , BMC Psychiatry
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2013Neurobehavioral problems following low-level exposure to organophosphate pesticides: a systematic and meta-analytic review, Critical Reviews in Toxicology
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2013Impact of a mobile phone and web program on symptom and functional outcomes for people with mild-to-moderate depression, anxiety and stress: a randomised controlled trial, BMC Psychiatry
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2011Mobile mental health: Review of the emerging field and proof of concept study. , Journal of Mental Health
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2010Neuropsychological and psychiatric functioning in sheep farmers exposed to low levels of organophosphate pesticides. , Neurotoxicology and Teratology
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2009Evidence for a contact-type explanation of the own-age bias in face recognition. , Psychonomic Bulletin & Review
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2007Cognitive impairment following exposure to organophosphate pesticides. , Journal of Occupational Health & Safety-Australia & New Zealand
Professional Memberships
- Associate Fellow Higher Education Academy
- Website
- Article Feed
- gini.harrison@open.ac.uk
- ORCID
- Joined
