Prof Andy Field

Biography

Sussex University: Psychology Home Page

Employment

• 2010-Present: Professor of Child Psychopathology
• 2006-2010: Reader in Psychology, University of Sussex.
• 2003-2006: Senior Lecturer in Psychology, University of Sussex.
• 2000-2003: Lecturer in Psychology, University of Sussex.
• 1998-2000: Lecturer in Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London.

Awards

• 2010: National Teaching Fellow
• 2007: British Psychological Society Book Award for 'Discovering Statistics Using SPSS: and sex and drugs and rock 'n' roll (2^nd Edition)'.
• 2006: British Psychological Society Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Psychology.
• 2001: University of Sussex Teaching Learning and Development Prize for Excellence and Innovation in Teaching.

Fellowships

• 2010: Academician of the Academy of Social Sciences
• 2009: Fellow of the Higher Teaching Academy

Qualifications

• 1994-1997: D.Phil. (Psychology), University of Sussex.
• 1991-1994: B.Sc. Psychology (i), The City University, London.

Children's Fears

Please see our Child Anxiety Theory and Treatment Lab website (CATTLab) 

My main research interests are in children's emotional development:

1. How children process emotional information. Little is known about how children acquire certain processing styles and how this relates to their reactions to emotional information. This includes their use of imagination, understanding of fact vs. fantasy, and how they process visual and conceptual emotional information.
2. Children and media: What are children’s emotional reactions to ‘scary’ factual and fantasy TV/books? Does cognitive development affect these responses? Are these responses different in children with different temperaments? Can it have a positive impact? How do children present themselves on social media websites such as Facebook? How is social media use affected by personality? Can children use these websites to help through difficult social transitions?
3. Children’s emotional responses to novel situations/things: We have shown that even small vignettes containing threat information about a new animal or situation can lead to changes in their fears that last up to 6-months. These effects are more prominent in children who are naturally anxious and can affect children's perceptions of and attention towards objects.

Research Grants

• 2012-2015 £261,691 ESRC ES/J00751X/1 Project Grant (3 Years). The role of vicarious learning in preventing and treating children's fears. Chris Askew (Kingston University) is principal investigator and I am the co-investigator.
• 2012-2014 £241,201 NIHR RfPB. Using expressive writing interventions to promote health in women after birth. Susan Ayers (PI) at City University is the principal investigator and I am one of many co-investigators.
• 2007-2010 £285,064, ESRC Project Grant. Parental Anxiety: Cognitive-Behavioural Processes in the Intergenerational Transmission of Fear to Children. PI with Sam Cartwright-Hatton (University of Manchester) as co-applicant.
• 2005-2007 £15,234, ESRC Research Seminars: Child Anxiety: Developments in Theory and Treatment. PI with Sam Cartwright-Hatton (Manchester), Shirley Reynolds (UEA) Cathy Creswell (Reading) as co-applicants.
• 2002-2005 £130,825, ESRC Project Grant: The role of information in the development of fear beliefs. PI with Robin Banerjee (Sussex) as co-applicant.
• 2000-2001 £37,089, Unilever plc.: Attentional processes in Evaluative Conditioning. Sole applicant.

I teach:

Fear and Anxiety in Children

Discovering Statistics

I also do some occasional lectures on Cognition in Clinical Contexts, and The Psychology of Childhood and Adolescence.

See my personal webpage for a whole host of teaching material for statistics and research methods.

Field, Zoë C and Field, Andy P (2013) How trait anxiety, interpretation bias and memory affect acquired fear in children learning about new animals. Emotion, 13 (3). pp. 409-423. ISSN 1528-3542

Hanrahan, Fidelma, Field, Andy P, Jones, Fergal W and Davey, Graham C L (2013) A meta-analysis of cognitive therapy for worry in generalized anxiety disorder. Clinical Psychology Review, 33 (1). pp. 120-132. ISSN 0272-7358

Ugland, Carina C O, Dyson, Benjamin J and Field, Andy P (2013) An ERP study of the interaction between verbal information and conditioning pathways to fear. Biological Psychology, 92 (1). pp. 69-81. ISSN 0301-0511

Grist, Rebecca M and Field, Andy P (2012) The mediating effect of cognitive development on children's worry elaboration. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 43 (2). pp. 801-807. ISSN 1873-7943

Field, Andy, Miles, Jeremy and Field, Zoë (2012) Discovering Statistics Using R. Sage Publications. ISBN 978-1446200469

Trickey, David, Siddaway, Andy P, Meiser-Stedman, Richard, Serpell, Lucy and Field, Andy P (2012) A meta-analysis of risk factors for post-traumatic stress disorder in children and adolescents. Clinical Psychology Review, 32 (2). pp. 122-138. ISSN 0272-7358

Purkis, Helena M, Lester, Kathryn J and Field, Andy P (2011) But what about the Empress of Racnoss? The allocation of attention to spiders and Dr Who in a visual search task is predicted by fear and expertise. Emotion, 11 (6). pp. 1484-1488. ISSN 1528-3542

Purkis, Helena M, Lester, Kathryn J and Field, Andy P (2011) But what about the Empress of Racnoss? The allocation of attention to spiders and Doctor Who in a visual search task is predicted by fear and expertise. Emotion, 11 (6). pp. 1484-1488. ISSN 1931-1516

Cartwright-Hatton, Sam, McNally, Deb, Field, Andy P, Rust, Stewart, Laskey, Ben, Dixon, Clare, Gallagher, Bridie, Harrington, Richard, Miller, Chloe, Pemberton, Kathryn, Symes, Wendy, White, Caroline and Woodham, Adrine (2011) A new parenting-based group intervention for young anxious children: results of a randomized controlled trial. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 50 (3). pp. 242-251. ISSN 0890-8567

Broeren, Suzanne, Lester, Kathryn J., Muris, Peter and Field, Andy P. (2011) They are afraid of the animal, so therefore I am too: Influence of peer modeling on fear beliefs and approach-avoidance behaviors towards animals in typically developing children. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 49 (1). pp. 50-57. ISSN 0005-7967

Broeren, Suzanne, Lester, Kathryn J, Muris, Peter and Field, Andy P (2011) They are afraid of the animal, so therefore I am too: Influence of peer modeling on fear beliefs and approach-avoidance behaviors towards animals in typically developing children. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 49 (1). pp. 50-57. ISSN 1873-622X

Creswell, Cathy, Shildrick, Sarah and Field, Andy (2011) Interpretation of ambiguity in children: a prospective study of associations with anxiety and parental interpretations. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 20 (2). pp. 240-250. ISSN 1573-2843

Field, Andy P and Lester, Kathryn J (2010) Is There Room for 'Development' in Developmental Models of Information Processing Biases to Threat in Children and Adolescents? Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 13 (4). pp. 315-332. ISSN 10964037

Field, Andy P and Gillett, Raphael (2010) How to do a Meta-Analysis. British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical Psychology, 63 (3). pp. 665-694. ISSN 0007-1102

Field, Andy P and Gillett, Raphael (2010) How to do a meta-analysis. British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical Psychology, 63 (3). pp. 665-694. ISSN 2044-8317

Muris, Peter and Field, Andy P (2010) The Role of Verbal Threat Information in the Development of Childhood Fear. "Beware the Jabberwock!". Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 13 (2). pp. 129-150. ISSN 1096-4037

Kelly, Vicky L, Barker, Helen, Field, Andy P, Wilson, Charlotte and Reynolds, Shirley (2010) Can Rachman's indirect pathways be used to un-learn fear? A prospective paradigm to test whether children's fears can be reduced using positive information and modelling a non-anxious response. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 48 (2). pp. 164-170. ISSN 0005-7967

Lester, Kathryn J., Seal, Katherine, Nightingale, Zoë C. and Field, Andy P. (2010) Are children's own interpretations of ambiguous situations based on how they perceive their mothers have interpreted ambiguous situations for them in the past? Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 24 (1). pp. 102-108. ISSN 0887-6185

Field, Andy and Miles, Jeremy (2010) Discovering statistics using SAS : (and sex and drugs and rock 'n' roll). SAGE. ISBN 9781849200912

Hadwin, Julie A and Field, Andy P, eds. (2010) Information processing biases and anxiety: a developmental perspective. Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 9780470661451

Field, Andy P and Lester, Kathryn J (2010) Is there room for 'development' in developmental models of information processing biases to threat in children and adolescents? Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 13 (4). pp. 315-332. ISSN 1573-2827

Huijding, Jorg, Field, Andy, De Houwer, Jan, Vandenbosch, Katrien, Rinck, Mike and Van Oeveren, Machteld (2009) A behavioral route to dysfunctional representations: the effects of training approach or avoidance tendencies towards novel animals in children. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 47 (6). pp. 471-477. ISSN 0005-7967

Field, Andy P and Price-Evans, Khanya (2009) The Behavioral inhibition system moderates the effect of the verbal threat information pathway on children's heart rate responses to novel animals. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 47 (5). pp. 431-436. ISSN 0005-7967

Wright, D B and Field, A P (2009) Methods - Giving your data the bootstrap. Psychologist, 22 (5). pp. 412-413. ISSN 0952-8229

Muris, Peter, Rassin, Eric, Mayer, Birgit, Smeets, Guus, Huijding, Jorg, Remmerswaal, Daniëlle and Field, Andy (2009) Effects of verbal information on fear-related reasoning biases in children. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 47 (3). pp. 206-214. ISSN 0005-7967

Field, Andy (2009) Can humour make students love statistics? Psychologist, 22 (3). pp. 210-213. ISSN 0952-8229

Lester, Kathryn, Field, Andy, Oliver, Samantha and Cartwright-Hatton, Samantha (2009) Do anxious parents interpretive biases towards threat extend into their child's environment? Behaviour Research and Therapy, 47 (2). pp. 170-174. ISSN 0005-7967

Field, Andy P and Price-Evans, Khanya (2009) Temperament moderates the effect of the verbal threat information pathway on children's heart rate responses to novel animals. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 47 (5). pp. 431-436. ISSN 0005-7967

Field, Andy (2009) Discovering statistics using SPSS: (and sex and drugs and rock 'n' roll). Introducing Statistical Methods . SAGE. ISBN 9781847879073

Askew, Chris, Kessock-Philip, Hannah and Field, Andy P (2008) What Happens When Verbal Threat Information and Vicarious Learning Combine? Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 36 (4). pp. 491-505. ISSN 1352-4658

Price-Evans, Khanya and Field, Andy (2008) A neglectful parenting style moderates the effect of the verbal threat information pathway on children's heart rate responses to novel animals. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 36 (4). pp. 473-482. ISSN 1352-4658

Muris, Peter and Field, Andy P. (2008) Distorted cognition and pathological anxiety in children and adolescents. Cognition and Emotion, 22 (3). pp. 395-421. ISSN 0269-9931

Field, Andy P. and Lawson, Joanne (2008) The Verbal Information Pathway to Fear and Subsequent Causal Learning in Children. Cognition and Emotion, 22 (3). pp. 459-479. ISSN 0269-9931

Field, Andy P, Cartwright-Hatton, Sam, Reynolds, Shirley and Creswell, Cathy (2008) Future Directions for Child Anxiety Theory and Treatment. Cognition and Emotion, 22 (3). 385 - 394. ISSN 0269-9931

Field, Andy, Lawson, Joanne and Banerjee, Robin (2008) The verbal threat information pathway to fear in children: the longitudinal effects on fear cognitions and the immediate effects on avoidance behavior. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 117 (1). pp. 214-224. ISSN 0021-843X

Askew, Chris and Field, Andy P. (2008) The vicarious learning pathway to fear 40 years on. Clinical Psychology Review, 28. pp. 1249-1265. ISSN 0272-7358

Field, Andy, Cartwright-Hatton, Samantha, Reynolds, Shirley and Creswell, Cathy (2008) Child anxiety: theory and treatment. Cognition and Emotion . Psychology Press. ISBN 9781841698519

Field, Andy P and Cartwright-Hatton, Sam (2008) Shared and unique cognitive factors in social anxiety. International Journal of Cognitive Therapy, 1 (3). pp. 206-222. ISSN 1937-1209

Field, Andy P. and Schorah, Hannah (2007) The verbal information pathway to fear and heart rate changes in children. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 48 (11). pp. 1088-1093.

Brewin, Chris R, Kleiner, Jennifer Sue, Vasterling, Jennifer J and Field, Andy P (2007) Memory for emotionally neutral information in posttraumatic stress disorder: A meta-analytic investigation. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 116 (3). pp. 448-463.

Field, A P and Storksen-Coulson, H (2007) The Interaction of Pathways To Fear in Childhood Anxiety: A Preliminary Study. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 45 (12). pp. 3051-3059. ISSN 0005-7967

Field, Andy P, Ball, Jess E, Kawycz, Nicola J and Moore, Harriett (2007) Parent-Child Relationships and the Verbal Information Pathway to Fear in Children: Two Preliminary Experiments. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 35. pp. 473-486.

Field, A P and Askew, C (2007) Vicarious learning and the development of fears in childhood. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 45. pp. 2616-2627. ISSN 0005-7967

Lawson, Joanne, Banerjee, Robin and Field, Andy (2007) The effects of verbal information on children's fear beliefs about social situations. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 45 (1). pp. 21-37. ISSN 0005-7967

Field, Andy P (2006) Is conditioning a useful framework for understanding the development and treatment of phobias? Clinical Psychology Review, 26 (7). pp. 857-875. ISSN 0272-7358

Field, Andy P (2006) The behavioral inhibition system and the verbal information pathway to children's fears. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 115 (4). pp. 742-752. ISSN 0021-843X

Field, Andy P (2006) Watch Out for the Beast: Fear Information and Attentional Bias in Children. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 35 (3). pp. 431-439. ISSN 1537-4416

Field, Andy P (2006) I don't like it because it eats sprouts: Conditioning preferences in children. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 44 (3). pp. 439-455. ISSN 0005-7967

Field, Andy P (2005) Is the meta-analysis of correlation coefficients accurate when population correlations vary? Psychological Methods, 10 (4). pp. 444-467. ISSN 1082-989X

Field, Andy and Davey, Graham (2005) Experimental Methods in Clinical Research. In: A handbook of research methods in clinical and health psychology. Oxford University Press, pp. 175-184.

Field, Andy (2005) Meta-Analysis. In: A handbook of research methods for clinical & health psychology. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 295-308. ISBN 9780198527565

De Houwer, Jan, Baeyens, Frank and Field, Andy (2005) Associative learning of likes and dislikes: some current controversies and possible ways forward. Psychology Press.

Andrea, H, Beurskens, A J H M, Kant, I J, Davey, G C L, Field, A P and van Schayck, C P (2004) The relation between pathological worrying and fatigue in a working population. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 57 (4). pp. 399-407. ISSN 0022-3999

Field, Andy P (2004) Learning to Like (and dislike): Associative Learning of Preferences. In: New Directions in Human Associative Learning. Routledge, pp. 221-252. ISBN 9780805850819

Field, Andy P and Morgan, Julie (2004) Post-event processing and the retrieval of autobiographical memories in socially anxious individuals. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 18 (5). pp. 647-663. ISSN 0887-6185

Field, Andy P (2003) Can meta-analysis be trusted? Psychologist, 16 (12). pp. 642-645. ISSN 0952-8229

Field, A P and Lawson, J (2003) Fear information and the development of fears during childhood: effects on implicit fear responses and behavioural avoidance. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 41 (11). pp. 1277-1293. ISSN 0005-7967

Davey, Graham C L, Startup, Helen M, Zara, Ayten, MacDonald, C Benie and Field, Andy P (2003) The perseveration of checking thoughts and mood-as-input hypothesis. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 34 (2). pp. 141-160. ISSN 0005-7916

Field, Andy P and Moore, Annette C (2003) Dissociating the effects of attention and contingency awareness on evaluative conditioning effects in the visual paradigm. Cognition and Emotion, 19 (2). pp. 217-243. ISSN 0269-9931

Davey, Graham CL, Field, Andy P and Startup, Helen M (2003) Repetitive and iterative thinking in psychopathology: anxiety-inducing consequences and a mood-as-input mechanism. In: Obsessive compulsive disorder: theory, research, and treatment. John Wiley & Sons, pp. 79-99. ISBN 0471494445

Field, A P, Hamilton, S J, Knowles, K A and Plews, E L (2003) Fear information and social phobic beliefs in children: a prospective paradigm and preliminary results. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 41 (1). pp. 113-123. ISSN 0005-7967

Field, Andy P and Hole, Graham (2003) How to design and report experiments. Sage. ISBN 9780761973829

Field, Andy (2003) Clinical Psychology. Crucial, Exeter. ISBN 9781903337202

Lescelles, Kristy R R, Field, Andy P and Davey, Graham C L (2003) Using foods as CSs and body shapes as UCSs: A putative role for associative learning in the development of eating disorders. Behavior Therapy, 34 (2). pp. 213-235. ISSN 0005-7894

Field, Andy P (2003) The problems in using Fixed-effects models of meta-analysis on real-world data. Understanding Statistics, 2 (2). pp. 105-124. ISSN 1534-844X

Field, Andy P (2001) When All Is Still Concealed: Are We Closer to Understanding the Mechanisms Underlying Evaluative Conditioning? Consciousness and Cognition, 10 (4). pp. 559-566. ISSN 1053-8100

Field, Andy P, Argyris, Nicolas G and Knowles, Karina A (2001) Who's afraid of the big bad wolf: a prospective paradigm to test Rachman's indirect pathways in children. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 39 (11). pp. 1259-1276. ISSN 0005-7967

Field, Andy P (2001) Meta-analysis of correlation coefficients: A Monte Carlo comparison of fixed- and random-effects methods. Psychological Methods, 6 (2). pp. 161-180. ISSN 1082-989X

Field, Andy and Davey, Graham (2001) Conditioning models of childhood anxiety. In: Anxiety disorders in children and adolescents: research, assessment, and intervention. Cambridge University Press, pp. 187-211. ISBN 9780521789660

Dadds, MR, Davey, Graham and Field, Andy (2001) Developmental aspects of conditioning processes in anxiety disorders. In: The developmental psychopathology of anxiety. Oxford University Press, pp. 205-230.

Davey, Graham C L and Field, Andy P (2000) The "benefit" of Pavlovian conditioning - performance models, hidden costs, and innovation. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 23 (2). pp. 253-254. ISSN 0140-525X

Field, Andy P (2000) Evaluative Conditioning Is Pavlovian Conditioning: Issues of Definition, Measurement, and the Theoretical Importance of Contingency Awareness. Consciousness and Cognition, 9 (1). pp. 41-49. ISSN 1053-8100

Field, Andy P (2000) I like it, but I'm not sure why: Can evaluative conditioning occur without conscious awareness? Consciousness and Cognition, 9 (1). pp. 13-36. ISSN 1053-8100

Field, Andy P and Davey, Graham C L (1999) Reevaluating evaluative conditioning: A nonassociative explanation of conditioning effects in the visual evaluative conditioning paradigm. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 25 (2). pp. 211-224. ISSN 0097-7403

Field, Andy P and Davey, Graham C L (1998) Evaluative Conditioning: Arti-fact or -fiction?-A Reply to Baeyens, De Houwer, Vansteenwegen, and Eelen (1998). Learning and Motivation, 29 (4). pp. 475-491. ISSN 0023-9690

• Thursday 10:00-11:00 (Not to be used for random statistics advice, unless you're one of my students. This office hour is after my Discovering Statistics lecture, so you can catch me after the lecture, or come to my office at about 10.15.)
• Friday 11:00-12:00 (Not to be used for random statistics advice, unless you're one of my students. This office hour is after my Fear and Anxiety in Children lecture, so you can catch me after the lecture, or come to my office at about 11.15.)