Dr Frances Martin

Biography

On completion of my PhD in 1987, I continued to extend my research on reading disabilities and in 1990 was successful in being granted a National Health and Medical Research Council Applied Health Fellowship during which time I conducted research investigating the effects of drugs on the cognitive processes involved in driving using psychophysiological techniques. Following the successful completion of this fellowship, I was successful in gaining a further fellowship during which time I extended my research in this area. In 1996 I was appointed to a Lecturer B position in the School of Psychology at the University of Tasmania and in 1998 I was granted continuing appointment to this position on the basis of outstanding performance. I was promoted to Lecturer C commencing in 2002 and in 2006 was granted accelerated progression to the top of the Lecturer C scale. In 2009, I was promoted to Lecturer D and in 2012 I accepted a position as a Lecturer D at the University of Newcastle. I currently teach in the areas of human neuroscience and cognition and memory. I have been involved in administration at the School, Faculty, and University level. I have been recognised for both my research and my teaching capabilities. My research is mainly concerned with word recognition, memory and attentional processes using cognitive psychophysiology methods. To date I have successfully supervised 69 honours theses, 16 PhD theses, one MSc thesis, and 19Master of Psychology theses. I have received over one million dollars in research funding, from grants schemes and from consultancies and have published four reports, one book, seven chapters in books, and 57 journal articles. I have achieved international recognition for my research including research in the area of teaching.

Qualifications

• PhD (Arts), University of Tasmania, 1987
• Bachelor of Arts (Honours), University of Tasmania, 1981
• Bachelor of Arts, University of Tasmania, 1980

Research

Research keywords

• Cognitive Processes
• EEG
• Emotion
• Event-related potentials
• Internet addiction
• Reading
• Substance Use

Research expertise

Since completing my PhD in the area of visual processes in dyslexia, I have conducted research in two substantive areas of psychology. The first area involves extending the work of my PhD with research investigating word recognition and reading development particularly orthographic and phonological processes in reading development and word recognition. In particular we have looked both at the non-word reading ability of children and other measures of orthographic and phonological processing such as a phoneme and letter deletion task designed to investigate the relative use of phonological and orthographic strategies in these children. One result of this research has been the production of a test of non-word recoding (with Tasmanian norms) for use by teachers in schools. This test enables the early identification of children with phonological processing problems and thus steps towards remediation can be taken. This test and manual is now published (2001) and the fact that it is now being used by researchers from many different countries attests the international reputation of my work. The test and manual has now been republished with British norms in the United Kingdom.

My second substantive area of research involves investigating the effect of alcohol and minor tranquillisers and dual tasks on cognitive processing (including memory and attentional processes) as indexed by event-related potentials and behavioural measures. In a series of experiments, this research investigated, in a task designed to measure the cognitive processes involved in driving, the effect of alcohol and minor tranquillisers both separately and combined on P300, a measure of resource allocation, and motor reaction time and accuracy. Further studies investigated the effects of lorazepam (a benzodiazepine with short-term amnesic properties) on the memory processing and event-related potentials of social drinkers who consume more than 200 gms of alcohol a week.

In line with these two substantive areas of research, I have also conducted experiments investigating different exogenous and endogenous components of the event-related potential as they relate to both reading and resource allocation of cognitive processes. We have also investigated the N400, MMN, and late positive components of the ERP in various paradigms. In order to understand the component processes of word recognition and therefore reading, I am conducting experiments which, in an innovative design, converge cognitive psychophysiological (event-related potentials, in particular the component related to language processing: the N400) and behavioural measures (reaction time and accuracy. In addition to these substantive areas of research, I am currently conducting research in the area of emotion and the impact of attention on emotional processes.

Collaboration

My primary research collaborations are with Southern Cross University academics in the teaching field and The University of Queensland in the research field.

Fields of Research

Centres and Groups

Centre

• PRC - Priority Research Centre for Translational Neuroscience and Mental Health (CTNMH)

Administrative

Administrative expertise

I have been involved in administration and service at all levels of the University. As Psychology 1 practical coordinator, I have been responsible for curriculum development in Psychology 1 and have instituted practices designed to ensure that the Psychology 1 course is equivalent across the three campuses. As Psychology 4 (Honours) coordinator, I have been responsible for developing and reshaping the Psychology Honours course. As Research Higher Degrees Coordinator, I have overseen a rethinking of the way in which postgraduate degrees are viewed within the School. At the School level, I have also been involved in various committees, particularly the School executive, the body responsible for all budget, resources, and policy and planning for the School and Deputy Head of School. At the Faculty level, I have also been involved in the Faculty executive, the body responsible for policy and planning for the Faculty. At the University level, I have contributed to both research and teaching, being deputy chair of the University Ethics committee, chair of the Publication Entry System Audit Committee, and as a member of the Board of Graduate Studies.

Since moving to the University of Newcastle in 2012, I am Deputy Head of School, Chair of the School Research Training Subcommittee and Fourth Year Research Coordinator. I am also a member of the Faculty Research and Research Training Committee.

Teaching

Teaching keywords

• Cognition
• Introductory Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Reading

Teaching expertise

Over the course of my teaching career, I have taught generally in the areas of Cognitive Processes and Memory at all undergraduate levels. I have also taught in the area of human neuroscience including courses on psychopharmacology, sleep, neuroscience and psychophysiology. In addition, I have taught at the postgraduate level in courses concerning reading and also research methods. I have been involved in four teaching grants and have been on the reference group for three further teaching grants.