Centre for Interaction, Development and Diversity

Within the Centre for Interaction, Development and Diversity, we study psychological phenomena in relation to the contexts and situations in which they emerge.

The centre has at its core a commitment to studying psychological phenomena in relation to the contexts and situations in which they emerge. Our work covers a multitude of methods – such as naturalistic observations, experiments, conversation analysis, cross-cultural studies, and longitudinal studies.

Our focus on situation and context takes the body and the social and material world in which we live as fundamental to all Psychology. Many of our studies focus on the processes through which animate beings are not only influenced by, but actually shape their immediate worlds.

In this vein, ‘things’ in the world – often seen as physical objects – are often deeply social as well. Many of our researchers study the implicit and often non-verbal ways in which we engage with other sentient beings, and the way in which these processes influence social understanding, identity, and culture itself.

Our research focuses on the following topics:

• Developmental psychology
• Human movement 
• Autism
• Disability and empowerment
• Communication and identity
• Autism Research Network