Dr Ben Harkin

My profile

Biography

Academic and professional qualifications

PhD in Psychology. A Cognitive Examination of Compulsive Checkers’ Working Memory and Inhibitory Performance. School of Psychology, University of Glasgow. 

MSc in Research Methods of Psychological Science (Distinction). School of Psychology, University of Glasgow. Published Thesis: How Checking Breeds Doubt: Reduced Performance in a Simple Working Memory Task, Behaviour Research and Therapy, 47, 504-512.

MA in Psychology (First Class: Top Student). School of Psychology, University of Glasgow. Published Thesis: Implicit Awareness of Ambiguity: A Role in the Development of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Behaviour Research and Therapy, 46 (7), 861-869.

MA in Higher Education (Distinction), Manchester Metropolitan University.

BA Sports Science and Business Management (Honours). University of Manchester.

Post Graduate Cert in Higher Education, Manchester Metropolitan University.

Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. 

Prizes and awards

Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Future Leaders Award (£230,000) investigating why people avoid their debt and designing interventions to reverse this.

British Academy Grant investigating why ex-conspiracy theorists go down the YouTube rabbit hole and how they got out. 

The Faculty of Information and Mathematical Sciences (FIMS) Ph.D. Scholarship. Awarded to Top FIMS Candidate at University of Glasgow. Fees and Monthly Stipend.

Henry J. Watt Prize in Psychology. Awarded by the School of Psychology, University of Glasgow, for Top Student in fourth year of undergraduate study.

Alastair Weir Prize for Excellence in Psychology. Awarded by the School of Psychology, University of Glasgow, for Top Student in third year of undergraduate study.

Teaching

Postgraduate teaching

I am the unit leader for:

  • Cognitive and Biological Psychology (MSc Conversion)

I also contribute to:

  • Cognitive Psychology (Undergraduate)
  • Research Principles and Methods (Masters)
  • Quantitative Methods in Psychology (MSc Conversion)
  • Empirical Dissertation (MSc Conversion)

Supervision

I am currently accepting new PhD advisees. All applicants are welcome, across a range of topics and methods (i.e., quantitative and qualitative). I encourage students to review current projects and selected publications to determine fit. Some areas of interest, although applicants are not limited to these areas, are: 

  • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Anxiety Disorders. Cognitive and/or abnormal psychology (e.g., anxiety disorders), with an emphasis on attention and memory performance in OCD specifically and anxiety disorders generally.
  • Selective and/or Meta-Analytic Reviews. Those with an interest in conducting selective and meta-analytic reviews in Psychology. These can be across any area in psychology. 
  • Educational Research. Large scale qualitative and quantitative analysis of National Student Survey Responses to identify areas of good pedagogical practice. Understanding the multidimensional constructions and experiences that students have for online and/or face-to-face learning with the aim of identifying suitable interventions to improve experience and academic outcomes.  
  • Trust in Science. Identity the factors which devalue TIS, how this impacts health-related behaviours and use of scientific information (e.g., vaccination uptake; belief in flat earth), and to design and implement interventions to tackle this issue. 

Research outputs

My expertise is in the area of anxiety disorders (i.e., Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder) in terms of the attentional and memory impairments that drive this disorder.

I am also interested in Trust in Science and identifying the factors which devalue it and designing interventions to improve it. 

I have conducted and published several selective reviews and meta-analysis, and I am keen to take on masters/PhD students who wish to utilise these approaches in an area of psychology. 

Lastly, I am interested in student experiences from a qualitative and quantitative perspective, with the aim of identifying good pedagogical practice, and informing interventions and provision across Higher Education Institutions. 

Press and media

Media appearances or involvement

In January 2022 we had our paper discussed in a recent podcast by Sister Doctor Squared (https://sisterdoctorsquared.com/2022/01/29/new-years-resolutions/). The paper in question was: Harkin, B., Webb, T., Chang, B., Benn, Y., Sheeran, P., Connor, M. & Prestwich, J. (2015) Does Monitoring Goal Progress Promote Goal Attainment? A Meta-Analysis of the Experimental Evidence. Psychological Bulletin.

Interviewed by BPS magazine “The Psychologist” in an article titled “The Psychology of Debt - Avoiding the Unavoidable.” Link to the article on page 539 can be found here: https://thepsychologist.bps.org.uk/sites/thepsychologist.bps.org.uk/files/files/psy0715new.pdf

Invited to author an article by ORCHARD 9 which is a charity who invest in interventions in OCD on the impact of COVID-19 and associated health messages on those with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. A link to the article can be found here: https://www.orchardocd.org/news/the-unique-challenge-of-covid-19-to-those-with-ocd-lessons-from-cognitive-psychology/