معرفی
Olivia Barber serves as a Teaching Fellow within the School of Psychology, Sport and Health Sciences at the University of Portsmouth's Faculty of Science and Health. She teaches on the MSc Psychology course while leading postgraduate employability initiatives, overseeing modules, and supervising research projects. As a member of the Centre for Comparative and Evolutionary Psychology research group, she contributes to ongoing research in human-animal relationships.
Education background:
- PhD in Psychology from University of Portsmouth
- MSc in Social Research Methods from University of Southampton
- MSc in Psychology and Learning Disabilities from University of Portsmouth
- BSc in Psychology from University of Sussex
Dr. Barber's research focuses on human-animal interaction, with particular emphasis on dog welfare, behaviour, cognition, and training. Her work explores how humans interact with both real animals and biomimetic (animal-like) robots, especially in therapeutic and educational contexts. She investigates how these interactions affect emotional, motivational, and cognitive processes across different populations, with special attention to children's development and educational settings.
Her publications from 2019-2023 demonstrate a consistent focus on comparative studies between animal and robotic interactions, particularly examining how children respond differently to living dogs versus biomimetic robots. These works reveal significant implications for educational interventions, therapeutic applications, and understanding human perception of life-like entities across developmental stages.
Through her role as research supervisor and teaching fellow, Dr. Barber mentors students in psychology research projects while contributing to curriculum development in human-animal interaction studies. Her work aligns with UN Sustainable Development Goals related to quality education and good health and well-being.
As an active member of the Centre for Comparative and Evolutionary Psychology, she collaborates with researchers across multiple disciplines to advance understanding of human-animal relationships and their applications in educational and therapeutic settings.
