Dr Neal Hinvest
Profile
Dr Hinvest is interested in the interaction between emotions and cognition and how this interaction underlies the decisions that people make. He is also interested in how an individual's behaviour, particularly their choice behaviour, can dramatically change from one moment to the next; in particular, the stimuli that cause such changes and how such stimuli are processed. Dr Hinvest is also interested in the risk markers that underlie decisions to engage in risky, potentially problematic, behaviours.
In his research he uses laboratory tasks which target particular psychological factors and also computer games which provide rich environments designed to mimic the real-world. Typically, these lab tasks are used in conjunction with neural imaging or psychophysiological monitoring in order to examine the cognitive and emotional processes underlying behaviour.
Dr Hinvest is a member of the CASTL (Cognition, Affective Science and Technology Labs). The CASTL group own several labs which have a variety of hardware which allows neurophysiological and physiological measurements to be taken. The CASTL labs also have two networked Playstation 3 consoles with Playstation Move to permit video-game research.
Research interests
- The interaction between cognition and emotion in choice formation
- Individual differences in decision-making
- Stimuli that explicitly or implicitly lead to changes in choice behaviour and how such stimuli are processed
Main research tools
- Electroencephalography (EEG)
- Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)
- Physiological measurement (galvanic skin response, GSR, and electrocardiogram, ECG)
- Electromyography (EMG)
- Eye-tracking
- Behavioural testing
- Video-gaming and simulation
Teaching
Undergraduate
Postgraduate
Publications
Book Sections
Hinvest, N., 2012. Prevention is Better than Cure: Vulnerability Markers for Problem Gambling. In: Cavanna, A., ed. The Psychology of Gambling: New Research. Hauppauge, N.Y.: Nova Science, pp. 23-42.
Articles
Hinvest, N. and Brosnan, M., 2012. Identifying vulnerability markers for pathological internet use and pathological video-game playing within an educational context. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 46 (4), pp. 357-376.
Hinvest, N. S., Elliott, R., McKie, S. and Anderson, I. M., 2011. Neural correlates of choice behavior related to impulsivity and venturesomeness. Neuropsychologia, 49 (9), pp. 2311-2320.
Hinvest, N. S. and Anderson, I. M., 2010. The effects of real versus hypothetical reward on delay and probability discounting. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 63 (6), pp. 1072-1084.
Juhasz, G., Downey, D., Hinvest, N. S., Thomas, E., Chase, D., Toth, Z. G., Lloyd-Williams, K., Mekli, K., Platt, H., Payton, A., Bagdy, G., Elliott, R., Deakin, J. F. W. and Anderson, I. M., 2010. Risk-taking behavior in a gambling task associated with variations in the tryptophan hydroxylase 2 gene: relevance to psychiatric disorders. Neuropsychopharmacology, 35 (5), pp. 1109-1119.
Rakow, T., Hinvest, N., Jackson, E. and Palmer, M., 2004. Simple heuristics from the Adaptive Toolbox: Can we perform the requisite learning? Thinking & Reasoning, 10 (1), pp. 1-29.
Conference or Workshop Items
Hinvest, N. and Brosnan, M., 2010. The role of the dorsal striatum in the valuation of outcomes presented independently and in a choice. In: Organisation for Human Brain Mapping (OHBM), 2010-06-01, Barcelona.
Hinvest, N. and Brosnan, M., 2010. Do discrete regions of the visual cortex in males process the attractiveness of female body shape? In: Appearance Matters 4, 2010-01-01, Bristol.
Brosnan, M., Walker, I. and Hinvest, N., 2009. The role of perceived attractiveness of waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) for testosterone-based accounts of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). In: Bath University Neuroscience Network, 2009-01-01, University of Bath.
