3rd Annual Applied Positive Psychology Symposium

Introduction This Proceedings represents the contributions to our 3rd Applied Positive Psychology Symposium held on Saturday 20th May 2017. The symposium was first held in May 2015 as an opportunity for the first cohort of graduates of the MSc Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) at Buckinghamshire New University to present their completed dissertation work to a wider audience, and prepare papers for the symposium’s Proceedings that were based on their dissertations. The intention was, and still is, that students might use this opportunity to prepare a paper for subsequent publication in an academic journal. We are pleased that we were able to welcome back graduates from the first Bucks MAPP cohort to present at the symposium. For example, Dan Collinson and Lesley Lyle, who met on the course, were able to update us on their international work together as part of their company, Positive Psychology Learning (PPL). In addition, we have a contribution from Ruth Howard, a doctoral student at Bucks, on her work linking positive psychology approaches with support for families of people with autism. We are excited that, for the first time, we had presentations from students and alumni from the University of East London (UEL) MAPP-CP course (MSc Applied Positive Psychology and Coaching Psychology). We also expanded the format of presentations by including a film screening of a short film on positive psychology and space, presented by Dorota Filipowicz of UEL. We hope that future symposia will also attract submissions from students and alumni from other similar courses, such as the MAPP course at Anglia Ruskin University, and hope to expand to include even more presentation styles and learning opportunities, including potentially workshops

4th Applied Positive Psychology Symposium.

MSc Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) programmes can currently be found in the UK at Anglia Ruskin University, Buckinghamshire New University, and the University of East London. Other universities, such as the University of Northampton, also offer some undergraduate positive psychology courses. This Proceedings represents the contributions of students and graduates (and staff) of these programmes to the 4th Applied Positive Psychology Symposium held on Saturday 2nd June 2018 at the Buckinghamshire New University High Wycombe campus. The annual Applied Positive Psychology Symposium dates back to the inaugural symposium held in May 2015, designed as an opportunity for the first cohort of graduates of the MSc Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) at Bucks to present their completed dissertation work to a wider audience, and prepare papers for the symposium’s Proceedings that were based on their dissertation projects. This symposium has proved a success and we were delighted to be able to return for a fourth year which, again, provided this opportunity for our students and students from other programmes to share their work with a wider audience. The symposia have only grown in popularity, scope, and engagement each year, with ever more contributions from other UK-wide MAPP and university positive psychology programmes. This year saw involvement from students at Anglia Ruskin University in the form of talks and the offering of a parallel workshop session on character strength development in schools, as well as a paper and poster from staff and students at the University of Northampton, alongside many Bucks MAPP graduates. Positive psychology is a growing field across the globe, offering exciting new opportunities for research and positive change across our society. The applied nature of the MAPP courses emphasises using evidence-based practices to actively improve lives and institutions, and MAPP students are at the forefront of this relatively new discipline, contributing innovative and important research, solutions, and products

5th Annual Applied Positive Psychology Symposium

The annual Applied Positive Psychology Symposium dates back to the inaugural symposium held in May 2015, designed as an opportunity for the first cohort of graduates of the MSc Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) at Bucks to present their completed dissertation work to a wider audience, and prepare papers for the symposium’s Proceedings. Since then, the symposium has grown considerably in scope, aiming to build a community of education and new research in the fast-growing field of applied positive psychology, from across the UK and now Ireland as well. MAPP programmes can currently be found in the UK at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), Buckinghamshire New University (Bucks), and the University of East London (UEL). Other universities also offer some positive psychology courses as part of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. This Proceedings represents the contributions of students, graduates, and staff of many of these programmes to the 5th Applied Positive Psychology Symposium held on Saturday 1st June 2019 at the Buckinghamshire New University High Wycombe campus. This symposium has proved a real success and has only grown in popularity, scope, and engagement each year, with ever more contributions from other MAPP and university positive psychology programmes. We were delighted to be able to return for a fifth year which was our largest event yet, necessitating parallel sessions for the first time, to accommodate a full programme of talks, quickfire ‘flash’ presentations, practical workshops, a video presentation, poster presentations, and even a brief magic show(!), and attracting an audience of 80+. This year we welcomed a number of students from UEL and for the first time University College Cork, Ireland, to present their work, as well as Goldsmiths London, and staff from the University of Buckingham, alongside many Bucks MAPP students and returning graduates. The applied nature of the MAPP courses emphasises using evidence-based practices to actively improve lives and institutions, and MAPP students are at the forefront of this relatively new discipline, contributing innovative and important research, solutions, and products. We hope you enjoy this year’s exciting offerings in this Proceedings

Mental and perceptual feedback in the development of creative flow

Sketching is considered by artists and designers to be a vital tool in the creative process. However, research shows that externalisation during the creative process (i.e., sketching) is not necessary to create effectively. This study examines whether sketching may play a more important role in the subjective experience of creativity by facilitating the deeply focused, optimal state of consciousness termed ‘flow’ (being ‘in the zone’). The study additionally explored whether sketching affects flow by easing cognitive load or by providing a clearer sense of self-feedback. Participants carried out the creative mental synthesis task (combining sets of simple shapes into creative drawings), experimentally simulating the visual creative process. Ideas were generated either mentally before committing to a final drawing, or with external perceptual support through sketching, and cognitive load was varied by using either three- or five-shape sets. The sketching condition resulted in greater experience of flow and lower perceived task difficulty. However, cognitive load did not affect flow and there was no interaction between load and sketching conditions. These findings are the first to empirically demonstrate that sketching increases flow experience, and that this is not dependent on an associated reduction in overall working memory load

Flow in Visual Creativity

The overall aim of this research was to experimentally and qualitatively investigate potential antecedents and consequences of flow (being 'in the zone') specific to the visual creativity context. In this thesis I propose four areas which may be unique to creative flow and which require experimental evidence: 1) the ambiguity of feedback and goals; 2) the paradoxical balance between conscious choice/control and automaticity; 3) the links between flow, affect, and creativity, and 4) direct influences of flow on creative performance. To explore these issues, a mixed methods approach was used. A simplified, experimental analogue of the visual creative process, the creative mental synthesis task (CMST; Finke & Slayton, 1988), was used with non-artists. This was a novel use of the task, which was previously focused on creative performance, not the subjective experience of creating

Of Night and Light and the Half-Light: The Role of Multidimensions of Emotion and Tolerance of Uncertainty in Creative Flow

There is a long and convoluted history of psychologists trying to understand the relationship between emotion/affect and creativity, mostly centred on a rather limited focus on ‘positive’ versus ‘negative’ affect, which has yielded confusing results. Similarly, the relationship between emotion and a peak state of intense absorption often experienced during (and often claimed as a motivator for) the creative process – flow – is also unclear. Both creativity and flow are paradoxical and ambiguous phenomena, including in their relation to emotional antecedents, subjective experience, and outcomes. This review explores dimensions of emotion beyond the positive-negative divide, the complexity and dialectics of emotion as potentially mixed and contradictory and argues that this is related closely to the ambiguity and uncertainty inherent in creativity and flow. It is proposed that certain categories of emotions – self-related, time-related, and epistemic – are especially important emotional groupings in these contexts. How regulation of these emotions and attitudes toward ambiguity and uncertainty are handled may play significant roles in enabling creative flow

Flow, affect and visual creativity

Flow (being in the zone) is purported to have positive consequences in terms of affect and performance; however, there is no empirical evidence about these links in visual creativity. Positive affect often—but inconsistently—facilitates creativity, and both may be linked to experiencing flow. This study aimed to determine relationships between these variables within visual creativity. Participants performed the creative mental synthesis task to simulate the creative process. Affect change (pre- vs. post-task) and flow were measured via questionnaires. The creativity of synthesis drawings was rated objectively and subjectively by judges. Findings empirically demonstrate that flow is related to affect improvement during visual creativity. Affect change was linked to productivity and self-rated creativity, but no other objective or subjective performance measures. Flow was unrelated to all external performance measures but was highly correlated with self-rated creativity; flow may therefore motivate perseverance towards eventual excellence rather than provide direct cognitive enhancement

Providing Transformative ‘Exceptional Human Experiences’ in undergraduate Psychology teaching

This past year, staff in our department brought together their respective research expertise - Transpersonal Psychology; Positive Psychology; Jungian Psychology; and Parapsychology – to create a new options module, critically exploring a range of ‘exceptional’ human experiences (EHEs) not customarily explored in psychology courses. Such experiences encompass various altered states of consciousness, including flow, paranormal, spiritual, and synchronistic experiences, often described as ‘transformative’ in their nature. The development of the module coincided with the department’s purchase of the HTC Vive and an opportunity for a Technology Enhanced Active Learning (TEAL) approach. Students were offered the opportunity to experience a virtual EHE for themselves; such experiences included a space-walk, standing on top of Everest or the surface of another planet, deep-sea diving, zen-like environments, or any experience chosen by the student that reflected their personal ambitions or passions. The presentation, then, covers the utility of VR to enable psychology students to explore conceptually challenging ideas. It discusses the importance of creating a ‘safe’ environment especially within a module where students anticipate a perceptual shift. Given some physiological changes experienced with the VR-based EHEs, one of the proposed future directions is the capture of positive physiological data. The common outcome for some students, and staff, however, has been the realisation that simply being in a VR environment has itself been the transformative EHE

Escaping Plato’s Cave: Ethical considerations for the use of Virtual Reality in psychology teaching.

Virtual Reality (VR) offers exciting new opportunities for teaching psychology, such as the chance to explore questions, phenomena, perspectives and experiences it would be difficult or impossible to observe in the real world or classroom. As VR technology develops, its potential to provide a multi-modal sensory experience may lead to even more immersive environments. With these exciting opportunities, however, come new ethical dilemmas and risks for teachers and students utilising this technology. Many users and manufacturers of VR acknowledge the physiological and psychological impacts of the use of VR (e.g. Sharples, Cobb, Moody, & Wilson, 2008). Indeed, these are not to be taken lightly even within informal teaching settings. One of the most commonly reported effects is motion-sickness, however, improvements in technology may help to lessen these. An increasing number of studies are now revealing potential psychological impacts, for example, Aimé, Cotton, and Bouchard (2009) found females reporting increased body dissatisfaction after immersive VR use, and Aardema, O’Connor, Côté and Taillon (2010) found users reporting greater sense of dissociation and lower sense of ‘presence’ in objective reality. As yet, however, the British Psychological Society (BPS), the professional body for the discipline of psychology, has provided no specific ethical guidelines for the use of VR or Augmented Reality (AR) in research with human participants or in an educational setting