Dr Agnes Petocz

• Biography
• Areas of Research / Teaching Expertise
• Grants / Current Projects
• Awards and Recognition
• Publications
• Contact Details

Biography

Graduated from the University of Sydney with degrees in classics (Latin, Hons Class 1, 1979) and psychology (Hons Class 1, 1986), and PhD (Psychology, 1996). Taught courses in history and philosophy of psychology, personality theory, and psycholinguistics at University of Sydney from 1986 to 1996. Moved to University of Western Sydney in 1997, currently teaching history and philosophy of psychology and critical thinking. Was visiting researcher at the Department of Philosophy, Kings College, London University in 2000, and invited keynote speaker for the Danish Psychological Association at Odense in 2001. Current research interests are theories of symbolism and meaning, the scientific investigation of meaning, the tensions between qualitative and quantitative research methods, realism, and various topics in the philosophy of psychoanalysis.

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Areas of Research / Teaching Expertise

History and Philosophy of Psychology; Critical Thinking; Symbolism and Meaning; Qualitative versus Quantitative Research Methods; Psychoanalytic Theory; Philosophy of Psychoanalysis; Critical Thinking; Conceptual Metaphor; Psychoanalytic Theory; The Qualitative/Quantitative Distinction in Research Methods.

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Grants / Current Projects

The Meaning of Meaning and its Scientific Investigation (sole-authored book).

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Awards and Recognition

2009:  Winner Best Paper Golden Award (with Assoc. Prof. C. Stevens) at the HCI (Human-Computer Interaction) International 2009 Conference. San Diego, CA, USA: July 19-24.

2009:  Winner Best Paper Award (with Assoc. Prof. C. Stevens) at the 8th International Conference on Engineering, Psychology and Cognitive Ergonomics, Human-Computer Interaction International 2009. San Diego, CA, USA: July 19-24.

2000: CTNS (Center for Theology and Natural Sciences) Science and Religion Course Award  US$10,000. (with Dr Maureen Miner, UWS).

1996: H. Tasman Lovell Memorial Medallion for PhD in Psychology, University of Sydney.

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Publications

Petocz, A. (2011). Re-thinking the place of semiotics in psychology and its implications for psychological research. In S. C. Hamel (Ed.). Semiotics: Theory and Applications. (pp. 99-147). NY: Nova Science.

Mackay, D. & Petocz, A. (Eds.). (2011).Realism and Psychology: Collected Essays. Leiden: Brill.

Petocz, A. (2011). Why psychology has neglected symbolism and what a realist approach can offer. In Mackay, D. & Petocz, A. (Eds.). Realism and Psychology: Collected Essays. (pp. 597-651). Leiden: Brill.

Mackay, N. & Petocz, A. (2011). Realism and the state of theory in psychology. In Mackay, D. & Petocz, A. (Eds.). Realism and Psychology: Collected Essays. (pp. 17-51). Leiden: Brill.

Mackay, N. & Petocz, A. (2011). Essays in realism: Analysis and discussion. In Mackay, D. & Petocz, A. (Eds.). Realism and Psychology: Collected Essays. (pp. 52-118). Leiden: Brill.

Petocz, A. & Newbery, G. (2010).On conceptual analysis as the primary qualitative approach to statistics education research in psychology. Statistics Education Research Journal, 9(2), 123-146,

Stevens, C., & Petocz, A. (2009). The user knows: considering the cognitive contribution of the user in the design of auditory warnings. In D. Harris (Ed.) Engineering, Psychology and Cognitive Ergonomics, Human-Computer Interaction International 2009. Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence 5639 (pp. 126-135). Berlin: Springer-Verlag. In press.

Stevens, C., Brennan, D., Petocz, A. & Howell, C. (2009). Designing informative warning signals: Effects of indicator type, modality and task demand on recognition speed and accuracy. Advances in Cognitive Psychology, 5, 42-48

Petocz, A., Keller, P. & Stevens, S. (2008). Auditory warnings, signal-referent relations and natural indicators: Re-thinking theory and application. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 14(2), 165-178.


Petocz, A. (2006) Commentary on Freudian Dream Theory, Dream Bizarreness, and the Disguise-Censor Controversy. Neuro-Psychoanalysis, 8 (1), 48-53.

Petocz, A. (2005) Light and shade in communicative musicality: commentary on Stephen Malloch's Why do we like to dance and sing?. In R. Grove, C. Stevens & S. McKechnie (Eds.) Thinking in Four Dimensions: Creativity and Cognition in Contemporary Dance (pp. 29-36). Carlton: Melbourne University Press.

Petocz, A. (2004) Freud, Psicoanalisi e Simbolismo. Transl. M. C. Spinosa. Milano: Fanco Angeli Editore.

Petocz, A. (2004) Science, meaning and the scientist-practitioner model of treatment. In D. Jones (Ed.) Working with Dangerous People (pp. 25-42). Oxford: Radcliffe Medical Press.

Miner, M. & Petocz, A. (2003) Moral theory in ethical decision making: problems, clarifications and recommendations from a psychological perspective. Journal of Business Ethics, 42(1), 11-25.

Petocz, A. (2001) Psychology in the 21st Century: Closing the gap between Science and the Symbol. In J. R. Morss, N. Stephenson & H. van Rappard (eds.) Theoretical Issues in Psychology (pp.367-377). Boston: Kluer Academic Publishers.

Petocz, A. (1999) Freud, Psychoanalysis and Symbolism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Petocz, A. (1996) The failure of the Freudian “system unconscious” Abstracts of the 31st Annual Conference of the Australian Psychological Society, University of Sydney, September.

Predebon, J., Stevens, K. & Petocz, A. (1993) Illusion decrement and transfer of illusion decrement in Müller-Lyer figures. Perception, 22, 391-401.

Oliphant, G. W. & Petocz, A. (1989) The Rules of Language: Sense or Nonsense? In A. F. Bennett & K. M. McConkey (Eds). Cognition in Individual and Social Contexts. B. V. (North Holland): Elsevier Science Publishers.

Petocz, A. & Oliphant, G. (1988) Closed-class words as first syllables do interfere with lexical decisions for nonwords: implications for theories of agrammatism. Brain and Language, 34, 127-146.

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