Dr Kate Elizabeth Williams BSc (Hons), MSc, PG Cert THE, PhD, FHEA, AFBPsS

• Programme Manager:
• BSc Psychology
• BSc Psychology and Counselling
• Lecturer and Module Lead
• Academic Support tutor
• Undergraduate Dissertation Supervisor
• Masters Dissertation Supervisor
• PhD Supervisor

From 2005–2014 I studied for my BSc in Psychology, MSc in Research Methods and Statistics in Psychology, and PhD in Cognitive Psychology at Swansea University.

Prior to joining the Psychology and Counselling department at UWTSD (Swansea) in September 2015, I worked in the College of Medicine at Swansea University as a database assistant.

• Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society
• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
• Full member of the Cognitive Psychology Section of the British Psychological Society
• Full member of the Welsh branch of the British Psychological Society

My primary teaching areas are in the fields of cognitive and biological psychology, at an experimental and applied level. From Level Four to Level Six delivery, this includes teaching the theoretical and empirical research linked to cognitive functioning and the biological substrates that support those cognitions and how they relate to understanding behaviour in the real-world. At Level Seven and Eight, my teaching focuses on research methods, design, and analysis and I would be available to take on research degree candidates.

My research interests are in the areas of object recognition and memory. I am specifically interested in theoretical representations underlying long-term explicit episodic object recognition memory. I am also interested in the Retrieval-Induced Forgetting (RIF) effect, with most of my research work focusing on a modified version of the paradigm that involves recognition to examine whether it can be used to probe feature-based properties and inform us of the micro-structure of object memory representations.

My other research interests focus on applied cognition, specifically in relation to learning in educational contexts and cognitive functioning while driving.

My area of professional expertise focuses on quantitative experimental cognitive psychology, specifically, long-term episodic memory. I am also a fluent Welsh speaker and currently working on a project to develop a Welsh language learning course linked to psychology, counselling, and mental health.

Please see the School of Psychology PERCH pages for details of consultancy projects:

The Psychological Evaluation and Research Consultancy Hub (PERCH) - University of Wales, Trinity Saint David (uwtsd.ac.uk)

• Williams, K. E., Phelps, C., & Hutchings, P. B. (2021). Beyond learning in higher education: An evaluation of the ‘Life Design’ initiative to improve student employability. Studies in Higher Education, 1-15.
• Reppa, I., Williams, K. E., Greville, W. J., & Saunders, J. (2020). The relative contribution of shape and colour to object memory. Memory & Cognition, 48(8), 1-18.
• Reppa, I., Williams, K. E., Worth, E. R., Greville, W. J., & Saunders, J. (2017). Memorable objects are more susceptible to forgetting: Evidence for the inhibitory account of retrieval-induced forgetting. Acta Psychologica, 181, 51-61.
• Balbuena, L. D., Middleton, R.M., Tuite-Dalton, K., Pouliou, T., Williams, K. E., & Noble, G. J. (2016). Sunshine, Sea, and Season of Birth: MS Incidence in Wales. PLoS ONE 11(5): e0155181. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0155181.

Talks and Conference Presentations:

Williams, K. E., & Reppa, I. (2014). The role of colour in object memory: Evidence from a recognition-induced forgetting paradigm. Poster at workshop, Colour in concepts: Representation and processing of colour in language and cognition. Düsseldorf, Germany, 3/6/2014.

Williams, K. E., & Reppa, I. (2013). The role of colour in object memory: Evidence from a recognition-induced forgetting paradigm. Poster at the Psychonomic society annual meeting. Toronto, Canada, 14/11/2013.

Williams, K. E., & Reppa, I. (2012). The role of colour in object memory: Evidence from a retrieval-induced forgetting paradigm. Presentation at the BPS Cognitive section conference. Glasgow, UK, 31/8/2012.

Reppa, I., & Williams, K. E. (2011). Retrieval competition in long-term memory for object shape and colour. Presentation at the International conference of memory. York, UK, 3/8/2011.

Williams, K. E., & Reppa, I. (2010). Competition in memory between shape and surface object properties. Poster at the BPS annual conference. Stratford-upon-Avon, UK, 14/4/2010. 

Research Grants:

2022 – British Psychological Society (BPS): Undergraduate Research Assistantship Scheme (URAS). £2,160.

Committees:

2021 – Present: University Special Cases, UWTSD

2019 – Present: IEH Faculty Assessment Officer Working Group Lead, UWTSD

2015 – Present: Psychology Research Ethics, UWTSD

2016 – 2022: Psychology Assessment Officer, UWTSD

2019 – 2022: IEH Faculty Quality Enhancement, UWTSD

2016 – 2018: IEH Faculty Research Ethics, UWTSD