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Claire Conway

Current work

I recently successfully defended my PhD in the face research lab in the School of Psychology.

I am interested in individual differences in how people integrate different social and physical cues in face perception and when making face preferences. I have run a series of studies examining the role of progesterone level and anxiety levels on how people integrate information from facial expressions, gaze direction and physical attractiveness when perceiving faces. The findings from these studies suggest that people use cues to both the valence and direction of others' social interest along with cues to their physical attractiveness when perceiving faces, and that there are individual differences in how these cues are weighted.

In collaboration with the vision research lab, I have also investigated pupil responses to faces in order to develop a new method for studying face processing. I have examined pupil responses to human and macaque faces, culminating in a recent paper in the Journal of Vision, and future studies will investigate if particular aspects of faces (e.g. expression) modulate the pupil response.

Academic history

Previously I was a research assistant for Rebecca Bull and Louise Phillips on an ESRC funded project entitled Theory of Mind and Executive Function: Dual Task Studies. The results of this study were presented at the APA Convention 2005 in Washington, DC and are currently under review. In addition, I ran a dual task study on Theory of Mind and Working Memory for my Master of Research degree.

My undergraduate thesis examined the relationship between Theory of Mind and Inhibition using dual task methodology, under the supervision of Rebecca Bull. This study was presented at the Scottish BPS undergraduate student conference in Glasgow in 2004.

Email: c.conway@abdn.ac.uk

Scientific Journal Articles

2010
(227 kB) CA Conway, BC Jones, LM DeBruine & AC Little (2010). Sexual dimorphism of male face shape, partnership status and the temporal context of relationship sought modulate women’s preferences for direct gaze. British Journal of Psychology, 101(1): 109-121. [abstract»»]
2009
(202 kB) FG Smith, LM DeBruine, BC Jones, DB Krupp, LLM Welling & CA Conway (2009). Attractiveness qualifies the effect of observation on trusting behavior in an economic game. Evolution and Human Behavior, 30(6): 393-397. [abstract»»]
FG Smith, BC Jones, AC Little, LM DeBruine, LLM Welling, J Vukovic & CA Conway (2009). Hormonal contraceptive use and perceptions of trust modulate the effect of relationship context on women's preferences for sexual dimorphism in male face shape. Journal of Evolutionary Psychology, 7(3): 195-210. [abstract»»]
(385 kB) LLM Welling, BC Jones, PEG Bestelmeyer, LM DeBruine, AC Little & CA Conway (2009). View-contingent aftereffects suggest joint coding of face shape and view. Perception, 38: 133-141. [abstract»»]
2008
(873 kB) PEG Bestelmeyer, BC Jones, LM DeBruine, AC Little, DI Perrett, A Schneider, LLM Welling & CA Conway (2008). Sex-contingent face aftereffects depend on perceptual category rather than structural encoding. Cognition, 107(1): 353-365. [abstract»»]
(195 kB) CA Conway, BC Jones, LM DeBruine & AC Little (2008). Evidence for adaptive design in human gaze preference. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B, 275(1630): 63-69. [abstract»»]
(230 kB) CA Conway, BC Jones, LM DeBruine, AC Little, J Hay, LLM Welling, DI Perrett & DR Feinberg (2008). Integrating physical and social cues when forming face preferences: Differences among low and high anxiety individuals. Social Neuroscience, 3(1): 89-95. [abstract»»]
(903 kB) CA Conway, BC Jones, LM DeBruine, AC Little & A Sahraie (2008). Transient pupil constrictions to faces are sensitive to orientation and species. Journal of Vision, 8(3): 17. [abstract»»]
2007
(364 kB) CA Conway, BC Jones, LM DeBruine, LLM Welling, MJ Law Smith, DI Perrett, M Sharp & EAS Al-Dujaili (2007). Salience of emotional displays of danger and contagion in faces is enhanced when progesterone levels are raised. Hormones and Behavior, 51(2): 202-206. [abstract»»]
(573 kB) BC Jones, LM DeBruine, AC Little, CA Conway, LLM Welling & FG Smith (2007). Sensation seeking and men's face preferences. Evolution and Human Behavior, 28(6): 439-446. [abstract»»]
(85 kB) LLM Welling, CA Conway, LM DeBruine & BC Jones (2007). Perceived vulnerability to disease predicts variation in preferences for apparent health in faces. Journal of Evolutionary Psychology, 5: 131-139. [abstract»»]
(348 kB) LLM Welling, BC Jones, LM DeBruine, CA Conway, MJ Law Smith, AC Little, DR Feinberg, M Sharp & EAS Al-Dujaili (2007). Raised salivary testosterone in women is associated with increased attraction to masculine faces. Hormones and Behavior, 52(2): 156-161. [abstract»»]
2006
(124 kB) G Buckingham, LM DeBruine, AC Little, LLM Welling, CA Conway, BP Tiddeman & BC Jones (2006). Visual adaptation to masculine and feminine faces influences generalized preferences and perceptions of trustworthiness. Evolution and Human Behavior, 27(5): 381-389. [abstract»»]
(651 kB) BC Jones, LM DeBruine, AC Little, CA Conway & DR Feinberg (2006). Integrating gaze direction and expression in preferences for attractive faces. Psychological Science, 17(7): 588-591. [abstract»»]

Published Abstracts

2006
CA Conway, LM DeBruine & BC Jones (2006). Gaze direction influences perceptions of facial expressions and face preferences. Perception, 35: 210-211.
BC Jones, PEG Bestelmeyer, LM DeBruine, AC Little, A Schneider, LLM Welling & CA Conway (2006). Face aftereffects reveal interdependent processing of expressions and sex. Perception, 35: 211-212.

Conference Presentations

2008
CA Conway, BC Jones, LM DeBruine & AC Little (2008). Evidence for adaptive design in human gaze preference. Human Behavior and Evolution Society in Kyoto University, Japan. June 2008. [abstract»»]
2007
CA Conway, BC Jones, AC Little, LM DeBruine & A Sahraie (2007). Transient pupil constrictions when viewing human and macaque faces. Scottish Vision Group meeting in Isle of Arran. March 2007.
FG Smith, LM DeBruine, BC Jones, DB Krupp, CA Conway & LLM Welling (2007). Own attractiveness affects strategies in an economic game. Human Behavior and Evolution Society in Williamsburg, VA, USA. May 2007. [abstract»»]
LLM Welling, BC Jones, LM DeBruine, CA Conway, MJ Law Smith, AC Little, DR Feinberg, M Sharp & EAS Al-Dujaili (2007). Raised salivary testosterone in women is associated with increased attraction to masculine faces. Human Behavior and Evolution Society in Williamsburg, VA, USA. May 2007. [abstract»»]
2006
CA Conway, BC Jones, LM DeBruine, LLM Welling, MJ Law Smith, DI Perrett, M Sharp & EAS Al-Dujaili (2006). Salience of emotional displays of danger and contagion in faces is enhanced when progesterone levels are raised. BPS Scottish Branch Conference in Perth, UK. November 2006.
LM DeBruine, BC Jones, DI Perrett, LLM Welling, CA Conway & AC Little (2006). Preferences for self-resembling faces. Human Behavior and Evolution Society in Philadelphia, PA USA. June 2006. [abstract»»]
BC Jones, PEG Bestelmeyer, LM DeBruine, AC Little, CA Conway, LLM Welling, DR Feinberg & A Schneider (2006). Integrating physical and social signals when forming face preferences. Human Behavior and Evolution Society in Philadelphia, PA USA. June 2006. [abstract»»]
BC Jones, LM DeBruine, PEG Bestelmeyer, AC Little, LLM Welling & CA Conway (2006). Sex-contingent face aftereffects depend on perceptual category rather than structural encoding. Scottish Perception Group in University of Stirling, Stirling, UK. December 2006.

Posters

2008
FG Smith, BC Jones, AC Little, LM DeBruine, LLM Welling, J Vukovic & CA Conway (2008). Individual differences in the effect of relationship context on women's preferences for sexual dimorphism in male face shape. Human Behavior and Evolution Society in Kyoto University, Japan. June 2008. [abstract»»]
2007
(141 kB) CA Conway, BC Jones, LM DeBruine, LLM Welling, MJ Law Smith, DI Perrett, M Sharp & EAS Al-Dujaili (2007). Salience of emotional displays of danger and contagion in faces is enhanced when progesterone levels are raised. European Human Behaviour and Evolution Conference in London School of Economics, UK. March 2007. [abstract»»]
(312 kB) CA Conway, BC Jones, LM DeBruine, LLM Welling, MJ Law Smith, DI Perrett, M Sharp & EAS Al-Dujaili (2007). Salience of emotional displays of danger and contagion in faces is enhanced when progesterone levels are raised. Human Behavior and Evolution Society in Williamsburg, VA, USA. May 2007. [abstract»»]
(291 kB) FG Smith, LM DeBruine, DB Krupp, CA Conway & LLM Welling (2007). Own attractiveness affects strategies in an economic game. European Human Behaviour and Evolution Conference in London School of Economics, UK. March 2007. [abstract»»]
(502 kB) LLM Welling, CA Conway, LM DeBruine & BC Jones (2007). Perceived vulnerability to disease is positively related to the strength of preferences for apparent health in faces. European Human Behaviour and Evolution Conference in London School of Economics, UK. March 2007.
2006
(801 kB) G Buckingham, LM DeBruine, AC Little, LLM Welling, CA Conway, BP Tiddeman & BC Jones (2006). Visual adaptation to masculine and feminine faces influences generalized preferences and perceptions of trustworthiness. Human Behavior and Evolution Society in Philadelphia, PA USA. June 2006. [abstract»»]
(549 kB) CA Conway, LM DeBruine & BC Jones (2006). Gaze direction influences perceptions of facial expressions and face preferences. European Conference on Visual Perception in St Petersburg, Russia. August 2006. [abstract»»]
(599 kB) CA Conway, BC Jones, LM DeBruine, AC Little, J Hay, DI Perrett & DR Feinberg (2006). Integrating physical and social cues when forming face preferences: Differences among low and high anxiety individuals. Human Behavior and Evolution Society in Philadelphia, PA USA. June 2006. [abstract»»]
(751 kB) BC Jones, PEG Bestelmeyer, LM DeBruine, AC Little, A Schneider, LLM Welling & CA Conway (2006). Face aftereffects reveal interdependent processing of expressions and sex. European Conference on Visual Perception in St Petersburg, Russia. August 2006. [abstract»»]
(461 kB) FG Smith, LM DeBruine, BC Jones, DB Krupp, CA Conway & LLM Welling (2006). Own attractiveness affects strategies in an economic game. BPS Scottish Branch Conference in Perth, UK. November 2006. [abstract»»]
(609 kB) LLM Welling, CA Conway, LM DeBruine & BC Jones (2006). Perceived vulnerability to disease is positively related to the strength of preferences for apparent health in faces. Human Behavior and Evolution Society in Philadelphia, PA USA. June 2006. [abstract»»]
2005
(285 kB) CA Conway, R Bull & L Phillips (2005). Theory of Mind and Executive Functioning: Dual Task Studies. American Psychological Association Convention in Washington, DC, USA. August 2005.

Invited Talks

2007
LM DeBruine, BC Jones, AC Little, PEG Bestelmeyer, FG Smith, CA Conway & E Drane (2007). Computer-graphic methods for investigating face perception and preferences. University of Dundee School of Computer Science in Dundee, UK. March 2007. [abstract»»]

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