PhD Student

I am a PhD researcher, tutor and visiting lecturer in the School of Psychology at the University of Bedfordshire. In 2015 I completed my undergraduate degree, from which I then enrolled onto and completed my postgraduate education specialising in research methods in psychology, with a particular focus on quantitative statistical analysis. I began my PhD in 2017, investigating how digital faces in cyber communication (emoji, emoticons) influence eye movements and formation of text perceptions during sentence reading.

My research interests fall into the realms of cyberpsychology, cognitive psychology and psycholinguistics. My previous projects have examined how technology and user involvement influences cognitive offloading and saving-enhanced memory effects, and how the use textisms and text-speak shortcuts (e.g. ‘c u l8r’) in mixed-format sentences influence lexical processing during reading.

Outside of my research, I have also been a visiting lecturer and tutor on foundation and undergraduate degree units since 2015, including Methods of Research in Psychology, Biological and Cognitive Psychology, Cognitive Neuropsychology, and Language & Vision.

Other References

Twitter: @chrisrobus

Qualifications

• MSc Research Methods in Psychology (Distinction), University of Hertfordshire, 2015-2016
• BSc (Hons) Psychology (1:1), University of Bedfordshire, 2012-2015

Other Awards

• Recipient of the BPS Undergraduate Award (2015)

Area of Study

My research applies eye-tracking technology to investigate the influence of facial representations (i.e. emoticons and emoji) on eye movements, reading behaviours and perceptions of text. In particular, my research investigates the effects of emoji position and quantities in text, narrative point of view and face digital-formatting differences (i.e. emoticons vs. emoji).

Supervisors

Dr Melanie Pitchford (Director of Studies) and Professor Gail Kinman

Recent Conference Presentations

• Robus, C., Pitchford, M., & Kinman, G. (2019, July). Emoji position in neutral sentences: Eye movements and perceived emotional valence. Poster session presented at the PsyPAG 34^th Annual Conference, Sheffield, UK.
• Robus, C., & Georgiou, G. (2018, August). Assessing the saving-enhanced memory effect: The impact of user involvement and perceptual load. Poster session presented at the BPS Cognitive Section Annual Conference, Liverpool, UK.

Contact Details

Room: A208

E: christopher.robus@study.beds.ac.uk