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All Outputs (141)

Cortisol levels and suicidal behavior: a meta-analysis (2015)
Journal Article
O’Connor, D. B., Ferguson, E., Green, J. A., O'Carroll, R. E., & O'Connor, R. C. (in press). Cortisol levels and suicidal behavior: a meta-analysis. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 63, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2015.10.011

Suicide is a major cause of death worldwide, responsible for 1.5% of all mortality. The causes of suicidal behavior are not fully understood. Dysregulated hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity, as measured by cortisol levels, is one pote... Read More about Cortisol levels and suicidal behavior: a meta-analysis.

Changes in prevalence of, and risk factors for, lameness in random samples of English sheep flocks: 2004–2013 (2015)
Journal Article
Winter, J. R., Kaler, J., Ferguson, E., KilBride, A. L., & Green, L. E. (2015). Changes in prevalence of, and risk factors for, lameness in random samples of English sheep flocks: 2004–2013. Preventive Veterinary Medicine, 122(1-2), 121-128. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.prevetmed.2015.09.014

The aims of this study were to update the prevalence of lameness in sheep in England and identify novel risk factors. A total of 1260 sheep farmers responded to a postal survey. The survey captured detailed information on the period prevalence of lam... Read More about Changes in prevalence of, and risk factors for, lameness in random samples of English sheep flocks: 2004–2013.

Mechanism of altruism (MOA) approach to blood donor recruitment and retention: a review and future directions (2015)
Journal Article
Ferguson, E. (2015). Mechanism of altruism (MOA) approach to blood donor recruitment and retention: a review and future directions. Transfusion Medicine, 25(4), https://doi.org/10.1111/tme.12233

Background and Objectives. Why do people donate blood? Altruism is the common answer. However, altruism is a complex construct and to answer this question requires a systematic analysis of the insights from the biology, economics and psychology of al... Read More about Mechanism of altruism (MOA) approach to blood donor recruitment and retention: a review and future directions.

An international comparison of deceased and living organ donation/transplant rates in opt-in and opt-out systems: a panel study (2014)
Journal Article

Background Policy decisions about opt-in and opt-out consent for organ donation are based on limited evidence. To fill this gap we investigated the difference between deceased and living organ donation rates in opt-in and opt-out consent systems acr... Read More about An international comparison of deceased and living organ donation/transplant rates in opt-in and opt-out systems: a panel study.

Maternal cigarette smoking during pregnancy predicts drug use via externalizing behavior in two community-based samples of adolescents (2014)
Journal Article
Lotfipour, S., Ferguson, E., Leonard, G., Miettunen, J., Perron, M., Pike, G. B., …Paus, T. (2014). Maternal cigarette smoking during pregnancy predicts drug use via externalizing behavior in two community-based samples of adolescents. Addiction, 109(10), 1718-1729. https://doi.org/10.1111/add.12665

Background and Aims Prenatal exposure to maternal cigarette smoking (PEMCS) is associated with a higher probability of substance use in adolescence. We explore if externalizing behavior mediates this relationship, while controlling for a number of p... Read More about Maternal cigarette smoking during pregnancy predicts drug use via externalizing behavior in two community-based samples of adolescents.

Fast to Forgive, Slow to Retaliate: Intuitive Responses in the Ultimatum Game Depend on the Degree of Unfairness (2014)
Journal Article

Evolutionary accounts have difficulty explaining why people cooperate with anonymous strangers they will never meet. Recently models, focusing on emotional processing, have been proposed as a potential explanation, with attention focusing on a dual s... Read More about Fast to Forgive, Slow to Retaliate: Intuitive Responses in the Ultimatum Game Depend on the Degree of Unfairness.

The ‘Dark Side’ and ‘Bright Side’ of Personality: When Too Much Conscientiousness and Too Little Anxiety Are Detrimental to the Acquisition of Medical Knowledge and Skill (2014)
Journal Article
Ferguson, E., Semper, H., Yates, J., Fitzgerald, E., Skatova, A., & James, D. (2014). The ‘Dark Side’ and ‘Bright Side’ of Personality: When Too Much Conscientiousness and Too Little Anxiety Are Detrimental to the Acquisition of Medical Knowledge and Skill. PLoS ONE, 9(9), Article e8860

Theory suggests that personality traits evolved to have costs and benefits, with the effectiveness of a trait dependent on how these costs and benefits relate to the present circumstances. This suggests that traits that are generally viewed as positi... Read More about The ‘Dark Side’ and ‘Bright Side’ of Personality: When Too Much Conscientiousness and Too Little Anxiety Are Detrimental to the Acquisition of Medical Knowledge and Skill.

Defining and measuring blood donor altruism: a theoretical approach from biology, economics and psychology (2014)
Journal Article
Evans, R., & Ferguson, E. (2014). Defining and measuring blood donor altruism: a theoretical approach from biology, economics and psychology. Vox Sanguinis, 106(2), https://doi.org/10.1111/vox.12080

Background and Objectives While blood donation is traditionally described as a behaviour motivated by pure altruism, the assessment of altruism in the blood donation literature has not been theoretically informed. Drawing on theories of altruism fro... Read More about Defining and measuring blood donor altruism: a theoretical approach from biology, economics and psychology.

A data mining framework to model consumer indebtedness with psychological factors (2014)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Ladas, A., Ferguson, E., Garibaldi, J. M., & Aickelin, U. (2014). A data mining framework to model consumer indebtedness with psychological factors.

Modelling Consumer Indebtedness has proven to be a problem of complex nature. In this work we utilise Data Mining techniques and methods to explore the multifaceted aspect of Consumer Indebtedness by examining the contribution of Psychological Factor... Read More about A data mining framework to model consumer indebtedness with psychological factors.

Using hormones to manage dairy cow fertility: the clinical and ethical beliefs of veterinary practitioners (2013)
Journal Article
Higgins, H. M., Ferguson, E., Smith, R. F., & Green, M. J. (2013). Using hormones to manage dairy cow fertility: the clinical and ethical beliefs of veterinary practitioners. PLoS ONE, 8(4), Article 9. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0062993

In the face of a steady decline in dairy cow fertility over several decades, using hormones to assist reproduction has become common. In the European Union, hormones are prescription-only medicines, giving veterinary practitioners a central role in t... Read More about Using hormones to manage dairy cow fertility: the clinical and ethical beliefs of veterinary practitioners.

Individual differences in behavioural inhibition explain free riding in public good games when punishment is expected but not implemented (2013)
Journal Article
Skatova, A., & Ferguson, E. (2013). Individual differences in behavioural inhibition explain free riding in public good games when punishment is expected but not implemented. Behavioral and Brain Functions, 9(3), https://doi.org/10.1186/1744-9081-9-3

Background: The literature on social dilemmas and punishment focuses on the behaviour of the punisher. However, to fully explain the effect of punishment on cooperation, it is important to understand the psychological mechanisms influencing the behav... Read More about Individual differences in behavioural inhibition explain free riding in public good games when punishment is expected but not implemented.

Health specific traits beyond the Five Factor Model, cognitive processes and trait expression: replies to Watson (2012), Matthews (2012) and Haslam, Jetten, Reynolds, and Reicher (2012) (2013)
Journal Article
Ferguson, E., Ward, J. W., Skatova, A., Cassaday, H. J., Bibby, P. A., & Lawrence, C. (2013). Health specific traits beyond the Five Factor Model, cognitive processes and trait expression: replies to Watson (2012), Matthews (2012) and Haslam, Jetten, Reynolds, and Reicher (2012). Health Psychology Review, 7(Supple), Article S85-S103. https://doi.org/10.1080/17437199.2012.701061

In this article we reply to the issues raised by the three commentaries on Ferguson's (2012) article. Watson argues that the four traits identified by Ferguson (2012) – health anxiety, alexithymia, empathy and Type D – do not lie outside the Five Fac... Read More about Health specific traits beyond the Five Factor Model, cognitive processes and trait expression: replies to Watson (2012), Matthews (2012) and Haslam, Jetten, Reynolds, and Reicher (2012).

Personality is of central concern to understand health: towards a theoretical model for health psychology (2011)
Journal Article
Eamonn, F. (2013). Personality is of central concern to understand health: towards a theoretical model for health psychology. Health Psychology Review, 7(Suppl1), S32-S70. https://doi.org/10.1080/17437199.2010.547985

This paper sets out the case that personality traits are central to health psychology. To achieve this, three aims need to be addressed. First, it is necessary to show that personality influences a broad range of health outcomes and mechanisms. Secon... Read More about Personality is of central concern to understand health: towards a theoretical model for health psychology.

Graduate entry to medicine: widening psychological diversity (2009)
Journal Article
James, D., Ferguson, E., Powis, D., Bore, M., Munro, D., Symonds, I., & Yates, J. (2009). Graduate entry to medicine: widening psychological diversity. BMC Medical Education, 9(Novemb), Article 8. https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6920-9-67

Abstract Background: At Nottingham University more than 95% of entrants to the traditional 5-year medical course are school leavers. Since 2003 we have admitted graduate entrants (GEM) to a shortened (4-year) course to 'widen access to students from... Read More about Graduate entry to medicine: widening psychological diversity.

Should applicants to Nottingham University Medical School study a non-science A-level?: a cohort study (2009)
Journal Article
Yates, J., Smith, J., James, D., & Ferguson, E. (2009). Should applicants to Nottingham University Medical School study a non-science A-level?: a cohort study. BMC Medical Education, 9, Article 5. https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6920-9-5

Background It has been suggested that studying non-science subjects at A-level should be compulsory for medical students. Our admissions criteria specify only Biology, Chemistry and one or more additional subjects. This study aimed to determine whet... Read More about Should applicants to Nottingham University Medical School study a non-science A-level?: a cohort study.

Do humans prefer altruistic mates? Testing a link between sexual selection and altruism towards non-relatives (2008)
Journal Article
Phillips, T., Barnard, C., Ferguson, E., & Reader, T. (2008). Do humans prefer altruistic mates? Testing a link between sexual selection and altruism towards non-relatives. British Journal of Psychology, 99(4), 555-572. https://doi.org/10.1348/000712608X298467

Humans are often seen as unusual in displaying altruistic behaviour towards nonrelatives. Here we outline and test a hypothesis that human altruistic traits evolved as a result of sexual selection. We develop a psychometric scale to measure mate pref... Read More about Do humans prefer altruistic mates? Testing a link between sexual selection and altruism towards non-relatives.