Interview questions Flashcards
1
Q
Tell us about yourself?
A
- What makes me me by Robert Winston
- Fascinated by the human brain because it can produce such complex thoughts and behaviours, and there is still so much we don’t know
- Chose joint honours degree because of my interest in psychology and cognitive neuroscience, but wanted to have a detailed knowledge of the human experience in terms of other body systems and more general biology too
- Have really enjoyed my time at Manchester as it has helped me come into myself more academically (e.g. can really notice the difference in how I would tackle a problem now compared to first year) and on a personal level, for example it’s made me realise I really love my subject so I’m happier and more confident
- Ready for a change and a challenge
2
Q
Why do you want to do a PhD?
A
- Degree has given me a good grounding in cognitive neuroscience and has helped me identify the topics I’m really interested in
- Taught me a lot but equally raised a lot of questions for me as there are gaps in our knowledge that I want to find out the answers to
- Want to become an independent scientist who is able to use various techniques to investigate areas where we still need answers
- Essentially want to prove that I am capable of carrying out sustained research and that I can contribute to the field in my own right
3
Q
What previous research experience do you have?
explain third year project
A
- By the end of 2nd year I knew face recognition research really interested me which prompted me to contact my supervisor to ask about building my own project in this area
- Due to past EEG experience we decided to investigate some of the individual differences in face recognition, focusing on extraversion
- Created a famous face recognition task using E-Prime (famous vs unfamiliar, upright vs inverted) and I’m currently testing extraverts and introverts (decided using personality questionnaire)
- Replicate the N170 face inversion effect where extraverts sig more impaired for inverted faces compared to upright faces, whereas introverts don’t show differential difference
- Also looking at differences in N250 and P600f (both haven’t been looked at from an individual differences in extraversion approach before)
- Currently testing using 64 electrode system
- Data analysis using SPM in matlab - possibly eeglab as I am taking workshops for it
4
Q
Can you explain your proposed project?
A
- Although a lot of research has been done on face processing, less has focused on processing of faces across the visual field
- We know there can be huge variation in visual ability across the visual field e.g. crowding effects
- Afraz (2010) found same face can appear more male or more female depending on its location within the visual field
- Attributed this to undersampling (as you get further out in the visual field receptive field sizes increase, so this results in sparser neuronal sampling, so more likely that the same stimuli can look different)
- Interested in exploring this effect during face recognition e.g. emotion: would there be locations of the visual field where a face appears happier?
- If so, do gender and emotion effects covary e.g. if a face appears more female at a certain location does it also appear happier at this location?
- Create spatial maps / mosaics of gender and emotion effects for each participant to see individual differences in visual processing
- Measure neuronal sampling directly with a behavioural face-acuity task, e.g. what’s the smallest size a face must be at a particular location for it to be perceived as female? More standardised, would allow us to compare the two factors directly
- Use fMRI to measure population receptive fields: shows activity of neurons responding to faces in a particular area of visual field so will directly measure the level of neuronal sampling in different areas of cortex. pRF sizes get larger as you get to higher levels of visual cortex e.g. V3 will be larger than V1 so will be interesting to see how this changes according to spatial location of stimuli
- How will the pRF patterns differ between participants? Will they match to each participant’s “mosaic” at different levels of visual cortex?
- Can start to map neuronal activity underlying some of the differences in visual sensitivity across the visual field (takes Afraz findings to next level by directly testing their theory of undersampling) along with how this differs between individuals
- Interdisciplinary project as would be working with John Greenwood in Experimental Psychology, with collaboration from Tessa Dekker (Institute of Opthamology) who has a lot of experience with neuroimaging, and potentially Valerie Goffaux in Belgium (Universite Catholique de Louvain) - relationships between face recognition and lower-level vision so creating standardised tasks to compare position judgements and face recognition abilities for example
5
Q
Which lab rotations are you interested and why?
A
Jeremy Skipper’s project - decoding brain networks during real-life processing
- Ecological focus appeals to me, similar in a way to individual differences approach I’m taking with my current experiment as it acknowledges the limitations of lab studies and usual approaches and aims to be more applicable to real-life
- Help me tie together different networks in cognitive neuroscience and deepen my understanding of neural systems
- Coding / computer science element will teach me valuable skills which I can use later on
Chris Clark’s project - imaging the human hippocampus
- Have studied the links between hippocampal volume and spatial navigation in detail so would be great to see this in practice
- Will help me build neuroimaging skills from year 1 which will be very beneficial in later years of my PhD project
6
Q
What can you bring to the programme?
i.e. what is special about you, why are you the best candidate
A
- Passion and interest for the subject! Which makes it easier to me to work extra hard, go the extra mile etc because I genuinely enjoy doing it. e.g. built my own experiment from scratch because I wanted to go through the process from start to finish, taking intensive coding class in the summer, currently doing extra Matlab workshops
- Interdisciplinary background so understand how can it can be beneficial to involve different methodological approaches, and I’m keen to continue this approach (e.g. project involves behavioural experiments but also neuroimaging and pRF sizes to investigate low-level aspects of neural processing behind human behaviour)
- Existing skills with EEG
- Keen to publish papers and represent my department as best I can
- Similarly very keen to attend events, present at conferences during the PhD (presenting at BCUR)
- Also keen to take teaching responsibilites for undergraduates, e.g. stats class demonstrator
- Realise that it will be difficult and you have to be prepared for that (things going wrong, disappointing results, stress) - I believe I have developed a good ability to deal with things thrown at me
- Also keen to get involved with outreach or public engagement programmes, so bringing my work into schools or museums etc
7
Q
Can you tell us about a paper relevant to this area that you’ve found interesting?
A
Kay (2015)
- pRF size, position etc in ventral temporal cortex (but not lower visual areas) is affected by attention to face stimuli
- Increased attention caused increase in pRF size and eccentricity
- Therefore attention reduced uncertainty of spatial information about stimuli in the periphery (e.g. reduced uncertainty about its position)
8
Q
Can you describe a type of methodology you have recently used?
A
- Currently testing using BioSemi 64 electrode system
- Learned how to fit the electrode cap and use conducting gel to achieve best signal from scalp
- Become comfortable checking electrode offsets, spotting alpha waves etc
9
Q
Why is this your proposed project important? Who will it have implications for?
A
- Because although there has been a lot of research of face processing, and lots of research on variation in the visual field using fMRI etc, there is not as much specifically on how face processing occurs in peripheral vision, and how this affects psychological experience of perception. Neuronal sampling differs in periphery (compared to fovea) so want to investigate exactly how it’s different (physiological) along with how this affects perception of faces (behavioural). This work would help bridge the gap between differences in neural processing of faces across the visual field and actual human behaviour i.e. how do differences in neural processing relate to real life?
- Believe it’s important to be able to give these significant neurobiological findings an ecological context and link to our psychological experience, which is the final output
10
Q
What problems might you encounter during your PhD and how would you deal with them?
A
- Not finding results I expected, e.g. no effects of emotional expression
- Afraz also found differences in perception of age so could look at whether that covaries with gender
- Could also look at whether age/gender effects covary with other low-level visual aspects that are known to vary across the visual field, e.g. spatial discrimination or crowding - e.g. crowding interference zones are larger in the upper visual field, and along vertical axis. Could shed more light on how differences in perception of age/gender come about i.e. what low-level factors these judgements rely on
- Coding, but to help with this I’m taking summer classes and I’m aware of further coding courses which will be happening in London when I move
- Getting to grips with imaging techniques as this is completely new to me. But willing to work hard to understand the concepts / don’t mind putting in long hours, also plan to choose lab rotation which uses imaging to by the time I come to do it during PhD I will already have some understanding
11
Q
What are your long-term career goals?
A
- Papers I publish during PhD will help to establish myself as a competent researcher so I can apply for postdoctoral fellowships
- Interested in taking on teaching responsibilities such as lecturing and eventually supervisory roles for students as I really love my subject and want to inspire others
- Outreach / public engagement projects in schools or museums because I think it’s really important to push science in society (especially for girls)
12
Q
What are your strengths and weaknesses?
A
Strengths:
- Strong written communication - I can relay my ideas effectively and concisely which will be crucial for writing a thesis. Have shown this by consistently receiving firsts in my written coursework and second year dissertation
- Very organised and able to self-motivate myself well e.g. submit essays early, always make revision plans etc
Weaknesses:
- Sometimes I can lack confidence when discussing topics or presenting to people much more experienced than me. I do feel this improving a lot with time as I become more knowledgeable and more confident in my area, and because I am taking opportunities to present wherever I can e.g. at the BCUR
- Journal clubs etc during the programme appeal to me
13
Q
What is it about the Lido programme that appeals to you specifically?
A
- Lab rotations will give me experience with various types of methodology such as neuroimaging, help me build different skills such as coding or experimental design, and will improve my problem-solving skills across different types of project
- Advanced stats classes really appeal to me as I want to have detailed knowledge of data analysis so I can manipulate various types of data set
- Ability to mix with a diverse group of researchers will allow me to gain useful contacts, hear about current work, and learn from others
- Opportunity to attend / present at conferences will give me a wider platform for my work
- Ultimately, will give me intensive training that will push me to produce high quality independent research, contribute to the field, and lay the path for a successful career in academia
14
Q
Can you tell us of a time you worked well in a team?
A
- Group presentation at university recently, had to present research paper
- Each person took one section of the paper, we
15
Q
What specific skills do you want to gain?
A
- Be able to confidently design an effective study that tests what you’re looking for, doesn’t have confounds etc
- Experience with using different methodology, e.g. want to be able to run imaging experiments
- Want to advance my statistical knowledge, be able to manipulate various types of data set and use software for data analysis e.g. Matlab
- Improve general problem-solving skills e.g. unexpected results, change in hypothesis
Improve presentation skills (Sheffield!) and programme would allow me to do this through seminars, presenting at conferences etc
