Summary
I am a Senior Lecturer in Psychology with research interests in reasoning and pain. I teach Educational Psychology.
Biography
I completed my BSc in Psychology (2007) and MSc in Research Methods in Psychology (2008) at the University of Kent. I then spent a year as a Research Assistant at the University of Nottingham on a numerical cognition project funded by the ESRC (2009-2010).
My PhD research at Loughborough University (2010-2013) investigated whether studying advanced mathematics improves one's logical reasoning skills, as suggested by the Theory of Formal Discipline and supported by numerous philosophers, mathematicians, and educational policy makers. I found evidence that there is some truth to the claim, although the effect may be more limited that previously thought.
After my PhD I spent two and a half years at the University of Bath (2013-2015) working on an industry-funded project looking at the effects of pain on attention.
I became a Lecturer in Statistics at Loughborough University in 2015 and spent five years there in the Mathematics Education Centre. During this time my research focused on understanding the effects of pain on numerical reasoning and decision making.
I joined the Department of Psychology at the University of Portsmouth in July 2020.
Research interests
- The development of reasoning skills in mathematics students
- Dual process theories of reasoning
- The effects of pain on attention, reasoning and decision making
Teaching responsibilities
I am module coordinator for the level 6 module Educational Psychology.
Research outputs
2025
Misconceptions of the order of operations and associativity use
Eaves, J., Attridge, N., Gilmore, C.
1 Jun 2025, In: Learning and Instruction. 97, 14p., 102074
Research output: Article
Numeracy, logical reasoning and real-world decision making
Pickering, J., Attridge, N., Inglis, M., Morsanyi, K.
19 Mar 2025, In: Research in Mathematics Education, 17p.
Research output: Article
2023
Refutations and reasoning in undergraduate mathematics
Alcock, L., Attridge, N. F.
10 Jul 2023, In: International Journal of Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education
Research output: Article
2022
The role of domain-general and domain-specific skills in the identification of arithmetic strategies
Eaves, J., Attridge, N., Gilmore, C.
16 Nov 2022, In: Journal of Numerical Cognition. 8, 3, p. 335-350, 16p.
Research output: Article
Associations between pain and physical activity among older adults
Niederstrasser, N. G., Attridge, N.
28 Jan 2022, In: PLoS One. 17, 1, 12p., e0263356
Research output: Article
2021
Attentional biases towards body expressions of pain in men and women
Keogh, E., Attridge, N. F., Walsh, J., Bartlett, J., Francis, R., Bultitude, J., Eccleston, C.
1 Dec 2021, In: The Journal of Pain. 22, 12, p. 1696-1708, 13p.
Research output: Article
Cognitive performance in pain is predicted by effort, not goal desire
Pickering, J., Attridge, N. F., Inglis, M.
4 Nov 2021, In: PLoS One. 16, 11, 11p., e0258874
Research output: Article
When driving hurts: characterizing the experience and impact of driving with back pain
Seward, J., Stavrinos, D., Moore, D., Attridge, N. F., Trost, Z.
27 Jul 2021, In: Scandinavian Journal of Pain. 21, 3, p. 445–456, 12p.
Research output: Article
2020
Investigating the role of attention in the identification of associativity shortcuts using a microgenetic measure of implicit shortcut use
Attridge, N., Eaves, J., Gilmore, C.
20 Apr 2020, In: The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology Section A. 73, 7, p. 1017-1035
Research output: Article