Dr Sarah Grainger

ARC DECRA Research Fellow

School of Psychology
Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences

Overview

Dr. Sarah Grainger completed her PhD at the University of Queensland in November 2017. She was employed as a postdoctoral research fellow in the School of Psychology at UQ for several years before securing an ARC DECRA Fellowship in 2022. Her research to date has focused primarily on how social cognitive function– which broadly refers to our ability to detect and respond appropriately to social and emotional cues– changes across the lifespan, with a particular focus on normal adult ageing. In addition to using traditional behavioural measures to assess social cognition, Sarah also has experience with sophisticated experimental techniques including eye-tracking, facial electromyography, psychopharmacological interventions, and hormonal assessments. Much of her research to date has focused on using more ecologically valid socio-emotional tasks and she is now developing paradigms for testing social cognitive abilities outside the research laboratory in real social interactions (i.e., using wearable technologies). In 2024, Sarah was recognised as a Rising Star by the Association for Psychological Science (APS) for her innovative work on social cognitive ageing.

Research Interests

  • Lifespan Ageing
  • Adolescence
  • Social Cognition
  • Emotion
  • Social Attention
  • Ageism
  • Ecological Validity

Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Queensland
  • Bachelor (Honours) of Psychological Science, The University of Queensland

Publications

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Grants

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Supervision

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Available Projects

  • I am open to taking on new HDR students that are interested in topics that broadly align with my main research interests (e.g., social cognition, emotion, social attention, ageing, adolescence, ageism). If you have an idea for a PhD topic or would like to chat about potential ideas, please get in touch me with.

View all Available Projects

Publications

Journal Article

Conference Publication

Other Outputs

Grants (Administered at UQ)

PhD and MPhil Supervision

Current Supervision

Possible Research Projects

Note for students: The possible research projects listed on this page may not be comprehensive or up to date. Always feel free to contact the staff for more information, and also with your own research ideas.

  • I am open to taking on new HDR students that are interested in topics that broadly align with my main research interests (e.g., social cognition, emotion, social attention, ageing, adolescence, ageism). If you have an idea for a PhD topic or would like to chat about potential ideas, please get in touch me with.