School of Psychology- Dr Simon Davies

Dr. Simon Davies

Senior Lecturer
Clinical Psychologist

BSc.(Hons), MPsych (Clinical), PhD University of Western Australia

RESEARCH:
My main research program explores how people think. I am particularly interested in evaluating theories of normal cognition, especially those that speculate on the cognitive bases of cognitive development and individual differences in general intelligence (g), using cognitive psychological and cognitive neuropsychological methodologies. My approach is to pit alternative cognitive models of g directly against one another by explicitly testing the a priori predictions each theory would make about the patterns of associations and dissociations displayed by groups of adults and children with and without central nervous system damage (e.g. frontotemporal dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, extremely low birth weight, ADHD) on tests of intelligence, executive function, goal-neglect, and speed of information processing – standard psychometric tests and experimental tasks central to each theory.

I am also interested in evidence-based assessment and have plans for a research stream which contributes to this development of a scientific clinical psychology.

ACTIVITIES:
Prior to accepting this academic appointment (Feb. 2007), I held a permanent full-time position as a clinical psychologist in the Neurosciences Unit, Department of Health, WA. My primary responsibility was to perform specialised clinical psychological assessments (to appraise emotional, behavioral, social and personality functioning) and cognitive psychological assessments (to appraise cognitive functioning, ability levels, and adaptive functioning) on children and adolescents aged 5- to 17-years with known or suspected conditions or disorders affecting the brain (e.g. epilepsy, tumours, IVH, extremely low birth weight).

I maintain a part-time consultant position with the Neurosciences Unit where I oversee the research programme that continually assesses the cognitive, social and emotional development of approximately the 200 children referred to the Unit each year.

As a therapist, I’m grounded in cognitive-behavioural theory and technique (CBT) – my allegiance stemming from my postgraduate training and belief that a scientific epistemology, hence empirically-supported treatments like CBT, should underpin clinical psychology. However, I am also interested in psychodynamics because of the large body of literature which suggests that in order to understand someone’s symptoms, there is need to know something about the personality structure and organization of the person who hosts them, as well as the unconscious thoughts, feelings, and motives that are the bases of their actions. I therefore find myself adopting the psychotherapeutic paradigm which operationalizes evidence-based psychological practice by theoretically integrating both CBT and psychodynamic theory and technique.

TEACHING:
PSY562 Psychological Assessment Methods; PSY431 Principles of Psychological Assessment; PSY561 Clinical Psychology Internal Practicum – Supervisor.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:

Bonney, K., Almeida, O.P., Flicker, L., Davies, S.R., Clarnette, R., Anderson, M., & Lautenschlager, N.T. (2006). Inspection time in non-demented older adults with subjective and objective cognitive impairment. Neuropsychologia, 44, 1452-1456.

Full List of Publications

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