Professor Frans Verstraten
Affiliation: University of Sydney
Discipline: Psychology
Year elected: 2021
How would you describe your work at a dinner party?
Always a difficult question as it depends on the audience. But most of the time I say, “I study how the brain and mind work where I believe that the brain is an experienced gambler with a lot of prior knowledge”. That opens a good discussion…
What initially drew you to your field of study?
The fact that psychology is so inter/multi-disciplinary. I had a science background and found out that you can enjoy psychological science because it is so multifaceted.
Tell us about a recent moment of motivation or inspiration?
One of my students taught me about neurodiversity (also to find out that I am one). I started a new research line where we use the latest technology for mental health assessment. Together with some colleagues in industry we hope to build applications that can help children as well as teachers to identify and regulate.
What question or issue, in your field, keeps you awake at night?
The fact that President Trump gets away with destroying democracy and science shows that the world order is very fragile and that there is no system in place to handle this. In particular social scientists know how the brain works and understand the ins and outs of group dynamics. We should use that in a much broader context. Too often we preach to the converted.
What should your field of study be doing more of right now?
As one clinically oriented HDR student pointed out; psychophysics has much more to contribute to mental health research than they seem to understand. Clinicians find psychophysicists strange and vice versa. That needs to change because together we can actually make the difference. 1 + 1 will be 3 (for once).
What is your desert island book, song and/or movie?
Book: Difficult. I don’t read books twice, but I promised myself I will read Dante’s Comedia/the Divine Comedy one day. I guess that would be the time.
Song: I love music. Had I been more talented I would have loved to be a musician. Favorite song? Always good to listen to Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd.
Movie: There are 3 movies that come to mind. When I was very young (like 8 years or so), I watched ‘Crin Blanc’ (White Mane), a short movie from 1953 with an ending that made a big impression on me and haunted me for years. Only in my forties I found a digital copy and I was surprised how much detail I remembered. Nowadays you can have a look on YouTube. There are many movies I like but there are a few that made me feel sad and uncomfortable when I was young: Rosemary’s baby and the Deerhunter. I guess that makes them great pieces of art.