PhD Theses Funded by the María de Maeztu Unit of Excellence

PREX2023 Predoctoral Researchers

Scientific Communication and Social Justice: A Psychosocial Analysis of Motivational Processes in Science Communication for Social Chang

This doctoral thesis examines the psychosocial processes involved in science communication in contexts of social and epistemic inequality. It explores the relationship between scientists and audiences, considering the characteristics and motivations of scientists who engage in science communication, the ways in which they approach their communication practices, and audiences’ experiences of participation. The research seeks to understand how these relationships may contribute to maintaining or transforming inequalities in access to scientific knowledge, as well as in voice, recognition, and participation.

• PhD Student: Amanda Garrido

• Research Line: Psychology of Social Inequalities

• Supervision: Soledad de Lemus (CIMCYC/UGR) and Maja Kutlaca (Durham University)

Emotional Regulation in Women Survivors of Gender-Based Violence

This doctoral thesis addresses the emotion regulation difficulties that arise as a consequence of experiencing intimate partner violence. Among the main sequelae are emotional regulation problems as well as anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress (Fernandez-Fillol, 2021; Simpson et al., 2025).

The main objective of the thesis is to evaluate emotion regulation strategies in female survivors of intimate partner violence using Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) methodology, as well as to design and implement an ecological momentary intervention for the emotion regulation difficulties present in this population.

Ultimately, this thesis aims to improve the quality of life of female survivors and contribute new evidence to the field of psychological interventions.

• PhD Student: Inmaculada Garrido

• Research Line: Clinical Neuropsychology

• Supervision: Miguel Pérez (CIMCYC/UGR) and Tiago de Oliveira Paiva (Lusófona University)

Linguistic Factors and Neural Correlates Involved in Cognitive Reserve

This research examines the linguistic factors of cognitive reserve during healthy aging. Specifically, it investigates whether bilingualism and reading experience can be used as proxies for cognitive reserve. To this end, the project utilizes (1) behavioral data from high-level executive processes during text comprehension and (2) neuroimaging techniques (EEG, fMRI and DTI) to decipher the neural basis for this protective role. Findings from this thesis could help clarify the nature of cognitive reserve and determine whether linguistic variables serve as important proxies for cognitive protection during healthy aging.

• PhD Student: Cristian Reyes

• Research Line: Individual Differences

• Supervision: Ana Isabel Pérez (CIMCYC/UGR), Teresa Bajo (CIMCYC/UGR) and Davide Nardo (Roma Tre University)

PREX2022 Predoctoral Researcher

Shared Semantic Processing in Language and Mathematics: Cognitive and Electrophysiological Bases and Developmental Course

This doctoral thesis investigates how the cognitive system processes and relates different magnitudes across symbolic and non-symbolic domains, as well as how these processes evolve throughout development. It examines the relationships between number and brightness, brightness and size, and size and facial age, as well as possible common effects across different dimensions, exploring the extent to which they share underlying processing mechanisms. The findings contribute to characterizing the organization and development of magnitude representations and to understanding how associations between different quantitative dimensions are established and modified throughout development.

• PhD Student: Miguel Ángel Ayala

• Research Line: Basic Cognitive Functions

• Supervision: Pedro Macizo (CIMCYC/UGR) and Patrick Lemaire (Aix-Marseille University)

Stress Reactivity in Children: Relationship to Maternal Perinatal Stress and Children’s Neurodevelopment and Psychopathology

This thesis examines how maternal stress during pregnancy may influence offspring stress responses during childhood. Using the longitudinal Gestastress–Childstress cohort, psychological and biological indicators of prenatal stress are analyzed in relation to stress reactivity at ages 4–5 years, assessed through a validated experimental protocol and salivary cortisol and alpha-amylase. The thesis also investigates how stress reactivity is associated with neurodevelopment, psychopathology, and temperament, with the aim of improving our understanding of the mechanisms involved in fetal programming and child development.

• PhD Student: Miguel Ángel Baos

• Research Line: Clinical and Health Psychology

• Supervision: Mª Isabel Peralta (CIMCYC/UGR) and Ahmed F. Fasfous (Bethlehem University)

The Interplay of Spatial Memory and Categorization: Insights from Behavioral, Computational, and Neuroimaging Approache

This thesis investigates how the spatial organization of memory shapes subsequent learning and behavior. Can organizing information along simple spatial dimensions facilitate later, non-spatial learning, and if so, how? Combining behavioral experiments, neural network modeling, and functional neuroimaging (fMRI), the research manipulates the spatial structure in which information is learned and examines its effects on subsequent categorization and learned representations.

• PhD Student: Michelle Hefner

• Research Line: Neuroimaging and Artificial Intelligence

• Supervision: María Ruz (CIMCYC/UGR) - Christopher Summerfield (Universidad de Oxford)

Consumption of Different Types of Pornography and Intimate Partner Violence Against Women

This doctoral thesis examines the effects of consuming different types of pornography on specific forms of violence against women, with particular attention to the role of various attitudinal variables. Specifically, it investigates the relationship between violent and non-violent pornography consumption and attitudes towards sexual consent and sexual violence, adherence to rape myths, as well as the objectification and self-objectification of women. It also examines the potential relationship between pornography consumption and intimate partner violence against women, considering the role that these variables may play in this relationship. 

• PhD Student: Alba Sáez

• Research Line: Gender Studies

• Supervision: Jesús López (CIMCYC/UGR) and Antonella Ludmila (CIMCYC/UGR)

Optimizing the Quality of Response-Process-Based Validity Tests Using AI in Psychological Assessment: Development of Deep Web

This thesis proposes improving the collection of validity evidence based on response processes through the integration of generative artificial intelligence into web probing methodology. Although web probing makes it possible to study large samples during questionnaire administration, it presents challenges related to response quality and offers less depth compared with cognitive interviewing. Language models could be used to detect inadequate responses, automate their coding and analysis, provide personalized feedback, increase accessibility through voice and audio, and generate adaptive probes. This integration, referred to as deep web probing, would combine qualitative and psychometric methods to produce psychological instruments that are more valid, invariant, fair, and methodologically robust.

• PhD Student: David Sánchez

• Research Line: Behavioral Assessment Methods

• Supervision: José Luis Padilla (CIMCYC/UGR)

Learning from Single Experiences: Formation and Temporal Evolution of Memory Traces in One-Shot Perceptual Learning

This thesis explores the subjective experience of sudden perceptual learning and the subsequent effects of this learning on memory. In sudden perceptual learning, humans rapidly acquire knowledge allowing them to disambiguate unclear input, often inducing a feeling of insight (“Aha!”). Using behavioural designs, they have shown that the strength of insight scales with semantic surprise. Recording eye movements, they also observed that newly acquired knowledge has an uncontrollable effect on how humans process the ambiguous image. Finally, the thesis explores how transformations in neural signal complexity could underlie subsequent memory of sudden perceptual learning using functional magnetic resonance imaging.

• PhD Student: Johanna Völler

• Research Line: Neuroimaging and Artificial Intelligence

• Supervision Juan Linde (CIMCYC/UGR) - Carlos González (CIMCYC/UGR)