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Rhiannon Corcoran

Associate Professor, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences

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Biography

Dr Rhiannon Corcoran studied for her doctoral degree at the Institute of Neurology, UCL where she explored everyday memory difficulties in people with epilepsy. She began researching the cognitive aetiology of psychotic signs and symptoms in 1992 as a postdoctoral researcher with Prof. Chris Frith at UCL. Since then she has taken academic posts in Liverpool and Manchester before coming to Nottingham in 2006.

Expertise Summary

Keywords:

The psychology of paranoia, theory of mind, empathy, impulsivity, neuropsychology of schizophrenia, everyday cognition and cognitive difficulties

Teaching Summary

Rhiannon teaches medical and neuroscience undergraduate students about neuropsychology, covering topics such as language, emotions and memory. She enjoys postgraduate teaching and supervision on… read more

Research Summary

Rhiannon's research interests lie in the field of cognitive neuropsychiatry. In particular, she is interested in understanding the cognitive and affective mechanisms that underpin psychotic signs and… read more

Recent Publications

  • RENIERS, R.L.E.P., CORCORAN, R., DRAKE, R. and SHRYANE, N.M. AND VOLLM, B.A., 2011. The QCAE: A Questionnaire of Cognitive and Affective Empathy. Journal Of Personality Assessment. 93, 84-95
  • STEWART, S.L.K., CORCORAN, R. and LEWIS, S.W. AND DRAKE, R.J., 2010. The relationship between theory of mind and insight in psychosis: Evidence for specificity Psychosis. 2(1), 34-40
  • BENNETT, K. AND CORCORAN, R, 2010. Biases in everyday reasoning: associations with subclinical anxiety, depression and paranoia Psychosis. 2, 227-237
  • CORCORAN, R, 2010. The allusive cognitive deficit in paranoia: the case for mental time travel or cognitive self-projection Psychological Medicince. 40(8), 1233-1237

Membership of Professional Bodies:

  • Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society.
  • Member of the Division for Teachers and Researchers in Psychology.
  • Member of the Special Interest Group in Clinical Neuropsychology.
  • Member of the British Neuropsychological Society.
  • Member of the British Neuropsychiatry Association.

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Editorial board:

  • Cognitive Neuropsychiatry

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Recent Key Note Addresses:

  • April 2010: Controversies in Psychiatry, Barcelona, Spain.

Rhiannon teaches medical and neuroscience undergraduate students about neuropsychology, covering topics such as language, emotions and memory. She enjoys postgraduate teaching and supervision on aspects of social cognition and impulsivity.

Rhiannon jointly oversees the Masters in Mental Health studies and is directing the new Masters in Mental Health Research which will begin in September 2012. She serves on the School Education Committee and the School Research Committee.

Current Research

Rhiannon's research interests lie in the field of cognitive neuropsychiatry. In particular, she is interested in understanding the cognitive and affective mechanisms that underpin psychotic signs and symptoms.

Rhiannon's research begins with the assumption that models and theories developed by cognitive psychologists aimed at understanding 'normal' phenomena can be applied to 'abnormal' phenomena. Specific hypotheses propose that dysfunctions at distinct times or stages within these information processing models underpin the pathological symptom. Therefore, the cognitive or affective dysfunction underpins this symptom and is the feature that needs to be addressed therapeutically. Using this approach, delusions and hallucinations become understandable. Thus Rhiannon considers that research should focus firmly at the symptom level because if the cognitive dysfunction explains the symptom, the same cognitive disruption should do so wherever and whenever the symptom is seen irrespective of diagnostic categorisation.

As a proponent of the continuum model of mental health, Rhiannon explores core psychological concepts, such as social cognition and impulsivity in both clinical and non-clinical groups.

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Previous research grants:

  • Wellcome Trust:"Exploring Social Inference Difficulties in People with Schizophrenia"
  • Research Support Fund, University of Manchester: "Establishing Norms for a Series of Theory of Mind Tasks".
  • Wellcome Trust:"The Psychology of Persecutory Delusions"
  • ESRC: "Infant-Mother Interaction in a Sample of Mothers with Psychosis" (Principal Investigator: Fernyhough; Collaborators: Corcoran, Bentall, Meins & Morrison.)
  • Stanley Foundation: "Can a Neuropsychological Intervention Improve Insight in Schizophrenia: A Randomised Controlled Trial"
  • Mersey Care, Ashworth Hospital: "Detecting Simulated Deception in Offenders and Healthy Controls: use of the Psychological Profiling Classifier (PPC). A Pilot Project.
  • Institute of Mental Health, Nottingham: "Impulsive Behaviour"

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Research Grant under review.

  • European Research Council: "The Social Origins of Psychotic Experiences."
  • RENIERS, R.L.E.P., CORCORAN, R., DRAKE, R. and SHRYANE, N.M. AND VOLLM, B.A., 2011. The QCAE: A Questionnaire of Cognitive and Affective Empathy. Journal Of Personality Assessment. 93, 84-95
  • STEWART, S.L.K., CORCORAN, R. and LEWIS, S.W. AND DRAKE, R.J., 2010. The relationship between theory of mind and insight in psychosis: Evidence for specificity Psychosis. 2(1), 34-40
  • BENNETT, K. AND CORCORAN, R, 2010. Biases in everyday reasoning: associations with subclinical anxiety, depression and paranoia Psychosis. 2, 227-237
  • CORCORAN, R, 2010. The allusive cognitive deficit in paranoia: the case for mental time travel or cognitive self-projection Psychological Medicince. 40(8), 1233-1237
  • MELO, S., CORCORAN,R. and SHRYANE, N. AND BENTALL, R.P., 2009. The Persecution and Deservedness Scale Psychology and Psychotherapy : Theory, Research and Practice. 82, 247-260
  • BENTALL, R.P., ROWSE, G., SHRYANE, N., KINDERMAN, P., HOWARD, R., BLACKWOOD, N., MOORE, R. and CORCORAN, R., 2009. The Cognitive and Affective Structure of Paranoid Delusions: A transdiagnostic investigation of patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders and depression Archives of General Psychiatry. 66(3), 236-247
  • STEWART, S.L.K., CORCORAN, R. and DRAKE,R.J., 2009. Mental state references in psychosis: a pilot study of prompted implicit mentalising during dialogue and its relationship to social functioning Cognitive Neuropsychiatry. 14, 53-75
  • STEWART, S.L.K and CORCORAN, R. DRAKE, R.J., 2008. Alignment and theory of mind in schizophrenia Cognitive Neuropsychiatry. 13(5), 431-448
  • CORCORAN, R., ROWSE, G., MOORE, R., BLACKWOOD, N., KINDERMAN,P., HOWARD, R. and CUMMINS, S. AND BENTALL, R.P., 2008. A transdiagnostic investigation of 'theory of mind' and 'jumping to conclusions' in patients with persecutory delusions. Psychological Medicine. 38, 1577-1583
  • BENTALL, R.P., ROWSE, G., KINDERMAN, P., BLACKWOOD, N., HOWARD, R., MOORE, R., CUMMINS, S. and CORCORAN, R., 2008. Paranoid Delusions in Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders and Depression: The transdiagnostic role of expectations of negative events and negative self-esteem. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease. 196(5), 375-383
  • SHRYANE, N.M., CORCORAN, R., ROWSE, G., MOORE, R., CUMMINS, S., BLACKWOOD, N. and HOWARD, R. AND BENTALL, R. P., 2008. Deception and false belief in paranoia:modelling theory of mind stories Cognitive Neuropsychiatry. 13(1), 8-32
  • CORCORAN, R., 2008. Why research with clinical groups should give us a 'good laugh'. A commentary on 'Humour experience in schizophrenia: relationship with executive dysfunction and psychosocial impairment by Tsoi et al. Psychological Medicine. 38, 787-789
  • CORCORAN, R. and KAISER, S., 2008. Persecutory Delusions and Theory of Mind: longstanding debates and emerging issues. In: FREEMAN, D., BENTALL, R.P. and GAREY, P., eds., Persecutory Delusions: Assessment, Theory and Treatment Oxford University Press.
  • BERRY, K., BAND, R., CORCORAN, R. and BARROWCLOUGH,C. AND WEARDEN, A., 2007. Attachments styles, earlier interpersonal relationships and schizotypy in a non-clinical sample Psychology and Psychotherapy : Theory, Research and Practice. 80, 563-576
  • CORCORAN, R., CUMMINS, S., ROWSE, G., MOORE, R., BLACKWOOD, N., HOWARD, R., KINDERMAN, P. and BENTALL, R.P., 2006. Reasoning under uncertainty: heuristic judgments in patients with persecutory delusions or depression Psychological Medicine. 36(8), 1109-1118
  • MOORE, R., BLACKWOOD, N., CORCORAN, R., ROWSE, G., KINDERMAN, P., BENTALL, R.P. and HOWARD, R., 2006. Misunderstanding the intentions of others: An exploratory study of the cognitive etiology of persecutory delusions in very late-onset schizophrenia-like psychosis. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. 14(5), 410-418
  • RUSSELL, T.A., REYNAUD, E., HERBA, C., MORRIS, R. and CORCORAN, R., 2006. Do you see what I see? Interpretations of intentional movement in schizophrenia Schizophrenia Research. 81(1), 101-111
  • VÖLLM, B., TAYLOR, A.M.W., RICHARDSON, P., CORCORAN, R., STIRLING, J., MCKIE, S., DEAKIN, W. and ELLIOTT, R., 2006. Neuralonal correlates of theory of mind and empathy: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study in a nonverbal task NeuroImage. 29(1), 90-98
  • KAISER,S.L., SNYDER,J., CORCORAN,R. and DRAKE,R.J., 2006. The relationships among insight, social support and depression in psychosis. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease. 194(12), 905-908
  • BENTALL, R.P., FERNYHOUGH, C., MORRISON, A.P., LEWIS, S. and CORCORAN,R., 2006. Prospects for a cognitive-developmental account of psychotic experiences Journal of Clinical Psychology. (In Press.)
  • CORCORAN, R., 2005. Theory of Mind in Schizophrenia: early work and recent developments. Confrontations Psychiatriques. (In Press.)
  • CORCORAN,R. and FRITH,C.D., 2005. Thematic reasoning and theory of mind. Accounting for social inference difficulties in schizophrenia. Evolutionary Psychology. 3, 1-19
  • CORCORAN, R. and FRITH, C. D., 2003. Autobiographical memory and theory of mind: evidence of a relationship in schizophrenia PSYCHOLOGICAL MEDICINE -LONDON-. VOL 33(PART 5), 897-906
  • CORCORAN,R., 2003. Inductive reasoning and the understanding of intention in schizophrenia Cognitive Neuropsychiatry. 8(3), 223-235
  • RANDALL,F., CORCORAN,R., DAY,J.C. and BENTALL,R.P., 2003. Attention, theory of mind and causal attributions in people with persecutory delusions: a preliminary investigation Cognitive Neuropsychiatry. 8(4), 287-294
  • CORCORN, R., 2003. Inductive reasoning and the understanding of intention in schizophrenia Cognitive Neuropsychiatry. 8(3), 223-235
  • BENTALL,R.P., CORCORAN,R., HOWARD,R., BLACKWOOD,N. and KINDERMAN,P., 2001. Persecutory delusions: A review and theoretical integration. Clinical Psychology Review. 21(8), 1143-1192
  • CORCORAN,R., 2001. Theory of Mind in Schizophrenia. In: PENN, D. and CORRIGAN, P., eds., Social Cognition in Schizophrenia American Psychological Association..
  • CORCORAN, R., 2000. Theory of Mind in Other Clinical Populations. In: S. BARON-COHEN, H. TAGER-FLUSBERG AND D. COHEN, ed., Understanding Other Minds: perspectives from autism and developmental cognitive neuroscience. 2nd Ed.. Oxford University Press.. Chapter 16
  • CORCORAN, R, CAHILL, C and FRITH, C D, 1997. The appreciation of visual jokes in people with schizophrenia: a study of 'mentalizing' ability. Schizophrenia research. 24(3), 319-27
  • FRITH, C D and CORCORAN, R, 1996. Exploring 'theory of mind' in people with schizophrenia. Psychological medicine. 26(3), 521-30
  • CORCORAN, R. AND FRITH, C.D., 1996. Conversational conduct and the symptoms of schizophrenia Cognitive Neuropsychiatry. 1, 305-318
  • UPTON, D and CORCORAN, R, 1995. The role of the right temporal lobe in card sorting: a case study. Cortex; a journal devoted to the study of the nervous system and behavior. 31(2), 405-9
  • CORCORAN, R, MERCER, G and FRITH, C D, 1995. Schizophrenia, symptomatology and social inference: investigating "theory of mind" in people with schizophrenia. Schizophrenia research. 17(1), 5-13
  • GRÜNEWALD, R A, THOMPSON, P J, CORCORAN, R, CORDEN, Z, JACKSON, G D and DUNCAN, J S, 1994. Effects of vigabatrin on partial seizures and cognitive function. Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry. 57(9), 1057-63
  • BOTTINI, G, CORCORAN, R, STERZI, R, PAULESU, E, SCHENONE, P, SCARPA, P, FRACKOWIAK, R S and FRITH, C D, 1994. The role of the right hemisphere in the interpretation of figurative aspects of language. A positron emission tomography activation study. Brain : a journal of neurology. 117 ( Pt 6), 1241-53
  • CORCORAN, R. AND FRITH, C.D., 1993. Neuropsychology and Neurophysiology in Schizophrenia Current Opinion in Psychiatry. 6, 74-79
  • CORCORAN, R and UPTON, D, 1993. A role for the hippocampus in card sorting? Cortex; a journal devoted to the study of the nervous system and behavior. 29(2), 293-304
  • CORCORAN, R and THOMPSON, P, 1993. Epilepsy and poor memory: who complains and what do they mean? The British journal of clinical psychology / the British Psychological Society. 32 ( Pt 2), 199-208
  • CORCORAN, R. AND FRITH, C.D., 1993. Neuropsychology and Neurophysiology of Schizophrenia Current Opinion in Psychiatry. 7, 47-50
  • CORCORAN, R and THOMPSON, P, 1992. Memory failure in epilepsy: retrospective reports and prospective recordings. Seizure : the journal of the British Epilepsy Association. 1(1), 37-42
  • UPTON, D. and THOMPSON, P. AND CORCORAN, R, 1991. Cognitive Differences between males and females with epilepsy.. In: M.R. TRIMBLE, ed., Women and Epilepsy John Wiley and Sons.

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