About

OracleLab.co.uk is the online psychology lab of Rob Burriss (real labs are overrated - you have to hoover them and everything).

A t-test was significant. In the wrong direction.

What I've done and where I am

Right now I'm at the University of Stirling's Psychology Department, doing a one-year postdoc with Craig Roberts and Tony Little on contraceptive pill use and relationship quality.

In Sept 2010 I completed a 20 month postdoc in David Puts' lab in the Anthropology Department at Penn State. I received my PhD in Biological Sciences in 2007 from the University of Liverpool, where I studied under John Lycett and Tony Little. I've also taught at the University of Liverpool and the University of Chester.

You can view my CV, and here is my profile on Google Scholar.

Contacting me

Email me at rob[at]oraclelab[.]co[.]uk. I'm OracleLab on Twitter.

The 2011 Study of Couple Similarity

Do we choose partners who look very similar to us or completely different? During August and September we asked visitors to the Glasgow Science Centre to take part in our study of couple similarity to help us discover the real rules of attraction.

Brangelina. So similar they share a name.

If you participated in the study, thanks again! Your responses will help us to understand more about the type of people who get together and stay together. We'll be busy analysing the data for quite a while, and even once we're done it won't be possible for us to publish the full results here until they appear in scientific journals. However, here's a brief summary of what we've found so far. We'll update the document as we continue to make discoveries. In the meantime, why not participate in one of our online studies, or check out the findings from our other research projects?

Podcasts

I produce the monthly Psychology of Attractiveness Podcast, which is aimed at people who like the Nature podcast but wish it was (a) a bit less 'sciency', (b) presented by a bald man, and (c) recorded in a cupboard under a blanket. » more info

psychology of attractiveness podcast banner

Twitter

Yes, I'm on the Twitter bandwagon. If it's good enough for Stephen Fry and Ben Goldacre, it's good enough for me. I tweet about new findings in attractiveness psychology as well as other bits of science that catch my eye. » @OracleLab

Experiments

Most of my experiments are run over the web, so if it weren't for people like you helping me out I'd probably be living under a bridge eating baked beans from a can. Don't let me end up like that: do one of my experiments!

Factors influencing face preferences. Jun 2011
Rate faces and answer a few questions (username is 'guest', leave password blank).
Crime, convicts and culpability Jan 2011
Rate convict faces for how blameworthy they are, and how long/short their sentences should be.
Attractiveness and your ideal partner Jan 2011
A quick face-preference experiment for those who live and were raised in the UK.
Which face is more attractive? Oct 2010
A quick experiment for persons who are lesbian, gay or bisexual. Those who identify as transgender are also encouraged to participate.