Our department of Psychology has started using its impressive portfolio of new laboratory spaces. The labs have been designed to enhance the world-leading research being carried out in the department and provide both Undergraduate and Postgraduate students with invaluable hands-on practical experience of using psychological testing equipment.

The new labs have been located within dedicated spaces in the Coslett and Ruskin buildings on our Cambridge campus, they include:

• A Therapy/Neurorehabilitation Lab, where research is currently being conducted into the treatment of stroke patients who suffer from chronic aphasia, a condition that causes long-term speech and language problems. The research is currently focusing on further treatment methods and investigating the effects of short-term intensive aphasia therapy on brain reorganization.

• A consumer lab to investigate tactile and visual influences on product evaluation and consumer choice. To help with this research the department has recently acquired a 3-D printer, which enables them to design their own prototype products.

• A perception lab housing several eye-tracker machines used to measure eye movements when people engage in a task, such as reading a passage of text, or viewing visual stimuli such as faces with different emotional expressions or scenes recreating driving.

• A new developmental lab, where researchers will investigate a variety of developmental disorders in infants and children. A wide range of psychometric test batteries will help to assess reading and language development, intelligence and psychometric skills.

• A Psychophysiology lab containing Nexus, a portable device that records physiological data such as pulse, skin conductance, ECG and respiration and can be used to investigate how the body responds to a variety of stimuli or tasks. Finally, a training lab has been created to host focus groups, interviews and presentations.

In addition to the new lab spaces, the refurbishment has also created a new 25-person teaching room/ specialist PC lab in the Coslett building. Speaking of the new lab spaces, senior technician Antony Whitmore commented; "Our new research facilities reflect the ongoing commitment we have made to provide a world class teaching and research environment for staff and students in the department of Psychology at Anglia Ruskin University."