Dr Geoff Bunn
What's the difference between a broken leg and a broken heart? One answer is that whereas a broken leg is real in a physical sense, a broken heart is real in a psychological sense. Psychological experiences cannot be reduced to physical entities because to do so would be to evacuate them of any psychological content. Unlike a bone, a heart can only be understood to be broken metaphorically - and indeed only in reference to the cultural and historical framework that makes the idea of a 'broken heart' meaningful in the first place. Although anthropology has long shown that different cultures conceptualise human beings and their emotions in many different ways, psychology has traditionally attempted to discover transcultural universal essences within the individual. Has Western psychology discovered the correct set of categories with which to answer the question "what is it to be human?" (Smith, 2007) To test this hypothesis properly we need to employ methods supplied by historical and conceptual research.
Research Interests
Higher Education Academy Small Project Grant (£6000) for developing a website for resources for lecturers teaching Conceptual and Historical Issues in Psychology.
Professional Bodies/Societies/Educational Boards:
Chair, British Psychological Society History & Philosophy of Psychology Section
External Examiner for the University of Bradford Psychology & Management undergraduate B.Sc dissertation.
Editorships and Consultancies:
Associate Editor History & Philosophy of Psychology [BPS journal]
Theory & Psychology [Advisory editor]
Research Outputs
Authored Books
Banister, P., Bunn, G., Burman, E., Daniels, J., Duckett, P., Goodley, D., Lawthom, R., Parker, I., Runswick-Cole, K., Sisxmith, J., Smailes, S., Tindall, C. and Whelan, P. (2012) Qualitative Methods in Psychology: A research guide. 2nd Edition, Open University Press.
Bunn, G. 2012. "The Truth Machine: A Social History of the Lie Detector". John Hopkins University Press. isbn: 978-1421405308 (1-421405-30-X)
Edited Books
Lovie A., Richards G.D., Bunn G. (eds) 2001. "Psychology in Britain: Historical Essays and Personal Reflections". BPS Books.
isbn: 1-854333-32-1
Chapters
Bunn G. 2001. "Introduction" in: G.D. Richards, A.D. Lovie and G.C. Bunn (eds) Psychology in Britain: Historical Essays and Personal Reflections. BPS Books.
isbn: 978-1-854333-32-2 (1-854333-32-1)
Journal Articles
Bunn G. 2007. "Spectacular Science: The Lie Detector's Ambivalent Powers" History of Psychology, vol.10 no.2, pp.156-178
issn: 1093-4510 doi: 10.1037/1093-4510.10.2.156
Bunn G. 2003. "Book Review of Dai Jones and Jonathan Elcock: History and Theories of Psychology: A Critical Perspective" Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences, vol.39 no.1, pp.81-82
issn: 1520-6696 doi: 10.1002/jhbs.10041
Bunn G. 2001. "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: The C.S. Myers Memorial Lecture" Psychologist, vol.14 no.11, pp.576-579
issn: 0952-8229 url: http://www.bps.org.uk/publications/thepsychologist/search-the-psychologist-online.cfm?fuseaction=inc_getFile&ID=325&Publication_ID=1
Bunn G. 2001. "Eysenck at the Science Museum" Personality and Individual Differences, vol.31 no.1, pp.41-44
issn: 0191-8869 doi: 10.1016/S0191-8869(01)00002-2
Bunn G. 2001. "'A flair for organization': Charles Myers and the Establishment of Psychology in Britain" History and Philosophy of Psychology, vol.3 no.1, pp.1-9
issn: 1469-283X url: http://www.bps.org.uk/downloadfile.cfm?file_uuid=8A8B8BFD-1143-DFD0-7E17-BEBBB162CC6A&ext=pdf
Conference Presentations
Micaleff A., Fatimehelin I., Hassan A., Kagan C.M., Williams T.Z., Bunn G. 2009. "Family conflict and intergenerational understanding amongst men from the Yemeni and Somali communities in Liverpool" at: Community, Work and Family - Utrecht..
Kagan C.M., Micaleff A., Fatimehelin I., Hassan A., Williams T.Z., Bunn G. 2008. "Intergenerational work in schools and the community: Social Capital and Wellbeing" at: World Congress Community Psychology - Lisbon..
Bunn G. 2003. "Introduction" at: The MRC Applied Psychology Unit. Wellcome Witnesses to twentieth Century Medicine. Wellcome Trust. L.A. Reynolds and E.M.Tansey
url: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/silva/histmed/downloads/c20th_group/wit16.pdf
Internet Publications
Bunn G. 2010. "Introduction - The Experimental Psychologist's Fallacy - special issue marking the 150th Anniversary of Gustav Fechner's Elements of Psychophysics" The Psychologist. url: http://www.thepsychologist.org.uk/archive/archive_home.cfm?volumeID=23&editionID=195&ArticleID=1760
doi:
Bunn G. 2004. "Ingenious: Seeing Things Differently [Diagnosing Character]" National Museum of Science and Industry. url: http://www.ingenious.org.uk/Read/Work/Diagnosingcharacter/
doi:
Research Reports
Bunn G. 2004. "Studying Work. In Making the Modern World: Stories About the Lives We've Made" for National Museum of Science and Industry. National Museum of Science and Industry.
url: http://www.makingthemodernworld.org.uk/stories/the_age_of_the_mass/05.ST.06/?scene=3
Other Types of Output
Bunn, G. 2011 "A History of the Brain" BBC Radio 4 Productions. Available here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/History-Brain-BBC-Radio-Science/dp/1408470683/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327592315&sr=8-1
Bunn G. 2001. "Centenary - Founding factors" vol.14 no.8. Psychologist. pp.404-405
url: http://www.bps.org.uk/publications/thepsychologist/search-the-psychologist-online.cfm?fuseaction=inc_getFile&ID=274&Publication_ID=1
Bunn G. 2001. "Centenary - Margaret Lowenfeld" vol.14 no.7. Psychologist. pp.347
url: http://www.bps.org.uk/publications/thepsychologist/search-the-psychologist-online.cfm?fuseaction=inc_getFile&ID=233&Publication_ID=1
Current Teaching Input:
- Conceptual and Historical Issues in Psychology (Level 2 and Level 3)
- Dissertation (Level 3)
- Practical Psychology (Discourse Analysis, Level 2)
- Qualitative Methods (M.Sc.)
Other Responsibilities
Departmental online learning staff support officer