Dr John Leach's HomepageResearch InterestsSurvival psychology.I am interested in cognition and human performance in extreme environments. Generally, I am interested in how the brain functions in extremis such as under conditions of thermal stress (heat and cold), hunger and thirst, sleep loss, hyperbaric (e.g. underwater) and hypobaric (e.g. mountains, outer space). Specifically, I am trying to answer the question, Why, when placed in a survival situation, do so many people die unnecessarily? Cognitive evolution.My interest here arose from the realisation that a whole subspecies of human (Homo sapiens neanderthalensis) perished in a very short period of time while a closely related species (Homo sapiens sapiens) survived the same environmental conditions. My approach is to look at hominid survival through the evolution of cognitive function. Biocomputing- the design and development of AI-based computer systems for collecting physiological data in extreme environments
- the use of computational devices to model behavioural systems.
Publications | Leach, J. & Ansell, L. (2008). Impairment in attentional processing in a field survival environment Applied Cognitive Psychology, 22, 643-652. |
| Leach, J. & Griffith, R. (2008). Restrictions in working memory capacity during parachuting: a possible cause of no pull fatalities. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 22, 147-157. |
| Robinson, S.J. Sünram-Lea, S.I. Leach, J. Owen-Lynch, P.J. (2008). The effects of exposure to an acute naturalistic stressor on working memory, state anxiety and salivary cortisol concentrations Stress: The International Journal on the Biology of Stress, 11, 115-125. |
| Leach, J (2005). Cognitive paralysis in an emergency: the role of the supervisory attentional system Aviation, Space & Environmental Medicine, 76, 134-136. |
| Leach, J. (2004). Why people 'freeze' in an emergency: temporal and cognitive constraints on survival responses Aviation, Space & Environmental Medicine, 75, 539-542. |
| Leach, J. (2002). Personality profiles of potential prisoners of war and evaders. Journal of Military Psychology., 14, 73-81. |
| Manning, D. & Leach, J. (2002). Perceptual and signal detection factors in radiography Ergonomics, 15, 1103-1116. |
| Manning, D., Bunting S and Leach, J. (2000). Decision making differences: novices, experts and a neural network. Chapter in Elizabeth A. Krupinski (Eds.): Medical Imagining. . |
| Manning, D., Leach, J. and Bunting S. (2000). A comparison of expert and novice performance in the detection of simulated pulmonary nodules. Radiography, 6, 111-116. |
| Marsden, G. and Leach, J. (2000). Effects of alcohol and caffeine on maritime navigational skills. Ergonomics., 43(1), 17-26. |
| Leach, J. and Almond, A. (1999). Ambient air, oxygen and nitrox effects on cognitive performance at altitude. Applied Human Science, 18(5), 175-179. |
| Leach, J. and Morris, P.E. (1998). Cognitive factors in the close visual and magnetic particle inspection of welds underwater. Human Factors, 40 (2), 187-197. |
| Leach J. (1995). Psychological First-Aid Aviation, Space and Environmental Medicine, 66(7), 668-674. |
| Leach J., McLean A. and Mee F. B. (1994). High altitude diving operations in the Nepali Himalaya. Undersea & Hyperbaric Medicine, 21 (4), 459-466. |
| Leach, J. (1994). Survival Psychology. Macmillan Press.. |
| Leach J. and Morris P.E. (1993). Underwater visibility and the recall of subsea marker panels. Ergonomics, 36(5), 569-578. |
| Leach J., Hammond N., Byth B., Crawshaw M., Orchard G. and Shelton T. (1993). Issues in teaching computing cognition. Psychology Teaching Review, 2(2), 125-130. |
| Leach, J. (1991). Running Applied Psychology Experiments. Open University Press.. |
| Leach, J. (ed) (1987). Man Underwater. Bristol University Press.. |
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