Steve Stewart-Williams (Ph.D.)
Postdoctoral
Fellow
Department of Psychology, Neuroscience, and Behaviour
Research
I’m a
postdoctoral fellow working in the lab
of Martin Daly and Margo
Wilson. My research interests are in the area of evolutionary social
psychology. More specifically, my research focuses on human kinship psychology,
and the implications of kinship theory for such topics as altruism and mating
behaviour. I’ve also done work on: the mechanisms underlying the placebo
effect; the effects of disease and aging on human memory; verbal conflict in
intimate relationships; and the philosophical implications of evolutionary
theory and evolutionary psychology. Before studying psychology, I briefly
pursued a career as a musician, and put together an album of my songs; click here for a sample. (I like “Won’t Stop
‘till We Get Home” best.) I was born and raised in
Current Teaching
Psych 3LL3: General Experimental Psychology Laboratory
Education
Doctoral Thesis:
B.A.
Honours, First Class.
Honours Thesis:
The perception, evaluation, and interpretation of aggression: Influence of
gender of aggressor, target, and observer (Supervisor: Ross Flett, Ph.D.)
B.A.
in Social Science.
Academic Employment
2006.
Sessional Lecturer. Department of Psychology, Neuroscience,
and Behaviour,
Course Taught: General
Experimental Psychology Laboratory.
2005-present.
Post-Doctoral Research Fellow.
Department of Psychology, Neuroscience, and Behaviour,
2004.
Sessional Lecturer.
Course Taught: Introduction
to Psychological Research
2004. Research Assistant.
2002-2004. Graduate Assistant.
2001.
Teaching Assistant.
Awards and Honours
2005-2007. New Zealand Science and Technology
Post-Doctoral Fellowship.
2001-2004.
Bright Future Top Achiever Doctoral
Scholarship.
2001.
Massey Extramural Students’ Society
Scholarship.
2001.
Massey Doctoral Scholarship.
2001-2004.
Shirtcliffe Fellowship.
2001-2004. William Georgetti Scholarship.
2000.
Massey Scholar.
2000.
1999.
Freemasons Scholarship.
Publications
a. Refereed Journal
Articles / Book Chapters (click on title to download)
McKibbin, W. F., Goetz, A. T.,
Shackelford, T. K., Schipper, L. D., Starratt, V. G., & Stewart-Williams,
S. (in press). Why do
men insult their intimate partners? Personality and Individual Differences.
Stewart-Williams, S. (in press). Altruism
among kin vs. nonkin: Effects of cost of help and reciprocal exchange. Evolution and Human Behavior.
Goetz, A. T., Shackelford, T. K.,
Schipper, L. D., & Stewart-Williams, S. (2006). Adding insult to injury: Development and initial
validation of the partner-directed insults scale. Violence and Victims, 21,
691-706.
Stewart-Williams,
S., Podd, J., & Hill, S. R. (2006). Elements of an evolved conceptual
framework. In C. M. Fletcher-Flinn & G. M. Haberman (Eds.), Cognition
and language: Perspectives from
Whittington,
C. J., Podd, J., & Stewart-Williams, S. (2006). Memory
deficits in Parkinson’s disease. Journal of
Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 28, 738-754.
Lamont, A. C., Stewart-Williams, S., &
Podd, J. (2005). Face
recognition and aging: Effects of target age and memory load. Memory and Cognition, 33,
1017-1024.
Stewart-Williams,
S. (2005). Fitting data to theory: The contribution of a comparative
perspective. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 28,
293-294.
Stewart-Williams, S. (2005). Innate ideas as a naturalistic source of metaphysical
knowledge. Biology and
Philosophy, 20, 791-814.
Stewart-Williams,
S. (2004). Life after
Stewart-Williams,
S. (2004). The placebo puzzle: Putting together the pieces.
Health Psychology, 23, 198-206.
Stewart-Williams,
S., & Podd, J. (2004). The
placebo effect: Dissolving the expectancy versus conditioning debate.
Psychological Bulletin, 130, 324-340.
Stewart-Williams,
S., & Podd, J. (2004). Placebo psychotherapies and nonconscious learning in the
placebo effect: Reply to Kirsch (2004). Psychological
Bulletin, 130, 344-345.
Stewart-Williams,
S. (2003).
Stewart-Williams,
S. (2002). Gender, the perception of aggression, and the
overestimation of gender bias. Sex Roles, 46,
177-189.
b. Other
Publications
Stewart-Williams, S. (2004, August). Can an evolutionist
believe in God? Philosophy Now, 47, 19-21. (Cover story)
Stewart-Williams,
S. (2004, March).
Stewart-Williams,
S. (2004). Dividing up the flow of experience [Review of the book Concepts:
Core readings]. Journal of Consciousness Studies, 11, 79-80.
Stewart-Williams,
S. (2003). Life from non-life: Must we accept a supernatural explanation? The
Skeptic, 16, 12-16. (Cover story)
Stewart-Williams,
S. (2002, December). Life after death. Philosophy Now, 39, 22-25.
Manuscripts Under
Review / In Preparation
Starratt, V. G., Goetz, A. T.,
Shackelford, T. K., McKibbin, W. F., & Stewart-Williams, S. (2007). Men’s
partner-directed insults and sexual coercion in intimate relationships.
Manuscript submitted for publication.
Stewart-Williams,
S. (2007). The evolution of kin altruism: What is kin selection and why
should social psychologists care? Manuscript submitted for publication.
Stewart-Williams, S. (2007). Human
beings as evolved nepotists: Exceptions to the rule and effects of cost of help.
Manuscript submitted for publication.
Stewart-Williams, S. (2007). Romeo and
Juliet: An evolutionary perspective on intrafamilial conflict over mating.
Manuscript in preparation.
Stewart-Williams, S., & Hill, S. R.
(2007). Silencing roosters and skinning cats: The evolution of causal
cognition. Manuscript submitted for publication.
Conference Presentations
McKibbin,
W. F., Goetz, A. T., Shackelford, T. K., Schipper, L. D., Starratt, V. G.,
& Stewart-Williams, S. (2006, June). Why do men insult their intimate
partners? Poster presented at the Human Behavior and Evolution Society
(HBES) 2006 Conference,
Stewart-Williams,
S. (2006, June). Kinship, friendship, and helping: Effects of relatedness,
cost of helping, and reciprocal exchange history. Paper presented at the
Human Behavior and Evolution Society (HBES) 2006 Conference,
Stewart-Williams, S. (2006, May). Altruism
among kin vs. non-kin. Paper presented at the Ontario Ecology and Ethology
Colloquium (OEEC) 2006,
Stewart-Williams,
S. (2006, April). Prosocial behaviour among kin vs. non-kin: Effects of
relatedness, cost of helping, and reciprocal exchange history. Paper
presented at the 8th Annual Darwinian Day 2006,
Stewart-Williams,
S. (2004, August). Theories of the placebo effect. Paper presented at
the 28th International Congress of Psychology,
Stewart-Williams,
S, & Hill, S. R. (2004, August). Silencing roosters and skinning cats:
The evolutionary origin of causal reasoning. Paper presented at the Annual
Conference of the New Zealand Psychological Society,
Stewart-Williams,
S. (2003, August). The placebo effect: Expectancy versus conditioning debate.
Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the New Zealand Psychological
Society, Palmerston North, New Zealand. (Invited speaker.)
Membership in Professional Associations
Animal Behavior
Society
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Associate Member
Council for Secular Humanism, Associate Member
Human Behavior and
Evolution Society
Medical Science
Monitor International Reviewers Panel
New Zealand
Psychological Society
Society for Personality and Social Psychology
Society for Philosophy
and Psychology
Professional Activities
Committee Membership
Undergraduate
Coordinating Committee, School of Psychology, Massey University, 2004.
Editorial Activities
Ad
Hoc Editorial Consultant:
Annals
of Behavioral Medicine.
Behaviour
Research and Therapy.
Biology
and Philosophy.
Evolution
and Human Behavior.
Evolutionary
Psychology.
Health
Psychology.
Journal
of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology.
Journal
of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.
Journal
of Psychosomatic Research.
The
Lancet.
New
Zealand Journal of Psychology.
Grant Reviewing
Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC),
Media Consultancy
Your Workplace magazine. Consultation by Lorraine Aston on the social-evolutionary origins of nepotism in the workplace, 2006.
Pesquisa Fapesp (Brazilian popular science magazine). Consultation by Ricardo Zorzetto for the article “Imaginary Remedies: Expectation and Conditioning Explain Why a Placebo Sometimes Works,“ 2004.