Kevin Thomas

Dr Kevin Thomas

  • u_kthomas at bournemouth dot ac dot uk
  • Associate Professor
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Biography

o Broadly, my research falls into two areas: the interplay between various dimensions of emotion (e.g., arousal) and reasoning and decision-making, and determinants of bias in judgements of future task performance. In both areas, I have published papers and secured competitive research grant funding from bodies such as the ESRC. These outputs have come from collaborations with university researchers at national level and international level and healthcare professionals in the NHS. One of my current NHS-collaborative projects (funded by a grant from the BU Fusion Investment Fund) examines counterfacual thinking among people experiencing depression. Other projects include the impact of probabilistic reasoning principles on predictions of task duration and the effect of patient complications on surgeons' well-being, decision-making and professional performance. My teaching principally focuses on judgement and decision-making, problem-solving, thinking and reasoning, emotion and cognition, and research methods and statistics.

Journal Articles

  • Greville-Harris, M., Wezyk, A., Thomas, K., Richer, S., Bolderston, H., Purchase, N., McDougall, S., Turner, K.J., 2025. Acceptance and commitment therapy- based intervention to improve psychological skills and resilience in surgical trainees: a randomised waitlist-controlled trial. BMC Surgery, 25 (1).
  • Payne, S.R., Kane, A., Thomas, K., Bolderston, H., Greville-Harris, M., Turner, K.J., 2025. Stress among UK consultant urologists and factors influencing when they leave full-time NHS practice. Journal of Clinical Urology, 18 (3), 221-230.
  • Payne, S.R., Purchase, N., Wezyk, A., Greville-Harris, M., Thomas, K., Turner, K.J., 2025. Provision of on-call urology services in the UK: Its impact on lifestyle and well-being, and its relationship to stress. Journal of Clinical Urology.
  • Greville-Harris, M., Withers, C., Wezyk, A., Thomas, K., Bolderston, H., Kane, A., McDougall, S., Turner, K.J., 2024. Association of resilience and psychological flexibility with surgeons’ mental wellbeing. Bjs Open, 8 (4).
  • Turner, K., Bolderston, H., Thomas, K., Greville-Harris, M., Withers, C., McDougall, S., 2022. Impact of adverse events on surgeons. British Journal of Surgery, 109 (4), 308-310.
  • Griffiths, N.L., Thomas, K., Dyer, B., Rea, J., Bardi, A., 2021. The values of only-children: Power and benevolence in the spotlight. Journal of Research in Personality, 92.
  • Bolderston, H., Greville-Harris, M., Thomas, K., Kane, A., Turner, K., 2020. Resilience and surgeons: train the individual or change the system? Bulletin of The Royal College of Surgeons of England, 102 (6), 244-247.
  • Rowlands, S., Thomas, K., 2020. Mandatory waiting periods before abortion and sterilization: Theory and practice. International Journal of Women S Health, 12, 577-586.
  • Thomas, K.E., König, C.J., 2018. Knowledge of previous tasks: Task similarity influences bias in task duration predictions. Frontiers in Psychology, 9 (MAY).
  • Hevey, D., Thomas, K., Laureano-Schelten, S., Looney, K., Booth, R., 2017. Clinical depression and punishment sensitivity on the BART. Frontiers in Psychology, 8 (MAY).
  • Turner, K., Johnson, C., Thomas, K., Bolderston, H., McDougall, S., 2016. Response and resilience: Dealing with the impact of complications and errors on surgeons. Royal College of Surgeons Annals Journal and Bulletin Journal.
  • König, C.J., Wirz, A., Thomas, K.E., Weidmann, R.Z., 2015. The Effects of Previous Misestimation of Task Duration on Estimating Future Task Duration. Current Psychology, 34 (1).
  • König, C.J., Wirz, A., Thomas, K.E., Weidmann, R.-Z., 2014. The Effects of Previous Misestimation of Task Duration on Estimating Future Task Duration. Current Psychology.
  • Kwasniewska, A., Thomas, K., Baker, R., 2014. Are there cross-cultural differences in emotional processing and social problem-solving? Polish Psychological Bulletin, 45 (2), 205-210.
  • Pekrun, R., Cusack, A., Murayama, K., Elliot, A.J., Thomas, K., 2014. The power of anticipated feedback: Effects on students' achievement goals and achievement emotions. Learning and Instruction, 29, 115-124.
  • Hadjichristidis, C., Summers, B., Thomas, K., 2014. Unpacking estimates of task duration: The role of typicality and temporality. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 51, 45-50.
  • Hevey, D., Thomas, K., Pertl, M., Maher, L., Craig, A., Ni Chuinneagain, S., 2012. Method Effects and the Need for Cognition Scale. The International Journal of Educational and Psychological Assessment, 12 (1), 20-33.
  • Allen, A.P., Thomas, K.E., 2011. A dual process account of creative thinking. Creativity Research Journal, 23 (2), 109-118.
  • Thomas, K., Hevey, D., Pertl, M., Ni Chuinneagain, S., Craig, A., Maher, L., 2011. Appearance matters: The frame and focus of health messages influences beliefs about skin cancer. British Journal of Health Psychology, 16 (2), 418-429.
  • Pertl, M., Hevey, D., Thomas, K., Craig, A., Ni Chuinneagain, S., Maher, L., 2010. Differential effects of self-efficacy and perceived behavioural control on intention to perform skin cancer related health behaviours. Health Education Research, 25, 769-779.
  • Cahir, C., Thomas, K., 2010. Asymmetric effects of positive and negative affect on decision making. Psychological Reports, 106 (1), 193-204.
  • Cahir, C., Thomas, K.. Asymmetric effects of positive and negative affect on decision making. Psychological Reports, 106.
  • Hevey, D., Pertl, M., Thomas, K., Maher, L., Craig, A., Ni Chuinneagain, S., 2010. Consideration of future consequences scale: Confirmatory Factor Analysis. Personality and Individual Differences, 48, 654-657.
  • Hevey, D., Thomas, K., Pertl, M., Ni Chuinneagain, S., Maher, L., Craig, A., 2010. Body consciousness moderates the effect of message framing on intentions to use sunscreen. Journal of Health Psychology, 15, 553-559.
  • Hevey, D., Pertl, M., Thomas, K., Maher, L., Ni Chuinneagain, S., Craig, A., 2009. The relationship between prostate cancer knowledge and beliefs and intentions to attend PSA screening among at-risk men. Patient Education and Counseling, 74, 244-249.
  • Thomas, K., Handley, S., 2008. Anchoring in time estimation. Acta Psychologica, 127, 24-29.
  • Thomas, K., Handley, S., Newstead, S., 2007. The role of prior task experience in temporal misestimation. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 60, 230-240.
  • Ferris, H., McKenzie, K., Thomas, K., Craig, A., 2007. The link between post-qualification experience and self-confidence ratings in two problem-solving domains: a study of radiation therapists. Journal of Radiotherapy in Practice, 6, 225-228.
  • Pertl, M., Maher, L., Craig, A., Cunningham, J., Thomas, K., Hevey, D.. Prostate cancer and screening: Knowledge and attitudes of men at risk. Division of Health Psychology Annual Conference, British Psychological Society Conference Proceedings ..
  • Thomas, K., Handley, S., Newstead, S., 2004. The Effects of Prior Experience on Estimating the Duration of Simple Tasks. Current Psychology of Cognition, 22, 83-100.
  • Thomas, K., Newstead, S., Handley, S.. The impact of prior task experience on bias in predictions of duration. Proceedings of the 26th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society.
  • Moffat, A.C., Osselton, M.D., Widdop, B., Clarke, E.G.C.. Clarke's analysis of drugs and poisons. Pharmaceutical Pr.
  • Moffat, A.C., Osselton, M.D., Widdop, B., Clarke, E.G.C.. Clarke's analysis of drugs and poisons. Pharmaceutical Pr.
  • Moffat, A.C., Osselton, M.D., Widdop, B., Clarke, E.G.C.. Clarke's analysis of drugs and poisons. Pharmaceutical Pr.
  • Thomas, K., Newstead, S., Handley, S., 2003. Exploring the Time Prediction Process: The Effects of Task Experience and Complexity on Prediction Accuracy. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 17, 655-673.

Chapters

Conferences

  • Richer, S., Bolderston, H., Turner, K., Thomas, K., McDougall, S., 2019. ACT based resilience training for surgeons. In: ACBS World Conference 25/06/2019 Dublin.
  • Bolderston, H., Turner, K., Thomas, K., Richer, S., Withers, C., 2019. Building resilience in surgeons. In: Illness to Wellness: Preventing suicide and supporting mental health wellbeing in theatre teams 11/10/2019 Oxford.

Grants

  • Proximal and distal determinants of risky driving behaviours (Irish Road Safety Authority, 01 Oct 2009). Completed
  • Proximal and distal determinants of risky driving behaviours (Irish Road Safety Authority, 01 Oct 2009). Completed
  • The Effect of depression on counterfactual thinking and decision-making (Irish Reearch Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences (IRCHSS), 01 Dec 2008). Completed
  • The role of prior experience in task duration judgement bias (ESRC, 01 Jan 2004). Completed
  • Bias in Predictions of Task Duration (ESRC, 02 Oct 2000). Completed

Qualifications

  • PhD in Bias in predictions of task duration (University of Plymouth, 2004)
  • MSc in Psychological Research Methods (University of Plymouth, 2000)
  • BSc (Hons) in Psychology (University of Plymouth, 1999)

Memberships

  • British Psychological Society, Member,
The data on this page was last updated at 05:00 on February 18, 2026.