Get stronger for performance and injury prevention.
The Surrey Human Performance Institute is a sport and exercise science facility based at Surrey Sports Park in Guildford. Our focus is on key disciplines of performance and clinical exercise science:
We work on the frontier of developing clinical exercise physiology research outside of a hospital setting.
Standard lab opening times are Monday - Friday, 9am - 5pm.
We also have staff available for many services from 7:30am - 7:30pm to accomodate clients before and after work.
Explore the exciting performance and clinical research projects that we are working on with the University of Surrey, local hospitals and international research groups.
Are you between the ages of 40–74 years old? You might be eligible to receive a free NHS Health Check aimed at identifying cardiovascular risk factors before they become a problem.
Andy Galloway explores the risk of the silent killer, atherosclerosis!
Our clinical exercise scientist, Annabelle Emery, gives advice on exercise for those living with and beyond cancer.
A popular view is that people are “wired” to dislike and avoid things novel and unexpected, because such events and situations signal potential threat and danger (Jonas et al., 2014; Noordewier & Breugelmans, 2013). But at many points in history, and in many contexts, an ability to approach and explore unexpectedness has also proven functional, and highly desirable.
That some people value and approach things new and unexpected is apparent in their fascination with groundbreaking innovations (Noppers, Keizer, Bockarjova, & Steg, 2015), surrealist art (Swami, Pietschnig, Stieger, Nader, & Voracek, 2012), or foreign lands and cultures (Brandt, Chambers, Crawford, Wetherell, & Reyna, 2015; Crisp & Turner, 2011; Pittinsky & Montoya, 2009).
In this research we aim to understand whether and when schema-violations – targets or situations that disconfirm our schema- and stereotype- based expectancies – can foster greater creativity.
In Study 1 & 2 we investigate what appraisal processes (surprise, interest) and personality antecedents (openness to experience, need for structure) regulate people’s attraction (vs. aversion) to schema-violations.
In Study 3 & 4 we look at whether people’s preference for schema-violating (over schema-consistent) stimuli associates with greater creativity (divergent thinking and lifelong creative achievements), and whether it explains the seminal association of openness to experience and creativity.
Finally, in Studies 5-7 we demonstrate that exposure to schema-violations can increase creative performance – conditional on people’s openness to schema-violating stimuli.
