I obtained my PhD in Psychology from the University of Nottingham in 2006. My thesis was about inferring mental states from facial expressions in typically developing individuals and individuals with autism. In 2007, I was awarded with the Neil O'Connor prize by the British Psychology Developmental section for my research with developmental disorders. My postdoctoral research was related to Theory of Mind and I carried this out at the University of Birmingham in 2006-2008.
I joined the Department of Psychology at Kingston University in 2008. My research area is social-cognitive development in typical and atypical populations across the life-span. My current research focuses on how individuals with autism perceive and interpret the world and the impact this has on daily life using a range of methodologies including response times and eye movements.
I am a chartered psychologist and a member of the British Psychology Society (BPS). I am a committee member for the BPS Developmental section.
PhD supervision
Hayley Hunt Interpreting emotions from complex scenes in autism
Rashma Hirani Micro-facial expressions
Please contact me if you are interested in applying for a PhD in the areas of autism, face processing, theory of mind, social cognition development
Funding
Britsh Academy 2011-2012: Visual perspective-taking in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder
EPS Grindley travel grant 2005: Society for Research in Child Development conference
BPS travel grant 2005: Developmental section conference
University of Nottingham 2002: 3 year PhD studentship
Back, Elisa (2019) Inferring mental states from dynamic faces in adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder : insights from eye-tracking. Child Development, 90(5), pp. 1589-1597. ISSN (print) 0009-3920
Back, Elisa and Jordan, Timothy R (2014) Revealing variations in perception of mental states from dynamic facial expressions: a cautionary note. PloS one, 9(1), e84395. ISSN (online) 1932-6203
Hanley, Mary, Riby, Deborah M., Caswell, Stephen, Rooney, Sinead and Back, Elisa (2013) Looking and thinking: how individuals with Williams syndrome make judgements about mental states. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 34(12), pp. 4466-4476. ISSN (print) 0891-4222
Riby, Deborah M. and Back, Elisa (2010) Can individuals with Williams syndrome interpret mental states from moving faces? Neuropsychologia, 48(7), pp. 1914-1922. ISSN (print) 0028-3932
Back, Elisa and Apperly, Ian A (2010) Two sources of evidence on the non-automaticity of true and false belief ascription. Cognition, 115(1), pp. 54-70. ISSN (print) 0010-0277
Back, Elisa, Jordan, Timothy R. and Thomas, Sharon M. (2009) The recognition of mental states from dynamic and static facial expressions. Visual Cognition, 17(8), pp. 1271-1286. ISSN (print) 1350-6285
Apperly, Ian A., Back, Elisa, Samson, Dana and France, Lisa (2008) The cost of thinking about false beliefs: Evidence from adults' performance on a non-inferential theory of mind task. Cognition, 106(3), pp. 1093-1108. ISSN (print) 0010-0277
Back, Elisa, Ropar, Danielle and Mitchell, Peter (2007) Do the eyes have it? Inferring mental states from animated faces in autism. Child Development, 78(2), pp. 397-411. ISSN (print) 0009-3920
Back, Elisa, Farran, Emily and Van Herwegen, Jo (2018) Visual-spatial abilities and task approach skills in Williams syndrome. In: British Psychology Society Developmental Section Annual Conference 2018; 12-14 Sep 2018, Liverpool. (Unpublished)
Hunt, Hayley, Back, Elisa and Van Herwegen, Jo (2018) Complex mental states and basic emotion recognition in dynamic film - an exploration of Theory of Mind understanding in ASD. In: British Psychology Developmental Section Annual Conference 2018; 12-14 Sept 2018, Liverpool. (Unpublished)
Back, Elisa, Cotmore, Hannah, Dalebout-Campbell, Jessica, Darabi-Hammond, Marjan, Ganter, Jessica and Williams, Annette (2018) Cognitive and Affective Theory of Mind in children and adolescents with and without ASD. In: Social Communication Across the Lifespan; 27-29 June 2018, Canterbury. (Unpublished)
Back, Elisa, Williams, Annette, Darabi-Hammond, Marjan, Ganter, Jessica, Dalebout-Campbell, Jessica and Cotmore, Hannah (2018) Social cognitive profiles in children and adolescents with ASD. In: Neurodevelopmental Disorders Annual Seminar 2018; 21 June 2018, Coventry. (Unpublished)
Hirani, Rashma and Back, Elisa (2018) The recognition of microexpressions: a comparison between children with ASD and typically developing children. In: Neurodevelopmental Disorders Annual Seminar 2018; 21 June 2018, Coventry. (Unpublished)
Hunt, Hayley, Back, Elisa and Van Herwegen, Jo (2018) Real time language production and Theory of Mind assessment in Austism Spectrum Disorder. In: Social Communication Across the Lifespan; 27-29 June 2018, Canterbury. (Unpublished)
Back, Elisa (2017) What do eye movements reveal about inferring mental states from dynamic facial expressions in adolescents with ASD? In: British Psychology Developmental Section Annual Conference 2017; 13-15 September 2017, Stratford-upon-Avon. (Submitted)
Hunt, Hayley, Back, Elisa and Van Herwegen, Jo (2016) Recognising complex emotions: eye movements in adolescents and children with ASD. In: British Psychology Developmental Section Annual Conference 2016; 14-16 Sept, Belfast. (Unpublished)
Hirani, Rashma and Back, Elisa (2016) The recognition of microexpressions across the lifespan in typically developing individuals. In: British Psychology Developmental Section Annual Conference 2016; 14-16 Sept, Belfast. (Unpublished)
Back, Elisa and Apperly, Ian Antony (2015) Theory of Mind usage in adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder. In: Society for Research in Child Development Biennial Meeting; 19 - 21 Mar 2015, Philadelphia, Pennsylvannia, U.S.. (Unpublished)
Wilson, Rachel, Riby, Debbie, Goshawk, Michelle, Burt, Mike and Back, Elisa (2014) Gaze laterality bias for faces in Williams Syndrome. In: British Psychological Society Developmental Section Conference; 03 - 05 Sep 2014, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. (Unpublished)
Back, Elisa (2014) Can individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders and typically developing individuals rapidly use Theory of Mind information? In: British Psychological Society Developmental Section Conference; 03 - 05 Sep 2014, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. (Unpublished)
Back, E. and Apperly, I. (2012) Visual perspective-taking in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders. In: British Psychological Society Developmental Section Annual Conference; 05 - 07 Sep 2012, Glasgow, U.K.. (Unpublished)
Back, Elisa, Granados, Patricia and Apperly, Ian (2011) Visual perspective-taking in adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders. In: British Psychological Society Developmental Section Annual Conference; 07 - 09 Sep 2011, Newcastle upon Tyne, U.K.. (Unpublished)
Back, Elisa, Ramdhonee, Karishma and Apperly, Ian (2011) Can adolescents with autism rapidly infer mental states from faces? In: International Meeting for Autism Research; 12 - 14 May 2011, San Diego, California, U.S.. (Unpublished)
Back, E., Hunt, H. and Lindell, A. (2010) The perception and pose of emotional expressions in adolescents with autism. In: International Meeting for Autism Research; 20 - 22 May 2010, Philadelphia, Pennsylvannia, U.S.. (Unpublished)
Back, Elisa (2009) Can children with autism infer mental states and respond appropriately to mental state information from the eyes? In: Society for Research in Child Development 2009 Biennial Meeting; 02 - 04 Apr 2009, Denver, Colorado, U.S.. (Unpublished)
Back, Elisa and Apperly, Ian (2008) Are true beliefs ascribed by default? In: Theory of Mind workshop: Celebrating 30 years; 11-12 Sep 2008, Nottingham, U.K.. (Unpublished)
Back, E., Brown, S. and Beecham, E. (2008) Can children with autism respond appropriately to mental states from dynamic faces? In: International Meeting for Autism Research; 15-17 May 2008, London, U.K.. (Unpublished)
Back, E. and Apperly, I. (2007) Are true beliefs ascribed by default? In: BPS Developmental Section Conference; 29-31 Aug 2007, Plymouth, U.K.. (Unpublished)
Back, Elisa (2007) Do the eyes have it? Attributing mental states to dynamic facial expressions in children and adolescents with autism. In: BPS Developmental Section Conference; 29-31 Aug 2007, Plymouth, U.K.. (Unpublished)
Back, E., Mitchell, P. and Ropar, D. (2007) Do the eyes have it? Inferring mental states from animated facial expressions in children and adolescents with autism. In: Autism Research UK : from diagnosis to intervention; 11-12 May 2007, Milton Keynes, U.K.. (Unpublished)
Back, Elisa, Mitchell, Peter and Ropar, Danielle (2007) Do the eyes have it? Inferring mental states from animated facial expressions in children and adolescents with autism. In: 64th Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development; 29 Mar - 01 Apr 2007, Boston, Massachusetts. (Unpublished)
Back, Elisa, Mitchell, P. and Ropar, D. (2005) Attributing mental states to animated faces in individuals with austic spectrum disorders. In: Scottish Autism Research Group, ESRC Seminar Series; 9 Sep 2005, Glasgow, U.K.. (Unpublished)
Back, E., Mitchell, P. and Ropar, D. (2005) The influence of facial motion on the recognition of mental states in children with autism. In: BPS Developmental Section Conference; 05 - 08 Sep 2005, Edinburgh, U.K.. (Unpublished)
Back, Elisa, Mitchell, Peter and Ropar, Danielle (2005) The role of dynamic and static information in the recognition of complex mental states from facial expressions. In: Society for Research in Child Development Biennial Meeting; 7-10 Apr 2005, Atlanta, Georgia. (Unpublished)
Back, E., Mitchell, P. and Ropar, D. (2004) The recognition of complex mental states from static and dynamic facial expressions. In: BPS Developmental Section Conference; 2-5 Sep 2004, Leeds, U.K.. (Unpublished)