Kye Palmer
Higher Degree by Research Candidate
School of Psychology
Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences
I am a PhD candidate and researcher in the Develop Well Research Group at the University of Adelaide, supervised by Dr Nicole Nelson and Dr Mark Kohler.
My research interests sit within developmental, social, and cognitive psychology, with a focus on how children understand and express emotion across early childhood and adolescence. I’m particularly interested in emotional communication within families - including parent-child and sibling dynamics. I also have a growing interest in LGBTQIA+ research, particularly around identity development and emotional wellbeing.
Alongside my research, I work as an academic tutor and marker, supporting students in understanding key psychological concepts and building confidence in research and critical thinking.
In 2022, I completed an Honours Degree in Psychological Science, where my thesis examined parental differences in emotional expression toward infants, using audiovisual data captured from infant point-of-view cameras.
I am passionate about early childhood development, and how children learn to understand and communicate with the world as they grow up. Currently, my research explores how children learn to understand, express, and communicate emotions through their interactions with parents, siblings, and peers, and whether there are similarities in emotional expressivity and comprehension within families.
My research examines how children learn to understand and express emotions using face and body cues within family contexts.
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Appointments
Date Position Institution name 2024 - ongoing Academic Tutor University of Adelaide 2023 - ongoing PhD Candidate University of Adelaide -
Education
Date Institution name Country Title 2022 - 2022 University of Adelaide Australia Honours Degree of Bachelor of Psychological Science 2019 - 2021 University of Adelaide Australia Bachelor of Psychological Science -
Research Interests
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Conference Papers
Year Citation 2025 Palmer, K., Buttle, H. M., Kohler, M., Fong, F. T. K., & Nelson, N. L. (2025). Parent-Child Emotion Recognition: the role of familiarity in interactive contexts. In joint meeting of Australasian Experimental Psychology Conference (EPC) and Asia Pacific Conference on Vision (APCV). Sydney, NSW, Australia. -
Conference Items
Year Citation 2024 Palmer, K., Holdsworth, I., Rayner, C., Tuza, A., Van Der Zant, T., & Nelson, N. L. (2024). Infant-directed emotional expressions in everyday life - the role of parent gender and infant age. Poster session presented at the meeting of Experimental Psychology Conference 2024. Adelaide, SA, Australia. 2024 Holdsworth, I., Palmer, K., Rayner, C., Tuza, A., Van Der Zant, T., & Nelson, N. (2024). Characteristics of Adults' Facial Expressions As Seen By Infants. Poster session presented at the meeting of Experimental Psychology Conference 2024. Adelaide, South Australia. 2022 Van Der Zant, T., Holdsworth, I., Palmer, K., Rayner, C., Tuza, A., & Nelson, N. (2022). Emotional Expressions in Infant's Environment. Poster session presented at the meeting of Oral Presentations, Society of Australasian Social Psychologists Conference 2022. Adelaide, South Australia.
| Year | Course | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 - 2025 |
Research Methods in Psychology (PSYCHOL 1004/1005) |
Tutor/Marker |
| 2024 - 2025 |
Health & Lifespan Development (PSYCHOL 3021) |
Tutor/Marker |
| 2024 | Foundations Health & Lifespan Development (PSYCHOL 2005) |
Tutor |
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