Mr Kye Palmer
School of Psychology
College of Education, Behavioural and Social Science
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.
| Date | Position | Institution name |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 - ongoing | Academic Tutor | Adelaide University |
| 2023 - ongoing | PhD Candidate | Adelaide University |
| 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 |
| 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. |
| 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 |