Staff Profile
Dr Helgi Clayton McClure
Lecturer
/prod01/yorksjacuk/media/content-assets/staff-profile-images/helgi_clayton_mcclure-19.jpg)
I started as a Lecturer at York St John in summer 2023, having previously completed my PhD here (2018-22) and held the role of Graduate Teaching Assistant (now Academic Associate). My research interests centre on the topic of future thinking – the human capacity to simulate specific, first-person future events – and its links with memory, motivation and emotion. Since working as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Hull (2022-23), I have become more interested in future thinking as a contributor to self-regulation and wellbeing. More broadly, I am interested in theoretical issues in psychology such as striking a balance between nomothetic (i.e., law-finding) and idiographic (i.e., explaining particularities of individuals' experience) approaches to studying psychology. I am also keen to engage with issues of pedagogical practice, for instance evidence-based approaches to student support and feedback, applying insights from my own research.
- School – School of Education, Language and Psychology
- Email – h.claytonmcclure@yorksj.ac.uk
- Phone – 01904 876 293
- Research - View my work in RaY
Teaching
In the coming year, I will be teaching on a variety of modules on the BSc Psychology programmes, listed below:
- Cognition (Year 1)
- Social Psychology (Year 2)
- Advanced Research Methods (Year 2)
- Research Paper / Dissertation (Year 3)
I will also be working with Foundation Year students and teaching a component of the MSc/MRes Research Methods strand dealing with Philosophy of Science. In addition, I will be leading the SI-PASS peer mentoring scheme, an internationally recognised programme whereby Year 2 and 3 BSc students provide assisted study sessions to enhance Year 1 students' learning experience.
Research
My research can be divided into four main areas: the cognitive basis of spontaneous future thought; cognitive and motivational factors in student performance and wellbeing; the nature and function of future-oriented emotions; and the role of perceived control in adopting health behaviours. This last area of interest stems from a publication (Clayton McClure & Cole, 2022) which established using data from the COVID pandemic that people view/pursue goals differently according to the level of perceived control. Going forward, we aim to work with multidisciplinary partners internally and externally to extend and apply these insights in the context of achieving health goals (e.g., losing weight, adhering to a treatment plan).
Publications and conferences
Peer-reviewed publications
Anderson, R. J., Clayton McClure, J. H., Boland, J., Howe, D., Riggs, K. J., & Dewhurst, S. A. (2023). The relationship between depressive symptoms and positive emotional anticipation of goal achievement. Journal of Experimental Psychopathology, 14(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/20438087231164963
Anderson, R. J., Clayton McClure, J. H., Bishop, E., Howe, D., Riggs, K. J., & Dewhurst, S. A. (accepted). The implicit power of positive thinking: The effect of positive episodic simulation on implicit future expectancies. PLOS One.
Clayton McClure, J. H., & Cole, S. N. (2022). Controllability is key: Goal pursuit during COVID-19 and insights for theories of self-regulation. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 52(12), 1196– 1210. https://doi.org/10.1111/jasp.12920
Clayton McClure, J. H., Cole, S. N., & Barzykowski, K. (under review). On the dangers of overthinking: A natural experiment on self-regulatory thought, mind-wandering and undergraduate exam performance. Manuscript under review at Applied Cognitive Psychology
Clayton McClure, J. H., Elwell, C., Jones, T., Mirković, J., & Cole, S. N. (under review). On second thoughts: Testing the underlying mechanisms of spontaneous future thought. Cognition.
Clayton McClure, J. H., Riggs, K. J., Dewhurst, S. A., & Anderson, R. J. (accepted). Differentiating anticipated and anticipatory emotions and their sensitivity to depressive symptoms. Emotion.
Shevchenko, J., Arnold, M., & Clayton McClure, J. H. (2024). No evidence of association between autism spectrum quotient and spontaneous mental time travel in a general adult sample performing an online vigilance task. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 38(1), e4147. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.4147
Conference presentations
Clayton McClure, J. H., Riggs, K. J., Dewhurst, S. A., & Anderson, R. J. (2023, April). Future event vignettes reveal differences between anticipated and anticipatory emotions and their sensitivity to dysphoria. Presentation at meeting of Experimental Psychology Society, University of Plymouth.
Clayton McClure, J. H., Cole, S. N., & Mirković, J. (2022, September). Memories of the future: Spontaneous reoccurrence of voluntary future event constructions. Presentation at Second Conference on Spontaneous Future Cognition, #SFC2 (Online).
Clayton McClure, J. H., Arnold, M., & Cole, S. N. (2022, June). Priming memories and future thoughts: A space-time interaction effect. Presentation at Greater Yorkshire Memory Meeting 2022, University of York.
Clayton McClure, J. H., & Cole, S. N. (2021, July). Head in the clouds, feet on the ground: Mental contrasting reverses the negative association between mind-wandering and exam performance. Recorded talk at Virtual Meeting of the Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition (vSARMAC).
Clayton McClure, J. H., & Cole, S. N. (2020, July). Research Plan – Do spontaneous thoughts about an academic goal mediate the benefits of mental contrasting? Poster presented at online meeting of the Experimental Psychology Society.
Clayton McClure, J. H., & Cole, S. N. (2019, September). Don’t get triggered: Influences of verbal cues in spontaneous future thinking. Presentation at 21st annual meeting of the European Society for Cognitive Psychology (ESCOP), Tenerife, Spain.
Professional activities
In addition to Higher Education teaching, I worked as a PhD researcher with The Brilliant Club, designing and delivering a bespoke psychology/neuroscience course for learners aged 13-15. I have also offered private tutoring in psychology and statistics. I am involved with professional organisations including the Experiment Psychology Society (EPS) and Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition (SARMAC). Finally, I have an interest in public engagement / psycho-education which has involved taking a role on the Pint of Science 2019 organising committee for York and hosting a webinar based on my research interests at York Festival of Ideas 2021.
