Elizabeth Peterson

Phone: +64 9 373 7599 ext 89693
Email: e.peterson@auckland.ac.nz
Room: HSB 614
Office hours: Please email for appointment

Elizabeth completed her PhD in Psychology at the University of Edinburgh in 2003. She was subsequently awarded a United Kingdom ESRC postdoctoral fellowship in psychology followed by a University of Auckland postdoctoral fellowship in Education. Elizabeth started lecturing in the psychology department in 2006.

These include the psychology of individual differences, the development of educational beliefs and expectations and cognitive and learning styles. Most of her research is focused on trying to understand the factors and processes that lead to the development of successful and well rounded students.
She has a strong interest in longitudinal developmental research and is a named investigator on the Growing Up In New Zealand study  which is a multidisciplinary study following approximately 7000 New Zealand child from before birth into adulthood
Elizabeth is also principal investigator on the Teacher Expectation Project . This Marsden funded study is investigating whether teacher expectations can be raised and sustained over time and the impact of raised expectations on student academic and social outcomes.
To find out more information on Elizabeth’s verbal imagery cognitive style test (VICS) and the extended Cognitive style analysis wholistic-analytic style test please click here

• 2010, Peterson, E.R., Brown, G.T.L., & Irving, S.E. Secondary school students conceptions of learning and their relationship to achievement. Learning and Individual Differences, 20, 3, 167-176 doi:10.1016/j.lindif.2009.12.004
• 2009. Peterson, E. R., Rayner, S. G., Armstrong, S. J. ‘Researching the psychology of cognitive style and learning style: Is there really a future? Learning and Individual Differences, 19, 518-523 doi:10.1016/j.lindif.2009.06.003
• 2008. Peterson, E. R., & Irving, S. E. ‘Secondary students’ conceptions of assessment and feedback’ Learning and Instruction.18, 238-250. doi:10.1016/j.learninstruc.2007.05.001
• 2005. Peterson, E. R., Deary, I.J. , & Austin, E.J. ‘A New Reliable Measure of Verbal-Imagery Cognitive Style’ Personality and Individual Differences, 38, 1269-1281. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2004.08.009
• 2004. Entwistle, N. , & Peterson, E. R. ‘Conceptions of learning and knowing in higher education: relationships with study behaviour and influences of learning environments’ International Journal of Educational Research, 41, 407-428. doi:10.1016/j.ijer.2005.08.009