Professor Ted Ruffman examines social understanding in infants, children and in young and older adults. He has explored whether human infants understand mental states such as desires and beliefs, whether children can recognise emotional expressions as well as young adults. He has studied whether emotion recognition, understanding of social gaffes, and the ability to detect a lie deteriorate in older adulthood. Recently, he has also begun to examine dogs' social understanding, for instance, whether dogs understand human emotional expressions such as sadness, anger and fear.
He has authored over 60 articles on these topics.
Ted joined the department in 2002. He has 20 years of university lecturing experience, at both the graduate and undergraduate levels, having previously worked in England for 13 years at the University of Sussex.
Sullivan, S., Campbell, A., Hutton, S. B., & Ruffman, T. (2017). What's good for the goose is not good for the gander: Age and gender differences in scanning emotion faces. Journals of Gerontology Series B, 72(3), 441-447. doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbv033
Journal - Research Article
Ruffman, T. (2014). To belief or not belief: Children’s theory of mind. Developmental Review, 34(3), 265-293. doi: 10.1016/j.dr.2014.04.001
Journal - Research Article
Campbell, A., Ruffman, T., Murray, J. E., & Glue, P. (2014). Oxytocin improves emotion recognition for older males. Neurobiology of Aging, 35(10), 2246-2248. doi: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2014.04.021
Journal - Research Article
Redman, K., Ruffman, T., Fitzgerald, P., & Skeaff, S. (2016). Iodine deficiency and the brain: Effects and mechanisms. Critical Reviews in Food Science & Nutrition, 56(16), 2695-2713. doi: 10.1080/10408398.2014.922042
Journal - Research Article
Ruffman, T., Sullivan, S., & Dittrich, W. (2009). Older adults' recognition of bodily and auditory expressions of emotion. Psychology & Aging, 24(3), 614-622. doi: 10.1037/a0016356
Journal - Research Article
Ruffman, T., Henry, J. D., Livingstone, V., & Phillips, L. H. (2008). A meta-analytic review of emotion recognition and aging: Implications for neuropsychological models of aging. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 32(4), 863-881.
Journal - Research Article
Ruffman, T., Murray, J., Halberstadt, J., & Taumoepeau, M. (2010). Verbosity and emotion recognition in older adults. Psychology & Aging, 25(2), 492-497. doi: 10.1037/a0018247
Journal - Research Article
Ruffman, T., Murray, J., Halberstadt, J., & Vater, T. (2012). Age-related differences in deception. Psychology & Aging, 27(3), 543-549. doi: 10.1037/a0023380
Journal - Research Article
Ruffman, T. (2010). Do we get wiser as we get older? Age-related changes in social understanding. In J. Low & P. Jose (Eds.), Lifespan development: New Zealand perspectives. (2nd ed.) (pp. 218-230). Auckland, New Zealand: Pearson.
Chapter in Book - Research
O'Brien, K. S., Kolt, G. S., Martens, M. P., Ruffman, T., Miller, P. G., & Lynott, D. (2012). Alcohol-related aggression and antisocial behaviour in sportspeople/athletes. Journal of Science & Medicine in Sport, 15(4), 292-297. doi: 10.1016/j.jsams.2011.10.008
Journal - Research Article
Ruffman, T. (2011). Ecological validity and age-related change in emotion recognition. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 35(4), 297-304. doi: 10.1007/s10919-011-0116-3
Journal - Research Article
Halberstadt, J., Ruffman, T., Murray, J., Taumoepeau, M., & Ryan, M. (2011). Emotion perception explains age-related differences in the perception of social gaffes. Psychology & Aging, 26(1), 133-136. doi: 10.1037/a0021366
Journal - Research Article
Miyahara, M., Harada, T., Ruffman, T., Sadato, N., & Iidaka, T. (2013). Functional connectivity between amygdala and facial regions involved in recognition of facial threat. Social Cognitive & Affective Neuroscience, 8(2), 181-189. doi: 10.1093/scan/nsr085
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Ruffman, T., Taumoepeau, M., & Perkins, C. (2012). Statistical learning as a basis for social understanding in children. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 30(1), 87-104. doi: 10.1111/j.2044-835x.2011.02045.x
Journal - Research Article
Morgan, K., Dennis, N. A., Ruffman, T., Bilkey, D. K., & McLennan, I. S. (2011). The stature of boys is inversely correlated to the levels of their Sertoli cell hormones: Do the testes restrain the maturation of boys? PLoS ONE, 6(6), e20533. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0020533
Journal - Research Article
Ryan, M., Murray, J., & Ruffman, T. (2010). Aging and the perception of emotion: Processing vocal expressions alone and with faces. Experimental Aging Research, 36(1), 1-22. doi: 10.1080/03610730903418372
Journal - Research Article
Miyahara, M., Ruffman, T., Fujita, C., & Tsujii, M. (2010). How well can young people with Asperger's disorder recognize threat and learn about affect in faces?: A pilot study. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 4(2), 242-248. doi: 10.1016/j.rasd.2009.09.010
Journal - Research Article
Murray, J. E., Halberstadt, J., & Ruffman, T. (2010). The face of aging: Sensitivity to facial feature relations changes with age. Psychology & Aging, 25(4), 846-850. doi: 10.1037/a0019864
Journal - Research Article
Henry, J. D., von Hippel, C., Ruffman, T., Perry, Y., & Rendell, P. G. (2010). Threat perception in schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 16(05), 805-812. doi: 10.1017/S1355617710000640
Journal - Research Article
Gordon, R. C., Rose, M. C., Skeaff, S. A., Gray, A. R., Morgan, K. M. D., & Ruffman, T. (2009). Iodine supplementation improves cognition in mildly iodine-deficient children. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 90(5), 1264-1271. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.2009.28145
Journal - Research Article
Ruffman, T., Ng, M., & Jenkin, T. (2009). Older adults respond quickly to angry faces despite labeling difficulty. Journals of Gerontology Series B, 64B(2), 171-179. doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbn035
Journal - Research Article
Ruffman, T., Halberstadt, J., & Murray, J. (2009). Recognition of facial, auditory, and bodily emotions in older adults. Journals of Gerontology Series B, 64(6), 696-703. doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbp072
Journal - Research Article
Henry, J. D., Thompson, C., Ruffman, T., Leslie, F., Withall, A., Sachdev, P., & Brodaty, H. (2009). Threat perception in mild cognitive impairment and early dementia. Journals of Gerontology Series B, 64(5), 603-607. doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbp064
Journal - Research Article
Roberts, S. G. B., McComb, K., & Ruffman, T. (2008). An experimental investigation of referential looking in free-ranging Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus). Journal of Comparative Psychology, 122(1), 94-99. doi: 10.1037/0735-7036.122.1.94
Journal - Research Article
Henry, J. D., Ruffman, T., McDonald, S., O'Leary, M.-A. P., Phillips, L. H., Brodaty, H., & Rendell, P. G. (2008). Recognition of disgust is selectively preserved in Alzheimer's disease. Neuropsychologia, 46(5), 1363-1370. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2007.12.012
Journal - Research Article
Taumoepeau, M., & Ruffman, T. (2008). Stepping stones to others' minds: Maternal talk relates to child mental state language and emotion understanding at 15, 24, and 33 months. Child Development, 79(2), 284-302.
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Sullivan, S., Ruffman, T., & Hutton, S. B. (2007). Age differences in emotion recognition skills and the visual scanning of emotion faces. Journals of Gerontology Series B, 62B(1), P53-P60.
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Ruffman, T., Sullivan, S., & Edge, N. (2006). Differences in the way older and younger adults rate threat in faces but not situations. Journals of Gerontology Series B, 61B(4), P187-P194.
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Taumoepeau, M., & Ruffman, T. (2006). Mother and infant talk about mental states relates to desire language and emotion understanding. Child Development, 77(2), 465-481.
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