Dr Stephen Butler
Senior Lecturer
Psychology
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Publications
- , , Anderson Muriel, Burns Niamh, Gill Julia, McLaughlin Emma, , , ,
- British Journal of Educational Studies (2026)
- , Percy Sabrina C
- (2026)
- Percy Sabrina C,
- Discover Psychology Vol 5 (2025)
- , Morton L, Georgiadis E, , Fleck VJ, Johnstone J
- Public Health Open Access Vol 8, pp. 1-11 (2024)
- , Malin Johanna, Martin Sophie, , John Bev, Graff Martin, ,
- Technology, Mind, and Behavior Vol 4, pp. 352-361 (2023)
- , Morton Liza, Johnstone Johannah, Fleck Victoria, , Emmanouil (Manos) Georgiadis
- (2023)
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Professional Activities
- Participant
- 17/1/2025
- Contributor
- 21/6/2022
Projects
- Findlay, Kelly (Principal Investigator) Hamilton, David (Co-investigator) McGroarty, Allan (Co-investigator) March, Joshua (Co-investigator) Elliott, Mark (Co-investigator) Butler, Stephen (Co-investigator)
- This research examines how higher education students make decisions about using generative artificial intelligence for different academic tasks. Using a scenario-based survey, the study explores whether Big Five personality traits are associated with students鈥� likelihood of using GenAI, and with their perceptions of usefulness, risk, trust, confidence, clarity of guidance, and acceptability. The research aims to provide a more nuanced understanding of student GenAI use by focusing on task-specific judgements rather than general use alone.
- 01-Jan-2026 - 30-Jan-2027
- Findlay, Kelly (Principal Investigator) March, Joshua (Co-investigator) Hamilton, David (Co-investigator) Elliott, Mark (Co-investigator) Butler, Stephen (Co-investigator) McGroarty, Allan (Co-investigator)
- This project investigates how autistic and allistic adults judge whether academic texts have been written by a human or generated by ChatGPT. Rather than focusing only on accuracy, the study examines the cues participants use when making these judgements, including clarity, coherence, formulaic structure, naturalness, and authorial voice. Participants classify a set of human-written and AI-generated academic text extracts, rate their confidence, and evaluate each text on these cue dimensions. The project aims to understand whether different cue-use patterns help explain individual differences in AI-text detection, and whether autistic and allistic participants rely on these cues in different ways.
- 01-Jan-2026 - 30-Jan-2027
- Findlay, Kelly (Principal Investigator) Butler, Stephen (Co-investigator) March, Joshua (Co-investigator) Hamilton, David (Co-investigator) Elliott, Mark (Co-investigator) McGroarty, Allan (Co-investigator)
- This research project examines how higher education students decide whether to use or avoid generative artificial intelligence for specific academic tasks. Rather than treating GenAI use as a general behaviour, the study focuses on task-level decision-making, exploring how factors such as assessment relevance, ambiguity, time pressure, writing demand, perceived usefulness, risk, trust, confidence, and clarity of guidance shape students鈥� willingness to use GenAI. The project also considers whether these decision processes differ between neurotypical and neurodivergent students, with the aim of informing more inclusive and responsible guidance around GenAI use in higher education.
- 01-Jan-2026 - 30-Jan-2027
- Findlay, Kelly (Principal Investigator) Keown, Sophie (Co-investigator) Elliott, Mark (Co-investigator) McGroarty, Allan (Co-investigator) Butler, Stephen (Co-investigator) March, Joshua (Co-investigator) Hamilton, David (Co-investigator) Thomson, Elizabeth (Co-investigator)
- This project evaluates student-facing guidance designed to support responsible use of generative AI in higher education. Using a pre-post design, it examines whether a quick guide and reflective checklist improve students鈥� understanding of appropriate GenAI use, academic integrity expectations, confidence, intentions, and self-reported practices. The study also assesses how acceptable and useful students find the resources, drawing on the Theoretical Framework of Acceptability and the Theory of Planned Behaviour.
- 01-Jan-2026 - 30-Jan-2027
- O'Shea, Kieran (Principal Investigator) Deakin, Karen (Co-investigator) Butler, Stephen (Co-investigator)
- 10-Jan-2025 - 09-Jan-2027
- Butler, Stephen (Principal Investigator) Anderson, Tony (Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2012 - 30-Jan-2015
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Contact
Dr
Stephen
Butler
Senior Lecturer
Psychology
Email: stephen.butler@strath.ac.uk
Tel: 548 3159