Rennie is a psychedelic enthusiast with a background in Psychology and Neuroscience. He completed his PhD at the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge. The primary focus of his doctoral work was to explore how different conceptualizations of relationships within and between cognitive tasks may inform the transfer of skills following practice (a.k.a. training) and interpretation of possible outcomes. Rennie joined the Psychopharmacology lab at the University of Exeter, working alongside Professor Celia Morgan as a postdoctoral researcher, and currently holds a lecturing position in the Psychology department.
Rennie’s interests lie in the transformative and therapeutic potential of psychedelic experiences. His current research involves the application of natural language processing and machine learning to characterize the experiences induced by various substances. He is also interested in how psychedelic experiences inform metaphysical beliefs and is working to develop new tools to explore this further. Rennie believes that the transdisciplinary nature of Exeter’s Psychedelics Colloquium provides fertile ground for the holistic progression required to maximize the potential of psychedelics.
Colloquium Presentation: 27 May 2022 – 2:30 pm (in-person, WS Room 105)
Modelling Psychedelic Metaphysics
Abstract
This two-part presentation will discuss aspects of a project that combines the metaphysics studied in Philosophy with the quantitative methodologies used in Psychology. We endeavour to create a clearer and more comprehensive set of tools for establishing a variety of metaphysical positions that can be used in both research and clinical settings – especially those relating to psychedelic experiences. We have developed a set of survey items that will be given to over 400 participants, along with additional pre-existing survey items and open-text response questions. The results are to be analysed using several different modelling approaches, ranging from long-established methods such as factor-analysis, to more cutting-edge methods involving natural-language-processing and machine learning. There are two main aims of the study: 1) establish a refined set of survey items that best represent a range of metaphysical positions; 2) establish whether the metaphysical beliefs held by individuals are predictive of their language use in open text responses.