Scientia Mentis | Dr. Santi Garcia-Guerrero

I have always been fascinated by the complexity — and yet lawful nature — of living organisms. Throughout centuries, humans have always wondered about our nature, and I think that the best way to learn about it is through the systematic and methodical observation (i.e., science) of what we do.

Ongoing projects

Unravelling the Complexity of Rising Sexually Transmitted Infections in Ireland. This project, funded by the Health Research Board-Department of Health Evidence for Policy Programme, explores the complex system of social change factors and interactions between individuals and their contexts that is driving an increase of STI in (the Rep. of) Ireland.

It seeks to generate policy-relevant insights that transcend traditional paradigms of public health research, paving the way for a new national sexual health strategy that includes effective and context-sensitive interventions to reduce STIs prevalence, and to facilitate community involvement in this process.

The WindSense is a multi-disciplinary project combining the disciplines of public-health, engineering, computer science and geography in the area of renewable energy. The project generated Wind Turbine Noise (WTN) annoyance maps of Irish wind farms based on novel sound quality models of the prevalence of WTN features and the impact of these features on both annoyance and working-memory. Results enable developers better assess noise impacts from wind farms, better assess human perception of noise, and can facilitate engagement with local communities through informed data-driven dialogues around these issues. For a summary of the project's final report click here.

Publications

Garcia Guerrero, S., Lawlor, R., Bourke, A., et al. (under review). Barriers to Consistent Condom Use in Ireland. International Journal of Sexual Health.

Garcia Guerrero, S., Lawlor, R., Bourke, A., et al. (under review). Predictors of Recent Incidence Trends in Sexually Transmitted Infections: A Narrative Synthesis. International Journal of Sexual Health.

Manohare, M., Guerrero, S. G., O’Hora, D., & King, E. (2026). Noise annoyance mapping for wind turbines: a psychoacoustic approach incorporating noise sensitivity. Applied Acoustics, 248, 111280. doi: 10.1016/j.apacoust.2026.111280

Garcia Guerrero, S., Lawlor, R., Bourke, A., et al. (2026). Predictors of Recent Incidence Trends in Sexually Transmitted Infections: A Systematic Review Protocol. HRB Open Res, 8:88. https://doi.org/10.12688/hrbopenres.14222.2

Garcia-Guerrero, S., Manohare, M., O'Hora, D., & King, E. A. (2025). Annoyance and memory performance in the presence of wind turbine sound. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 105, 102653. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2025.102653

Garcia-Guerrero, S., O'Hora, D., Zgonnikov, A., & Scherbaum, S. (2022). The action dynamics of approach-avoidance conflict in decision-making. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/17470218221087625

Garcia-Guerrero, S (2019). The price of fear: Developing a behavioural assessment of fear-related avoidance incorporating dynamic response measures. [Doctoral dissertation; National University of Ireland, Galway]. http://hdl.handle.net/10379/15712

Garcia-Guerrero, S., Dickins, T.E. & Dickins, D.W. (2014). The Gradual Extinction of Transferred Avoidance Stimulus Functions. The Psychological Record, 64(1), 581–599. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40732-014-0062-7

Cruz, D; García, S; Quant, D & Carrillo, A. (2008). Aspectos básicos en cirugía estereotáxica [Basic aspects of sterotactic surgery]. Universidad Católica de Colombia, Facultad de Psicología. Bogotá. D.C: Stella Valbuena García. ISBN: 978-958-8465-06-7. Copy available at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316090822

(selected) Presentations

Garcia-Guerrero, S., O’Hora, D., & Zgonnikov, A. (2019, June). Tracking approach-avoidance decision conflicts. Oral Presentation at 38th Meeting of the European Group of Process Tracing Studies (EGPROC), Dresden, Germany.

Garcia-Guerrero, S. & O’Hora, D. (2019, May). The dynamic nature of approach-avoidance conflicts during decision-making. Oral Presentation at the NUIG research day, NUI Galway, Ireland.

Garcia-Guerrero, S., O’Hora, D., & Zgonnikov, A. (2018, April). Tracing fear: Hand and eye movement during approach-avoidance. Oral Presentation at the 10th European Meeting of Human Fear Conditioning, Wales, UK.

Garcia-Guerrero, S., O’Hora, D., & Zgonnikov, A. (2018, April). Mouse-tracking as an index of stimulus control in an approach-avoidance task. Oral Presentation at the 12th Annual Conference of the PSI Division of Behaviour Analysis, Galway, Ireland.

Garcia-Guerrero, S., O’Hora, D., & Zgonnikov, A. (2017, July). The Price of Fear: Developing a behavioural assessment of fear-related avoidance incorporating dynamic response measures. Poster presented at the 39th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, London, UK.

Garcia-Guerrero, S., O’Hora, D., & Zgonnikov, A. (2017, June). Fear-related decision-making and dynamic avoidance: Lessons from a first attempt at developing a paradigm. The 36th meeting of the European Group of Process Tracing Studies in Judgment and Decision Making (EGPROC), Galway, Ireland.

Garcia-Guerrero, S. & O’Hora, D. (2016, June). The Price of Fear: Developing a behavioural assessment of fear-related avoidance incorporating dynamic response measures. Oral Presentation at the 35th Annual Meeting of the European Group of Process Tracing Studies (EGPROC), Bonn, Germany. | Also presented at the 10th Annual Conference of the PSI Division of Behaviour Analysis, Maynooth, Ireland.

Garcia-Guerrero, S. & O’Hora, D. (2016, February). Pricing emotions in decisions: An assessment of fear-related avoidance. Poster presented at the Hardiman Scholars event, NUI Galway, Ireland.

Garcia-Guerrero, S. & Bernal-Alfonso, V. (2004, November). Aproximaciones experimentales al estudio de la conciencia [Approaches to the study of consciousness]. 11th Encuentro de Psicología Aplicada, UCC, Bogotá, Colombia.

Garcia-Guerrero, S. (2003, November). Cognición social de los padres de adolescentes con deficiencia auditiva frente a la sexualidad en las relaciones socio-afectivas [Social cognition of the parents with deft children regarding sexuality in relationships]. 10th Encuentro de Psicología Aplicada, UCC, Bogotá, Colombia.

Labs/Expert Groups

2023 — The Galway Sound Lab (UofG). A multidisciplinary team of researchers with a common interest in exploring the realm of acoustics, noise, and vibration. Lead: Dr. Eoin King.

2022 - 2024 — The Behavioural Science Lab (MDX). A research team with interests around evolutionary perspectives that aims to understand the behaviour of organisms within their ecological context. Lead: Prof. Tom Dickins.

2015 - 2022 — The choice in Action Lab (NUIG). This lab team focuses on the dynamics of learning and decision-making, exploring such processes primarily through analysing fine-motor behaviour whilst people make decisions. Lead: Dr. Denis O'Hora.

2002 - 2006 — The Experimental Psychology Lab (UCC \ COLCIENCIAS). This lab investigated both human and non-human behaviour from various experimental approaches, with an emphasis on adopting non-mentalistic perspectives. Lead: Dr. Duilio Cruz.

2003 — Grupo Experto del Análisis Experimental del Comportamiento (UCC) [Expert group of the Experimental Analysis of Behaviour]. This group consisted of the analysis and discussion of state-of-the-art research and theoretical development within the fields of the Experimental Analysis of Behaviour, Interbehaviourism and Contextual Psychology. Lead: Aldo Hernandez.

2003 - 2004 — Psycrítica (UCC). Reflexive forum addressing epistemological issues within the field of Philosophy, Philosophy of Science, and Psychology. Lead: Carlos Celeita.