Mary Spiller is a lecturer in Research Methods within the School of Psychology. Her main research interest is synaesthesia. Her particular area of focus within synaesthesia is the interface between mental imagery and synaesthesia. Prior to working at UEL, Mary has worked as a research assistant within the area of cognitive neuroscience at Harvard University. She has also worked within the area of intellectual disabilities and mental health at the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College, London.

• Module leader for PY0005
• Co-module leader for PY3101
• Recruitment officer for the School of Psychology
• School of Psychology External Speaker Programme Co-ordinator

Current interests are in the topic area of synaesthesia, with a particular focus on the interface between mental imagery and synaesthesia.

• BSc Psychology

• PY0001: Approaches to Psychology
• PY0003: Becoming a psychology undergraduate
• PY0005: Research in Psychology
• PY0006: Becoming a psychology undergraduate 2
• PY1101: Research Methods 1 and 2
• PY2101: Research Methods 3
• PY2107: Brain damage and behaviour

Peer-reviewed Journal Articles

1. Banissy, M.J., Holle, H., Cassell, J., Annett, L., Walsh, V., Spiller, M.J., & Ward, J. (under review). Synaesthesia is linked to greater openness-to-experience and fantasizing on measures of personality and empathy. Personality and Individual Differences.
2. Jonas, C.N., Spiller, M.J., Jansari, A.S., & Ward, J. (under review). Comparing implicit and explicit number–space associations: visuospatial and verbal SNARC effects. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology.
3. Simner, J., Mayo, N., & Spiller, M.J. (2009). A foundation for savantism? Visuo-spatial synaesthetes present with cognitive benefits. Cortex, 45, 1246–1260. doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2009.07.007
4. Spiller, M.J., & Jansari, A.S. (2008). Mental imagery and synaesthesia: is synaesthesia from internally generated stimuli possible? Cognition, 109, 143–151. doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2008.08.007

Conference Papers

1. Spiller, M.J., & Jansari, A.S. (2008). Synaesthesia and mental imagery abilities: a comparison of synaesthetes’ and non-synaesthetes’ mental imagery abilities. Paper presented at the 4th Annual General Meeting and Conference of the UK Synaesthesia Association, University of Edinburgh.
2. Spiller, M.J., & Jansari, A.S. (2008). Synaesthesia and visual mental imagery: measuring a synaesthetic experience from different imagery tasks. Paper presented at the Experimental Psychology Society Cambridge Meeting, Cambridge University.

Book Chapters

1. Spiller, M.J., & Jansari, A.S. (in press). Synaesthesia and savantism. In E. Hubbard & J. Simner (Eds.), Oxford Handbook of Synaesthesia. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Peer-reviewed Journal Articles

1. Gratsa, A., Spiller, M.J., Holt, G., Joyce, T., Hardy, S., & Bouras, N. (2007). Developing a mental health guide for carers of people with intellectual disabilities. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 20, 77–86. doi:10.1111/j.1468-3148.2005.00296.x
2. Spiller, M.J., Costello, H., Bramley, A., Bouras N., Martin, G., Tsakanikos, E., et al. (2007). Consumption of mental health services by people with intellectual disabilities. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 20, 430–438. doi:10.1111/j.1468-3148.2007.00387.x
3. Jansari, A.S., Spiller, M.J., & Redfern, S. (2006). Number synaesthesia: when hearing “four plus five” looks like gold. Cortex, 42(2), 253–258. doi:10.1016/S0010-9452(08)70350-2
4. Mataix-Cols, D., Rahman, Q., Spiller, M.J., Alonso, M.P., Pifarre, J., Menchon, J.M., et al. (2006). Are there sex differences in neuropsychological functions among patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder? Applied Neuropsychology, 13(1), 42–50. doi:10.1207/s15324826an1301_6
5. Beer, D., Spiller, M.J., Pickard, M., Gravestock, S., McGovern, P., Leese, M., et al. (2005). Low secure units: factors predicting delayed discharge. Journal of Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology, 16(4), 621–637. doi:10.1080/14789940500159475

Books

1. Holt, G., Gratsa, A., Bouras, N., Joyce, T., Spiller, M.J., & Hardy, S. (2004). Guide to mental health for families and carers of people with intellectual disabilities. London: Jessica Kingsley Publications.

Conference Papers

1. Spiller, M.J., & Jansari, A.S. (2007). The effect of colour on visual mental imagery abilities of grapheme-colour synaesthetes: the importance of individual differences. Paper presented at the 3rd Annual General Meeting and Conference of the UK Synaesthesia Association, Oxford University.
2. Spiller, M.J., Jansari, A.S., & Burton, A. (2007). Synaesthesia and visual mental imagery: measuring a synaesthetic experience from different mental imagery abilities. Paper presented at the British Psychological Society Cognitive Section Annual Conference, University of Aberdeen.
3. Spiller, M.J., Jansari, A.S., & Jones Chesters, M. (2006). Mental rotation and alphanumeric colour synaesthesia. Paper presented at the 2nd Annual General Meeting and Conference of the UK Synaesthesia Association, University College London.
4. Spiller, M.J., & Jansari, A.S. (2005). Fading into the background: mental imagery in synaesthesia. Paper presented at the 5th Annual Meeting of the American Synesthesia Association, Houston, Texas.
5. Spiller, M.J., & Jansari, A.S. (2005). Mental imagery and synaesthesia. Paper presented at the Graduate Interdisciplinary Conference on Perceptual Experience, University of Glasgow.
6. Spiller, M.J., & Jansari, A.S. (2005). Mental imagery in synaesthesia: does seeing the mental image of an inducer in the mind’s eye result in a synaesthetic experience? Paper presented at the 1st Annual General Meeting and Conference of the UK Synaesthesia Association, University College London.