Mary Spiller

Dr Mary Spiller

Lecturer

Cognition and Neuroscience Research Group

Department of Psychology & Human Development , School of Childhood and Social Care

Dr Mary Spiller is a Senior Lecturer at the University of East London. She is a cognitive psychologist who specialises in perception. Her PhD explored mental imagery in synaesthesia.

Qualifications

  • PhD, School of Psychology, University of East London (2009)
  • PG Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, UEL (2005)
  • BSc Psychology with Sociology, University of Bath, First Class (2002)
  • Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

Areas Of Interest

  • Cognition
  • Perception
  • Multi-sensory perception
  • Synaesthesia
  • Mental imagery
Mary Spiller

OVERVIEW

Mary is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Childhood and Social Care. She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and a member of the British Psychological Society (Cognitive Section), the Experimental Psychology Society and the British Neuropsychological Society.

Mary contributes to cognitive psychology and research methods teaching on the undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in the School. She also supervises research students at all levels, including BSc, MSc, PhD and Professional Doctorates.

Mary is co-lead for the School’s Athena Swan Panel. Mary is a member of the Cognition and Neuroscience Research Group. Mary was awarded her PhD from UEL in 2009, and previously has worked at both the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College, London and Harvard University.

Dr Mary Spiller: UEL Research Repository.

CURRENT RESEARCH

I am interested in how we perceive the world around us. My research expertise relates to the area of experimental cognitive psychology, especially in the areas of sensory experiences such as synaesthesia (cross-sensory experiences), mental imagery (internally generated sensory experiences) and multi-sensory experiences in the general population.

My research has focused on synaesthesia and mental imagery, and the impact of synaesthesia on other cognitive abilities. Recent work has focused on the impact synaesthesia may have on mental imagery abilities across various sensory modalities, as well as exploring multi-sensory processing in the general population.

TEACHING

  • MSc Psychology

    A psychology conversion course for students with a first degree in another subject area. It means you could go on and train to be a professional psychologist.

  • BSc (Hons) Psychology

    Studying for a BSc in Psychology, you will develop a good knowledge of the influences on, and factors involved in, human functioning in all the core areas of psychology.

EXTERNAL ROLES

  • External Examiner at BPP University for MSc Psychology modules

Publications

Browse past publications by year.

Full publications list

Visit the research repository to view a full list of publications

Research repository