Experimental Psychology at Sussex

The Laboratory of Experimental Psychology at Sussex recently received the top grading (5) in the UK research assessment exercise, and it has an A rating by the Medical Research Council. It occupies adjacent space in two connected modern buildings in the School of Biological Sciences and benefits from close relations with neurobiology and ethology, and with the Sussex Centre for Neuroscience. We currently have 15 teaching faculty, and about 20 research fellows and assistants.

Research interests include

  • sensory processes (vision and hearing),
  • cognitive psychology,
  • cognitive
  • development,
  • neuropsychology,
  • psychopharmacology
  • physiological psychology.

    Research in sensory processes and in cognitive psychology has been particularly well supported recently by MRC and ESRC grants and, over the last 10 years, by a special grant that has provided excellent computing facilities for both experimental work and for computational modelling.

    We have the largest group in any psychology department in the country working on hearing,covering a very wide range from speech perception, through psycho-acoustics to cochlear mechanics. We also have the largest group in the country working on experimental psycholinguistics. This group has one of the best systems in the world for investigating eye-movements during reading. Work in vision is very well established thanks to MRC and SERC grants providing extended facilities for visual psychophysics, especially for studying the perception of movement.

    Developmental psychology is also an active research area. We have excellent relations with local schools, Brighton and neighbouring towns providing a large catchment area.

    There is a large group working on human neuropsychology, with a particular emphasis on memory disorders. There are good contacts with local hospitals and a large subject pool of older subjects has been developed in order to study age effects. The Laboratory also has specialist interests in psychopharmacology, with a newly opened human psychopharmacology laboratory and animal laboratories which are particularly well-equipped for computer-assisted observational studies and psychopharmacology.

    Taught and research degree programmes in Experimental Psychology are offered in the Graduate Research Centre in Biological Sciences


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    © Copyright the University of Sussex 1995. webmaster@biols.sussex.ac.uk Last update 10th November 1995