Dr Andrew Parker

Senior Lecturer

My profile

Biography

I am essentially a cognitive psychologist with an interest in the neural basis of cognitive processes. In this context I am primarily interested in the use of experimental methods and in my research I employ a range of these to investigating memory.

From a broader perspective, I am a socialist and believe in a fairer distribution of wealth and a form of principled government that can be only delivered by the Labour Party.

Expert reviewer

I have reveiwed for a number of journals/funding bodies including:

Applied Cognitive Psychology

Applied Neuropsychology

Brain & Cognition

British Journal of Psychology

Consciousness & Cognition

Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC)

Experimental Psychology

Frontiers in Psychology (Cognition)

Frontiers in Human Neuroscience

Journal of Cognitive Psychology

Journal of EMDR Practice & Research

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning,
Memory & Cognition.

Journal of Experimental Psychopathology

Journal of Non-Verbal Behaviour

Memory

Psychological Medicine

Psychology & Psychotherapy

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review

United States Army Research Office

Prizes and awards

In 2010, in conjunction with Dr N Dagnall, I was awarded the exemplary researcher award from RIHSC.

In 2020 I won the MMU Union teaching award for outstanding innovation in teaching

Expert reviewer for external funding bodies

I have reviewed a total of five ESRC grants
covering implicit memory, retrieval processes, inhibition and false memory.
Recently I was asked to join the ESRC Specialist Psychology Reviewer Pool

I have reviewed research for the U.S Army Research Division

I have also reviewed a number of books covering
biopsychology, neuropsychology and cognitive psychology.

Get in touch

0161 247 2586
Brooks Building

Teaching

Why do I teach?

I teach because one thing that I enjoy is reading and research. In addition, I like to tell students about my own personal “discoveries” into the research literature and beyond. I enjoy explaining (often-complex) ideas to students and enabling individuals to appreciate the value of experimentation and scientific research. Typically, I find that explaining information to students helps me to understand information and see problems that I did not realise existed.

Why study…

How we learn and retain information about ourselves and the world has, for me, been a long-term fascination. In many respects, memory occupies a central place in the study of cognition and forms the foundation of our own character (e.g., autobiographical memory), our knowledge of the world (e.g., factual semantic memory), our ability to conjure up and relive past experiences (e.g., episodic memory) and our capacity to interact with the world based on pasts experience without even knowing this (e.g., implicit memory). These facets and dimensions of memory, together with the errors we often make when attempting to recover information (e.g., false memory) make the whole topic colourful and fascinating because of the sheer range of ideas and findings that illuminate who we are and how we work.

Postgraduate teaching

My current postgraduate roles include:

  • MSc Dissertation Supervision
  • PHD Project Supervision
  • MSc Experimental Methods & Statistics

Subject areas

Memory and Cognitive Processes

Supervision

Broadly, I research long-term episodic memory encoding and retrieval. Some current topics include:

  • Directed forgetting
  • Autobiographical memory
  • Eye movements & memory
  • Eye closure & memory

Research outputs

My main research interests are primarily related to experimental psychology and employ traditional research methods for the analysis of human cognition and behaviour. I am a core member of the Research Institute for Health and Social Change (RIHSC) at MMU. My current research interests include:

  • Explicit & implicit memory
  • The effects of eye movements on memory retrieval
  • Directed forgetting & retrieval inhibition
  • Autobiographical memory
  • False memory
  • Visual aspects of memory in relation to dynamic visual noise
  • The cognitive neuroscience of memory

My work on the effects of eye movements on memory retrieval has been widely recognised globally in both academic circles and in the popular press and lifestyle magazines.