Biography
I joined the University in June 2022 as a Lecturer in Psychology and teach on modules including Individual Differences, Psychology of Lifespan and Researching Psychology.
I am interested in the Psychology of Ageing and cognitive ageing (changes in thinking, reasoning and memory skills) in particular. This topic is important because age-related cognitive decline (even without dementia diagnosis) impairs daily activities, is associated with poorer health and financial decision making, and predicts declines in physical and mental health. I use large-scale datasets with information collected from older people over time to study how cognitive abilities change with ageing and to identify some of the predictors of healthy cognitive ageing. To date, I have explored the potential effects of loneliness, physical fitness, hearing impairment and, most recently, musical experience on cognitive and other outcomes in older age.
I hold a BSc in Psychology, an MSc in Health Psychology, and a PhD in Psychology from the Universities of Glasgow, Stirling and Edinburgh respectively. After completing my PhD in 2018, I worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher and then Research Fellow with the Lothian Birth Cohorts Group at the University of Edinburgh.