Dr Martin Thirkettle

Professional biography

I am a Lecturer in Applied Cognitive Psychology in the School of Psychology and Counselling, FASS. I mainly use experimental quantitative research methods - often online - and largely focus on visual cognition. I have been at the Open University since 2024 (though I was also here as a Lecturer from 2012-2017). 

Research interests

While I’d categorise my own research as broadly “visual cognition”, I'm best thought of as an experimental-methods-focussed empiricist. I'm most happy when collaborating on quite distinct research projects in teams of academics from very different schools of psychology, with academics from different subjects, and with non-academic stakeholders. Whether it’s better understanding knife crime interventions in schools using online experiments, quantitative approaches to understanding close relationships in social psychology paradigms, using eye-tracking to better understand clinical decision making in radiotherapy, or developing wearable technologies for early-stage dementia; the common thread is my use of technological, often novel, quantitative methods applying cognitive psychology to address real-world problems. 

I am part of the  Forensic Cognition Research Group where I work closely with Catriona Havard, Sarah Laurence, Lara Frumkin, Graham Pike, Hayley Ness, Ailsa Strathie Jim Turner, and Zoe Walkington. 

Teaching interests

Since joining the OU,  I have been involved with a number of different modules. Currently I am Co-Chairing DE300 Investigating Psychology 3, the capstone Psychology module which includes student's research project work. I am also part of the module team for D120 - Encountering Psychology in Context.

PhD supervision

I'm happy to supervise any PhDs on all aspects of cognition, particularly visual cognition and visual perception.