Mark Edwards

Mark Edwards is an Associate Professor in Psychology at the Australian National University's School of Medicine and Psychology. His academic career spans over two decades, with a focus on visual cognition, attentional control, and cognitive empathy. Edwards holds a PhD in Psychology from the University of Melbourne, a Psychology degree from ANU, and a Mechanical Engineering degree from the University of Queensland.

Edwards' educational background is uniquely interdisciplinary, beginning with a Mechanical Engineering degree from the University of Queensland (1982-1985), followed by a Psychology degree at ANU (1987-1990), and culminating in a PhD in visual psychophysics from the University of Melbourne (1991-1995). After seven years of research at NTT Basic Research Laboratories in Japan and the School of Optometry at the University of California at Berkeley, he returned to ANU in 2001 to take up a faculty position.

Edwards' research primarily focuses on visual cognition and attentional control. His work investigates how the human visual system processes information, with particular emphasis on motion processing, face recognition, and stereopsis. He explores how various visual pathways interact at different levels in the brain, including situations where the visual system misinterprets combinations of features, such as in synesthesia. More recently, his research has expanded to examine the implications of attentional control in everyday functioning, particularly in driving contexts, and how it varies across different populations including those with psychopathic traits.

Analysis of Edwards' recent publications (2023-2024) reveals a strong focus on individual differences in cognitive processes. His work examines how attentional breadth, working memory, and emotional processing vary across individuals and impact real-world performance. Key themes include the relationship between psychopathic traits and visual attention, cognitive failures in trait anxiety, emotion-induced blindness, and the development of tools like the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire 2.0 to measure subjective cognitive experiences.

• 2019-2021: Australian Research Council Discovery Grant ($390,000)
• 2011-2015: Australian Research Council Discovery Grant ($582,074)
• 2009-2014: Australian Research Council Discovery Grant ($475,000)
• 2006-2011: Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Vision ($10,000,000)

Edwards has served as Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator on numerous research projects, including "Investigating cognitive predictors of crash risk in provisional drivers" and "Using a scientific understanding of human cognition to reduce crash risk in older adult drivers." His research has practical applications in understanding and improving driver safety, particularly for vulnerable populations.