Mary Hegarty

Mary Hegarty is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences at UC Santa Barbara. She has been on the faculty since 1988 following her PhD from Carnegie Mellon University. Her research focuses on spatial thinking, navigation strategies, and individual differences in spatial abilities, with emphasis on STEM education. She leads the Spatial Thinking Lab, employing methods like fMRI and virtual environments. Current NSF-funded projects explore navigation variability and spatial ability’s role in STEM success.

Education: BA and MA from University College Dublin, PhD in Psychology from Carnegie Mellon (1988).

Research Interests: Spatial cognition (e.g., mental rotation, navigation strategies), spatial representation in STEM, and effects of technology like GPS on spatial skills. Unique focus on integrating experimental psychology with individual difference analysis.

Awards: APS Fellow, Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship, former Cognitive Science Society board chair. Editorial roles at Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied and Topics in Cognitive Science.

Lab Activities: Develops VR tools for spatial assessment, collaborates on projects like Sea Hero Quest. Focuses on translating spatial cognition research into educational interventions. Current research examines neural correlates of navigation and midlife spatial aging effects.