Priscilla Heard

Dr. Priscilla Heard serves as a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol), with a career spanning experimental cognitive psychology, science communication, and forensic applications. Her foundational work on the Cafe wall illusion at Bristol's St Michael's Hill established critical parameters for perceptual errors, while her co-founding of the Old Bristol Exploratory (now At-Bristol) pioneered hands-on science education in Britain.

Research Focus: Her expertise centers on visual and auditory perception mechanisms, particularly illusions and face recognition. She investigates how early neural processing creates perceptual errors (e.g., wedge-shaped tile appearances from horizontal mortar lines), then translates findings into practical systems. Current collaborations with Winchester University on the EvoFIT facial composite system demonstrate direct forensic utility, while past Royal Society-funded work developed mobile auditory guides that significantly improved children's science learning, especially among girls.

Impact and Innovation: Dr. Heard bridges laboratory research with public engagement through international art-science exhibitions (Florence 2009, Sardinia 2012) and interactive At-Bristol exhibits. Her publications reveal an interdisciplinary trajectory from fundamental illusion studies to computer science applications, with the 2018 EvoFIT paper showing measurable police identification success. Funding from the Royal Society, Hewlett Packard, and British Psychological Society underscores the translational value of her work.

Academic Context: At UWE Bristol, she contributes to the Psychology and the arts module under Nicola Holt's leadership. Her approach emphasizes experiential learning, evidenced by historical projects where students built physical exhibits to discover scientific principles through direct manipulation. This philosophy stems from her observation that not all learners engage with traditional methods, driving innovation in auditory and interactive educational tools.