Ryan Scott

Ryan Scott is an Associate Professor in the School of Psychology at the University of Sussex. His research focuses on consciousness, unconscious learning limits, and modifying unconscious biases to improve mental health. He transitioned from an 11-year IT career to academia, earning an MSc in Experimental Psychology and a PhD funded by the ESRC. His work emphasizes open science practices, including Bayesian statistics and registered reports. He leads the Cognitive group as Subject Group Lead.

Education: MSc in Experimental Psychology, PhD with ESRC funding (including a preliminary MRes in Psychological Methods), and a postdoctoral grant from the ESRC.

Research Interests:

• Limits of Unconscious Learning: Challenges prevailing theories by examining whether learning (e.g., instrumental conditioning) requires conscious awareness.
• Unconscious Biases: Develops novel methods to modify attentional biases for anxiety and dietary choices.
• Phenomenological Control: Explores traits influencing susceptibility to illusions, demand characteristics, and psychological interventions.

Advising & Grants: Supervises PhD students Nathan Brown and Syrus Chen. Secured grants like 'Conscious Perception in Implicit Learning' (ESRC) and 'Unconscious Reward Associations' (University of Sussex). His lab investigates phenomena like hypnosis, ASMR, and the rubber hand illusion.

Labs/Teams: Active in Sussex labs examining consciousness, implicit learning, and phenomenological control. Collaborates on projects blending cognitive neuroscience and clinical applications.