Professor Ben Tatler serves as Chair in Psychology and Dean for Research Culture at the School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen. He has been a Professor of Psychology at the University of Aberdeen since 2015 and previously held positions as Lecturer, Senior Lecturer, and Reader at the University of Dundee starting in 2004. His academic journey began with an undergraduate degree in Natural Sciences (Biological) at the University of Cambridge in 1998, followed by a DPhil in Neuroscience at the University of Sussex in 2002, where he also worked as a postdoctoral fellow. His educational background includes: MA Natural Sciences (Biological) - University of Cambridge (1998) DPhil Neuroscience and Psychology - University of Sussex (2002) Professor Tatler's research focuses on understanding how vision supports natural behavior, specifically addressing two fundamental questions: where we look and what we encode and retain from the objects we look at. He emphasizes studying vision in the context of natural behavior in real environments rather than exclusively in laboratory settings. His work contributes to theoretical understanding of factors underlying decisions about where to look in complex scenes and the representations that underlie natural vision. He applies these research interests to real-world problems including hazard perception in driving, CCTV surveillance, and how comics can be used for conveying public health information. His recent publications demonstrate a consistent focus on eye movement patterns, scene perception, social attention, and applied visual cognition across various contexts. Professor Tatler has secured significant research funding including: Comics vs. Covid: informing and evaluating the design of public health information comics (SGSSS PhD studentship, 2021-2024) Giving cognition a helping hand: how gesture facilitates spatial thinking (Leverhulme Trust, £118,822, 2020-2021) Adult aging and social attention: the role of cognitive decline and social motivation (ESRC, £625,615, 2017-2020) He is actively involved in mentoring, currently accepting PhD students in Psychology, and teaches courses including Biological Psychology, Methodology B, Critical Review, Psychology Thesis, Core Principles: Individual Differences, Cognitive and Biological, and Quantitative and Qualitative Methods and Research Design. Professor Tatler maintains professional affiliations as a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Chartered member of the British Psychology Society, and member of several professional societies including the Experimental Psychology Society, Applied Vision Association, and Psychonomic Society.
