I am interested in how new technologies might influence the social and cognitive development of children, especially children with developmental disorders like autism.

I graduated with undergraduate and masters degrees in Psychology from the University of Birmingham, followed by a PhD in Developmental Psychology at the University of Nottingham. I was an ESRC Research Fellow at the University of Nottingham, before becoming a Lecturer at the University of Edinburgh, and then a Lecturer and Senior Lecturer at the University of Strathclyde. I joined Heriot-Watt University in 2012 as a Reader and was promoted to Professor in 2020.

The Developmental Psychology in Action Lab is based in the Department of Psychology,  School of Social Sciences (SoSS) at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh. We research how people, especially children, use new technology. Working with interdisciplinary partners in Computer Science at the Edinburgh Centre for Robotics and Heriot-Watt Robotics Lab, Heriot-Watt Social Robotics Group and Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) Group, Digital Education, EPSCR's Human-Like Computing Network and Engineering –  we develop and evaluate technologies at the cutting edge of human computer interaction. 

Our theoretical heart is psychological, notably developmental theory of both typical and atypical development, which we use to inform all our work. Our focus is across many disciplines from STE(A)M (science, technology, engineering [Arts] and maths) to sport science and outdoor education. We are currently moving to reproducibility through the Open Science Framework.