Patrick Michael Anthony Rabbitt (born 1934), also known as Pat, is an English

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and explanation, interpretatio ...

who has specialised in researching the mental effects of aging — cognitive gerontology. Rabbitt was born on 23 September 1934, to Edna Maude, née Smith, and Joseph Bernard Rabbitt, and educated at

Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the 16 "old colleges" of the university, and was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. Its buildings span the R ...

. He worked as a research student at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, under

Donald Broadbent Donald Eric (D. E.) Broadbent CBE, FRS (Birmingham, 6 May 1926 – 10 April 1993) was an influential experimental psychologist from the United Kingdom. His career and research bridged the gap between the pre-World War II approach of Sir Freder ...

, and in 1961 moved to the Applied Psychology Unit, where he undertook projects at the behest of the

General Post Office The General Post Office (GPO) was the state postal system and telecommunications carrier of the United Kingdom until 1969. Established in England in the 17th century, the GPO was a state monopoly covering the dispatch of items from a specific ...

. He subsequently worked for the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

as a lecturer in psychology (1968-1982); the

University of Durham Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charter in 1837. It was the first recognised university to ...

as Professor of Psychology and head of department in (1982-1983); and the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

, in the Research Chair in Gerontology and Cognitive Psychology and Director of the Age and Cognitive Performance Research Centre (1983-2004). He subsequently took up a position at the Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford. Rabbitt is married to Dorothy Bishop, also a noted psychologist. The 2012 book, ''Measuring the mind speed, control, and age'' is dedicated to him.

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External links

* * * - autobiographical article * - Partick Rabbitt's episodic history of 'how an obdurately Irish family lived in India for 130 years and then left it to try to live in England, an unknown country that we called “Home” but had never visited'. 1934 births Place of birth missing (living people) Living people British gerontologists English psychologists Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge {{UK-psychologist-stub