Janette Atkinson, is a British

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 ...

and academic, specialising in the human development of vision and visual cognition. She was

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

of Psychology at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

from 1993: she is now

emeritus professor ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

. She was also co-director of the Visual Development Unit at the Department of Psychology, University College London and the Department of Experimental Psychology,

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 ...

. She frequently collaborated with her husband Oliver Braddick.

Early life and education

Atkinson studied

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

at the

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

, graduating with a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree in 1965. She went on to undertake

postgraduate studies Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor' ...

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 ...

, and she completed her Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in 1970. Her doctoral thesis was titled "A study of perceptual analysis using stabilized images".

Academic career

From 1971 to 1972, Atkinson was

research associate Research associates are researchers (scholars and professionals) that usually have an advanced degree beyond a Bachelor's degree such as a master's degree or a PhD. In some universities/research institutes, such as Harvard/Harvard Medical Scho ...

with the Institute for Behavioral Genetics at the

University of Colorado Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University o ...

. In 1972, she was a research associate in the Department of Psychology of

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

, Maryland. She then returned to the

where she was a

Senior Research Associate Research is creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge. It involves the collection, organization, and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness to c ...

from 1972 to 1983. During this time, she established the Visual Development Unit at the University of Cambridge. From 1983 to 1993, she was classified as MRC External Scientific Staff of the Department of Experimental Psychology, Cambridge. In 1993, Atkinson moved to

(UCL) where she had been appointed

of Psychology. The Visual Development Unit moved with her from Cambridge. A second Visual Development Unit was created at the

in 2003. She was Co-Director of both units with her husband Oliver Braddick. Having retired from full-time academia, she was appointed

Emeritus Professor ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

by UCL.

Personal life

In 1979, Atkinson married Oliver Braddick, a fellow developmental psychologist; he died in 2022. They have four children: two sons and two daughters.

Honours

In 2002, Atkinson was elected a

Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci) is an award for medical scientists who are judged by the UK Academy of Medical Sciences for the "excellence of their science, their contribution to medicine and society and the range of the ...

(FMedSci). In 2008, she was elected a

Member of Academia Europaea Membership of the Academia Europaea (MAE) is an award conferred by the Academia Europaea to individuals that have demonstrated "sustained academic excellence". Membership is by invitation only by existing MAE and judged during a peer review selecti ...

. In 2009, she, along with Oliver Braddick, won the Kurt Koffka Medal. In 2015, she was elected a

Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (post-nominal letters FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in t ...

(FBA), the United Kingdom's

national academy A national academy is an organizational body, usually operating with state financial support and approval, that co-ordinates scholarly research activities and standards for academic disciplines, and serves as a public policy advisors, research ...

for the humanities and social sciences. In 2016, she was awarded the Davida Teller Award by the Vision Sciences Society.

Selected works

* * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Atkinson, Janette Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century British psychologists British women psychologists Cognitive psychologists British developmental psychologists Psychology educators Academics of the University of Oxford Fellows of the British Academy Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences (United Kingdom) Members of Academia Europaea Alumni of the University of Bristol Alumni of the University of Cambridge University of Colorado Boulder faculty Johns Hopkins University faculty Vision scientists Women vision scientists British women medical researchers 20th-century British women scientists 21st-century British women scientists