Ruth M.J. Byrne, FTCD, MRIA, (born 1962) is an Irish

cognitive scientist Cognitive science is the interdisciplinary, scientific study of the mind and its processes. It examines the nature, the tasks, and the functions of cognition (in a broad sense). Mental faculties of concern to cognitive scientists include percep ...

and

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

of several books on human

reasoning Reason is the capacity of consciously applying logic by drawing valid conclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking the truth. It is associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, religion, scien ...

. She is the Professor of Cognitive Science, in the School of Psychology and Institute of Neuroscience,

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

. She is the former Vice Provost of Trinity College Dublin.

Career

Byrne was awarded a BA in Psychology from

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

(UCD) in 1983. She completed a PhD in Cognitive Psychology at

(TCD) in 1986. She worked as a research scientist at the Applied Psychology Unit,

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 ...

, from 1986 to 1989, and as a lecturer in Psychology at

Cardiff University Cardiff University () is a public research university in Cardiff, Wales. It was established in 1883 as the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire and became a founding college of the University of Wales in 1893. It was renamed Unive ...

from 1989 to 1991. She returned to Ireland in early 1991 as a college lecturer in the computer science department at

, and later that year she moved to a lectureship in the psychology department at

. She became an associate professor (now termed professor) in 1999, and full professor (personal chair), Professor of Cognitive Science, in 2005. Byrne was elected a Fellow of TCD in 1995, and became a Senior Fellow in 2021. She was the Vice Provost of TCD from 2005 to 2008, and has also served as head of TCD's Psychology department and deputy director of its Institute of neuroscience. Byrne was elected a member of the

Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the natural sciences, arts, literature, and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned society and one of its le ...

in 2007. She was awarded the Royal Irish Academy's 2021 Gold Medal in the Social Sciences.

Publication

Her writings include:
''The Rational Imagination: How People Create Alternatives to Reality''
(2005,

MIT Press The MIT Press is the university press of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The MIT Press publishes a number of academic journals and has been a pioneer in the Open Ac ...

) * ''Deduction'' (1991, co-author Philip Johnson-Laird, Erlbaum) * ''Human Reasoning'' (1993, with Jonathan St B. T. Evans & Stephen Newstead, Erlbaum)

References

External links

''Reasoning and Imagination Lab''

Interview in "The Psychologist"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Byrne, Ruth 1962 births Irish psychologists Irish women psychologists Academics of Trinity College Dublin Members of the Royal Irish Academy Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Alumni of University College Dublin Academics of Cardiff University 20th-century Irish scientists 20th-century Irish women scientists 21st-century Irish scientists Fellows of Trinity College Dublin