Mary Hegarty is an Irish–American psychologist who is a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her research considers spatial thinking in complex processes. She is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

Early life and education

Hegarty was an undergraduate and graduate student at University College Dublin. After graduating, she stayed in Ireland for three years, working as a research assistant at St Patrick's College, before moving to the United States for her doctoral research. She joined

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...

as a doctoral researcher.

Research and career

Hegarty was appointed to the faculty at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her research considers spatial thinking, and how it is involved in complex psychological processes. She has demonstrated that eye fixation data can be used to understand mechanical reasoning (e.g. interpretation of graphics). Eye-fixation data allows Hegarty to follow the processes involved in understanding diagrams and maps. Hegarty is interested in individual differences in navigation, learning the layout of environments, mental rotation and taking perspective. She has investigated why people with great spatial abilities are more successful in STEM-related disciplines.

Awards and honours

*2001 Elected Fellow of the American Psychological Association *2022 Elected Fellow of the

Selected publications

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hegarty, Mary Living people Carnegie Mellon University alumni Alumni of University College Dublin University of California, Santa Barbara faculty Irish emigrants to the United States 21st-century American psychologists Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Year of birth missing (living people)