Sine McDougall

Professor Sine McDougall

  • Emeritus Professor
  • Poole House P109, Talbot Campus, Fern Barrow, Poole, BH12 5BB
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Biography

My research has focused on how we understand, learn, and use icons and signs used on computer interfaces and on traffic and public information signs. This includes how we attend to, and search for, traffic signs and the use of icons as cues for decision making in complex environments.

It is now recognized that enhancing the visual appeal of an interface may be just as important as improving its ease of use. This is particularly important for websites designed for consumer retailing. My recent research has therefore explored the cognitive processing underpinning the visual appeal of interfaces with the aim of explaining how consumer appeal develops over time and how this influences decision making.

Other projects are examining the impact of complications on surgeons' lives. The aim of this research is to examine the extent and nature of this impact and, importantly, how impact is moderated by surgeons’ coping styles and the formal and informal support available to them.

My research has attracted funding from BAE Systems, Cisco Systems, the EPSRC, the Nuffield Foundation and Sure Start.

Favourites

  • McDougall, S., Edworthy, J., Sinimeri, D., Goodliffe, J., Bradley, D. and Foster, J., 2020. Searching for meaning in sound: Learning and interpreting alarm signals in visual environments. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 26 (1), 89-107.
  • Reppa, I. and McDougall, S., 2015. When the going gets tough the beautiful get going: aesthetic appeal facilitates task performance. Psychon Bull Rev, 22 (5), 1243-1254.
  • McDougall, S. and House, B., 2012. Brain training in older adults: Evidence of transfer to memory span performance and pseudo-Matthew effects. Aging, Neuropsychology & Cognition.
  • Isherwood, S., McDougall, S. and Curry, M., 2007. Icon identification in context: The changing role of icon characteristics with user experience. Human Factors, 49, 465-476.
  • McDougall, S., De Bruijn, O. and Curry, M., 2000. Exploring the Effects of Icon Characteristics on User Performance: The Role of Icon Concreteness, Complexity, and Distinctiveness. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 6, 291-306.
  • McDougall, S., Curry, M. and De Bruijn, O., 1999. Measuring Symbol and Icon Characteristics: Norms for Concreteness, Complexity, Meaningfulness, Familiarity, and Semantic Distance for 239 Symbols. Behaviour Research Methods, Instruments & Computers, 31, 487-519.
  • McDougall, S., Hulme, C., Ellis, A.W. and Monk, A., 1994. Learning to read: The role of short-term memory and phonological skills. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 58, 112-133.