Ryan McKay

I'm interested in how we form and revise beliefs. Does God exist? Are vaccines safe? Will I live a long life? Is the COVID pandemic a cover for the health consequences of 5G? Our beliefs about these and many other questions seem to be biased in certain ways – and in extreme cases we may adopt bizarre delusional beliefs about reality. My research aims to uncover the psychological, social and evolutionary causes and consequences of these biases.

I was educated at the University of Western Australia (BSc Hons in Psychology) and at Macquarie University (MClinPsych, PhD) in Sydney, Australia. I've held postdoctoral positions in Boston (Tufts University), Belfast (Queen's University), Zurich (University of Zurich) and Oxford (University of Oxford) and previously worked as a clinical neuropsychologist at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London, and as a lecturer in psychology at Charles Sturt University in Australia.