The PERFECT team

team photo

 

Lisa Bortolotti (Principal Investigator)

I am Professor of Philosophy at the University of Birmingham. I work in the philosophy of the cognitive sciences, focusing on what philosophers of mind can learn from psychology and psychiatry. In particular, I write about “imperfect cognitions”, that is, delusions and other forms of irrational thought. I also have interests in psychiatric ethics and biomedical ethics more generally. View full staff profile.

 



 

Michael Larkin (Co-Investigator)

I am Reader in Psychology at Aston University. My research interests include: phenomenology and psychological methods; relatedness and recovery; culture and wellbeing; empathy; anomalous experiences. 

 

 

Ema Sullivan-Bissett (Research Fellow)

I am Lecturer in the Philosophy Department at the University of Birmingham. From October 2014 to September 2016 I was a Research Fellow in Philosophy, working on beliefs as part of project PERFECT. My research interests are in the philosophy of mind and psychology, specifically belief and its connection to truth, self-deception, and delusion. I am also interested in biological approaches to what are characteristically thought to be normative questions in philosophy of mind, epistemology, and ethics. View full staff profile.

 



 

Katherine Puddifoot (Research Fellow)

I am Assistant Professor in Philosophy at the University of Durham. From October 2015 to September 2018 I was a Research Fellow in Philosophy at the University of Birmingham, working on memory as part of project PERFECT. My research interests are in philosophy of psychology and epistemology, specifically irrational thoughts that are the result of automatic and associative thinking. I investigated the epistemic status of distorted memories, including the positive and negative impact that they can have on the accuracy of perception.  View full staff profile.

 


 

Sophie Stammers (Research Fellow)

From October 2016 to October 2019 I was a Research Fellow in Philosophy at the University of Birmingham, working on confabulation as part of project PERFECT. My research interests are in the philosophy of mind and psychology, specifically implicit cognition and the nature of the implicit/explicit distinction. I investigated the costs and benefits of confabulatory explanations, including how they might shape our principles and preferences.  

 


 

Andrea Polonioli (Research Fellow)

From September 2016 to September 2017 I was a Research Fellow in Philosophy at the University of Birmingham, working on belief as part of project PERFECT. My main research interests are in the philosophy and psychology of judgment and decision-making. In particular, I investigated how people reason and how they should be reasoning. I also have research interests in science ethics and scientometrics.

 

 

 

Magdalena Antrobus (PhD Student)

From October 2014 to September 2017 I was a PhD student in Philosophy at the University of Birmingham, working on imperfect cognitions in the clinical population as part of project PERFECT. My research focused on philosophy of psychiatry and psychology, and especially on the psychological and epistemic benefits of mental disorders. I completed a dissertation on Epistemic and Psychological Benefits of Depression and passed my viva in November 2017.

 



 

Valeria Motta (PhD Student)

From October 2016 to October 2019 I was a PhD student in Philosophy at the University of Birmingham working on imperfect cognitions in the non-clinical population as part of project PERFECT. I am interested in the relationship between cognition and emotion and I explored the possibility that ‘inaccurate emotions’ carry epistemic value, focusing on loneliness.

 

Alex Miller Tate, Matilde Aliffi, and Eugenia Lancellotta (Research Assistants)

Alex, Matilde, and Eugenia have joined the project in 2018/2019 to contribute to all the project research activities, help with the Imperfect Cognitions blog and research network, and assist with the organisation of project events.