Professor Markus Bindemann
About
Professor Markus Bindemann obtained a BSc in Psychology from the University of Stirling in 2001, followed by a PhD at the University of Glasgow in 2004. After several postdoctoral positions, he joined the School of Psychology at the University of Kent in January 2010.
Markus has specific expertise in face and person perception and has published extensively in international journals of psychology. He has also edited special issues on face perception for Applied Cognitive Psychology (2013, Vol 27, Issue 6; with Bob Johnston), Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology (2017, Vol 70, Issue 5; with Bob Johnston), and Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications (2018, ; with Vicki Bruce and Karen Lander). His 2017 book Face Processing: Systems, Disorders and Cultural Differences (with Ahmed Megreya) featured contributions from scientists around the world and was nominated for the Ursula Gielen Global Psychology Book Award.
He currently serves as Associate Editor for the Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology and on the editorial board of the Journal of Cognitive Psychology.
Research interests
Professor Bindemann's research focuses on visual perception problems in Cognitive Psychology, such as forensic face matching, eyewitness identification, and person detection in natural scenes. In collaboration with colleagues from other fields, he also researches the potential of pupillary response for the measurement of deviant sexual interest, and species identification in biodiversity conservation. His research features cutting-edge techniques such as eye-tracking, remote-controlled drones, and virtual reality.
Key publications
- Lander, K., Bruce, V., & Bindemann, M. (2018). Use-inspired basic research on individual differences in face identification: Implications for criminal investigation and security. Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications, 3:26, 1-13.doi:10.1186/s41235-018-0115-
- Fysh, M.C., & Bindemann, M. (2018). The Kent Face Matching Test. British Journal of Psychology, 109, 219-231.doi:10.1111/bjop.12260
- Bindemann, M., Fysh, M.C., Sage, S., Douglas, K., & Tummon, H. (2017). Person identification from aerial footage by a remote-controlled drone. Scientific Reports, 7, 13629:1-10. doi:10.1038/s41598-017-14026-3
- Attard-Johnson, J., & Bindemann, M. (2017). Sex-specific but not sexually explicit: Pupillary responses to portraits of nude and dressed adults. Royal Society Open Science, 4:160963. doi:10.1098/rsos.160963
The Kent Face Matching Test
Markus also developed the Kent Face Matching Test (KFMT), which is available as a research tool for researchers to download at https://www.kent.ac.uk/school-of-psychology/kentfacematch/index.html
Its corresponding paper can be found at https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/bjop.12260
Teaching
Convenor and Lecturer
- Facial Identity Matching: Cognitive Research and Forensic Practice
Lecturer
- Forensic Cognition: Theory, Research and Practice
Supervision
Markus has an extensive record of successful PhD supervision. His past and current students, for whom he was or is the primary supervisor in Psychology, are listed below.
He welcomes enquiries about studying for a PhD under his supervision from exceptional students whose research interests relate to his own.
Past research students
- Hamood Alenezi (Saudi Arabia Government Scholarship, 2011-2014)
- Andrew Russ (Kent GTA Scholarship, 2011-2015)
- Alejandro Estudillo (Kent GTA Scholarship, 2012-2015)
- Kaewmart Pongakkasira, (Thai Royal Government Scholarship, 2012-2015)
- Janice Attard (Kent GTA Scholarship, 2013-2016)
- Gail Austen (Kent 50th Anniversary Scholarship, 2013-2017)
- Matt Fysh (Kent GTA Scholarship, 2014-2017)
- Emma Garcia (Kent GTA Scholarship, 2015-2018)
- Natalie Gentry (ESRC South East DTC funding, 2015-2019)
- Hannah Tummon (ESRC South East DTC funding, 2016-2019)
Current research students
- Jacky Claydon (Kent GTA Scholarship, 2019-present)
- Leia Brasnell (ESRC SeNSS 1+3 funding, 2019-present)
- Alice Nevard (Kent GTA Scholarship, 2020-present)
Professional
Grants and awards
| 2019-22 | Leverhulme Trust Research Grant ‘Face detection by humans’. With Rob Jenkins, University of York, UK. | £248,611 |
| 2019-22 | ESRC Research Grant 'Person identification at passport control within realistic context'. With Mike Burton and Cade McCall, University of York, UK. | £503,503 |
| 2018-19 | British Academy Visiting Fellowship 'The construct validity of forensic face-matching ability'. With Andrea Hildebrandt, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt Universitaet, Germany. | £25,827 |
| 2017 | University of Guelph-Humber Research Grant Fund 'Critical examination of configural processing in familiar face recognition'. With Adam Sandford, University of Guelph-Humber, Canada. | $6,507 (Canadian) |
| 2016-17 | British Academy UK's International Challenges Grant 'Does Brexit trigger racism? An experiment among British and European residents in the UK'. With Fernanda Lopez, University of Kent. | £15,637 |
| 2016-17 | Faculty Research Fund, University of Kent 'Avoidance of eye-contact in social anxiety: An eye-tracking study'. With Lydia Kearney, University of Kent. | £2,475 |
| 2016-17 | Faculty Research Fund, University of Kent 'The eyes have it: Pupillary response as a measure of self-identification for forensic settings'. With Amir-Homayoun Javadi, University of Kent. | £4,182 |
| 2013 | Faculty Internationalisation Fund, University of Kent UG and PG recruitment in Norway. | £2,390 |
| 2013 | Research Seed Fund, University of Kent 'The Kent Face Matching Test'. | £1,000 |
| 2012 | National Organisation for the Treatment of Abusers (NOTA) Research Grant 'Comparing multiple indirect measures of sexual interest with an implicit but direct eye-tracking and pupil dilation paradigm'. With Caolite Ó Ciardha, University of Kent. | £5,000 |
| 2011 | Faculty Small Grant, University of Kent 'Recognising different photo-ID cards of the same person'. | £1,000 |
| 2009 | Research Promotion Fund, University of Essex 'Individual variation and observer consistency in unfamiliar face identification'. | £4,500 |
| 2009 | Knowledge Transfer Innovation Fund, University of Essex 'Establishing Café Scientifique'. | £3,037 |
| 2007-09 | ESRC research grant 'Human face detection in natural scenes'. With Mike Burton, University of Glasgow, UK. | £152,571 |
| 2007 | Wellcome Trust Value in People (VIP) Award 'Controlling attention to faces'. | £18,245 |
| 2001 | ESRC Postgraduate Studentship 'The role of attention in face processing'. University of Glasgow, UK. | £33,415 |
| Scholarship/Internship | | |
| 2016-19 | ESRC +3 Studentship, Hannah Tummon. | £56,185 |
| 2015-18 | ESRC +3 Studentship, Natalie Gentry. | £55,274 |
| 2012 | EPS Undergraduate Research Bursary 'Gaze-contingent elimination of attention biases in smokers'. With Julien LeBlond. | £2,000 |
| 2012 | BPS Undergraduate Research Assistantship 'Can a gaze-contingent eye-tracking paradigm reverse undesirable attention biases in smokers?'. With Julien LeBlond. | £1,600 |
| 2011-15 | Thai Royal Government 1+3 Studentship, Kaewmart Pongakkasira. | £102,094 |
| 2010-14 | Saudi Arabia Government 1+3 Studentship, Hamood Alenezi. | £100,996 |
| 2010 | EPS Undergraduate Research Bursary 'Examining the two-perpetrator disadvantage in eyewitness identification'. With Katherine Gillatt. | £2,000 |
| 2008 | EPS Undergraduate Research Bursary 'Interactions of eye-gaze and facial expression'. With Nicola Forsberg. | £1,600 |
Professional memberships
- British Psychological Society (BPS)
- BPS - Cognitive Section
- Experimental Psychology Society (EPS)