Biography

I graduated from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid with a BSc in Psychology in 1995. After graduating I worked as a researcher in the Hospital de la Princesa (Madrid) and in the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. In 1997 I moved to Britain to work at the University of Kent on a research project investigating early signs of autism. Soon after, in 1998, I started my doctorate in Psychology investigating cognitive abilities in children with autism. Since the completion of my doctoral thesis at the University of Durham in 2001, I have worked as a lecturer in Psychology in York St John College and the University of the West of England until I took my post here in September 2008.

Research interests

My main research interests fall within the area of cognitive development with a particular focus on autism. Most of my research has explored how children with autism and typically developing children integrate perceptual and contextual information. Recently, I have developed an interest on how socio-cultural factors affect cognitive development in autism.

I am the founder of the AutismResearchNetwork, a network aimed at bringing together academics, practitioners and people with autism and their families. For more information on research and community projects please visit our website here.

I am also the founder of the Autism Centre for Research on Employment which has been set up in collaboration with four local authorities and funded by the Department of Health.

Research outputs

2023

Beyond reliability in first impressions research: considering validity and the need to “mix it up with folks”

Jaeger, B., Jones, A. L., Lopez, B., Satchell, L., Schild, C.

17 Nov 2023, In: Social Psychological Bulletin. 18

Social attention patterns of autistic and non-autistic adults when viewing real versus reel people

Freeth, M., Gregory, N. J., López, B.

1 Nov 2023, In: Autism. 27, 8, p. 2372 - 2383, 12p.

Autistic students’ experiences, opportunities and challenges in Higher Education in Singapore: a qualitative study: A Qualitative Study

Gurbuz, E., Kapp, S. K., Lim, E., López, B., Magiati, I., Wong, S.

10 Aug 2023, In: Education Sciences. 13, 8, 18p., 818

Preverbal infants produce more protophones with artificial objects compared to natural objects

Davila Ross, M., Gibson, V., Lopez, B., Mulenga, I. C., Nomikou, I., Somogyi, E., Taylor, D.

20 Jun 2023, In: Scientific Reports. 13, 10p., 9969

View all my research outputs