Dr Marek McGann
Research interests
Enactive, embodied, and ecological approaches to psychology and cognitive science; the psychology of places (behaviour settings); scientific practice in psychology; the research-practice gap in education.
More information
Marek has been a lecturer in the Department of Psychology since 2005. His principal research is theoretical work on the enactive approach to cognitive science, which examines the mind more as something we do rather than something we have. This is also related to ecological approaches to psychology, which explore how behaviour and mental life can be examined by looking at what your head is in, rather than what is in your head. He also has a related interest in critical considerations of theory and scientific practice in psychology more broadly.
Marek co-convenes the ENSO Seminars, a series of online seminars with researchers from enactive and ecological cognitive science.
In recent years, Marek has played a founding role in the development of of T-REX, the Teachers' Research Exchange. T-REX is an online community of practice for education research in Ireland. It aims to support improved practice in education research by enabling better communication and integration between academic education research and professional practice in classrooms.
Marek also has an interest in active learning, and is a member of the steering group for FACiLiTATE, the Irish network for enquiry/problem-based learning in higher education.
Selected Publications
Recent Peer Reviewed Journal Articles
McHugh, C., McGann, M., Igou, E. R., & Kinsella, E. L. (2021). Moral Judgment as Categorization (MJAC). Perspectives on Psychological Science, 1745691621990636. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691621990636
McGann, M. (2020). Convergently emergent: Ecological and enactive approaches to the texture of agency. Frontiers in Psychology, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01982
McGann, M., & Speelman, C. P. (2020). Two kinds of theory: What psychology can learn from Einstein. Theory & Psychology, https://doi.org/10.1177/0959354320937804
McGann, M., Ryan, M. McMahon, J. & Hall, T. (2020). T-REX: The Teachers' Research Exchange. Closing the Research-Practice Gap in Education. Tech Trends, 64(3), 470-483.
McHugh, C., McGann, M., Igou, E. R., & Kinsella, E. L. (2020). Reasons or rationalizations: The role of principles in the moral dumbfounding paradigm. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 33(3), 376-392.
Chapters in Edited Books
McGann, M. (2018). Bodies of education: How brain, body, and environment are entangled in thinking and learning. In C. O'Siochrú (ed.). Psychology and the Study of Education. London: Routledge.
Seth, A., Verschure, P.F.M.J., Blanke, O., Butz, M.V., Ford, J.M., Frith, C.D., Jacob, P., Kyselo, M., McGann, M., Menary, R., Morsella, E., O'Regan, J.K. (2016). Action-oriented understanding of consciousness and the structure of experience. In Where's the action? The pragmatic turn in Cognitive Science. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
McGann, M. (2015). What is it like to be a Jedi? A life in the Force. In J.T. Eberl & K.S. Decker (eds.). The Ultimate Philosophy and Star Wars. Oxford: Wiley Blackwell.
