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William Thompson

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William Thompson

Prof

 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4256-1338

  • Bond University, Faculty of Society & Design

    4229 Gold Coast

    Australia

1989 …2025

Research activity per year

Personal profile

Research interests

I am interested in how the mind works, using methods from cognitive psychology. I am especially interested in the cognitive, emotional, social and cultural implications of music. Music is profoundly important to people all around the world, and we are now starting to understand why. Together with other members of the Music Sound and Performance Lab, we are studying issues such as musical creativity, music and emotion, music and the imagination, musical disorders, and uses of music as treatment for neurological disorders such as dementia.

The Music Sound and Performance lab is highly productive, and we have published more than 120 articles and chapters on these topics. I also wrote a general book on the subject called "Music, Thought and Feeling: Understanding the Psychology of Music" (Oxford University Press, 2014) which summarises the most influential research in this area. 

Education/Academic qualification

Psychology, PhD, Judgements of key change in Bach chorale excerpts: An investigation of the sensitivity to keys, chords, and voicing, Queen's University Kingston

1982 → 1986

Award Date: 1 Jun 1986

Psychology, M.A., Opponent processes in speech perception, Queen's University Kingston

1980 → 1982

Award Date: 1 Oct 1982

Psychology, B. Sc., McGill University

1976 → 1979

External positions

Awarded Professor Emeritus, Macquarie University

2021 → …

Visiting Professor: Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies, University of British Columbia

Sept 2019 → Nov 2019

Visiting Professor: Institute for Advanced Studies, Durham University

Oct 2017 → Dec 2017

Visiting Professor: Department of Neurology, Harvard University

Jul 2014 → Sept 2014

Visiting Professor: International Laboratory for Brain, Music & Sound Research, University of Montreal

Oct 2010 → Nov 2010

Visiting Professor, University of London

Jul 2010 → Sept 2010

Head of the Department of Psychology, Macquarie University

2010 → 2014

Professor of Psychology, Macquarie University

2007 → 2017

Visiting Professor: School of Business, University of Queensland

Jan 2006 → May 2006

Director: Institute for Communication and Culture, University of Toronto

2005 → 2006

Director: Communication, Culture, & Information Technology (CCIT programs), University of Toronto

2002 → 2007

Chair, Department of Psychology, York University Toronto

1998 → 2001

Visiting Professor, University of New South Wales

1996 → 1997

Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, York University Toronto

1994 → 2022

Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, York University Toronto

1989 → 1994

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View all 225 research outputs