Background

As an experimental psychologist interested in applied problems, Neil Brewer has meandered through a number of research areas. His PhD at the University of Adelaide was concerned with processing speed and intelligence. In postdoctoral research, also at Adelaide, he worked on psychological factors associated with road traffic accidents. For the next decade he continued to pursue his interest in processing speed at the Institute of Special Education in Melbourne, as well as developing interests in instruction for people with developmental disabilities.

Then he worked briefly as a research scientist at the Australian National Police Research Unit before taking up an academic position in (organisational!) psychology in the early 1990s at Flinders University in Adelaide. In the mid-late 1990s his research moved into two new areas in which he is still involved today: eyewitness testimony and autism. His research in the former area spans issues such as eyewitness identification, investigative interviewing, and juror decision making; in the autism area it covers issues such as early detection, criminal vulnerability, and theory of mind. In 2018 old age etc got the better of him and he retired, taking up an Emeritus professorial appointment to continue his work on his ARC funded research projects.