Dr Maxwell Roberts
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Email
mjr@essex.ac.uk -
Telephone
+44 (0) 1206 873797
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Location
3.707, Colchester Campus
Profile
Biography
Dr Max Roberts completed his BSc Psychology at the University of Nottingham in 1988, and his PhD in 1991. He was then employed as a demonstrator in the Department of Psychology at the University of Newcastle from 1991-92 and at the University of St Andrews from 1992-93. He joined our Department as a lecturer in 1993.
Research and professional activities
Research interests
Inductive and deductive reasoning
Individual differences in reasoning strategies
The cognitive psychology of intelligence
Spatial reasoning and imagery
The development of expertise
Teaching and supervision
Current teaching responsibilities
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Personality and Individual Differences (PS416)
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Psychology in the Real World (PS516)
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Advanced Personality and Individual Differences (PS945)
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Fundamental Statistics for Research (PS946)
Publications
Journal articles (45)
Roberts, M., Newton, E. and Ball, L., Exploring the Fluency Framework Using Transit Maps: The Effects of Experience on Ratings and Preferences
Roberts, M., (2023). Objective and Subjective Methods for Evaluating the Usability of Schematic Maps: The Case Against Informal Expert Assessments. Cartographic Journal, 1-18
Wu, H., Niedermann, B., Takahashi, S., Roberts, MJ. and Nöllenburg, M., (2020). A Survey on Transit Map Layout – from Design, Machine, and Human Perspectives. Computer Graphics Forum. 39 (3), 619-646
Roberts, MJ., Gray, H. and Lesnik, J., (2017). Preference versus performance: Investigating the dissociation between objective measures and subjective ratings of usability for schematic metro maps and intuitive theories of design. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies. 98, 109-128
Roberts, MJ. and Rose, D., (2016). Map-induced journey-planning biases for a simple network: A Docklands Light Railway study. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice. 94, 446-460
Roberts, MJ., Newton, EJ. and Canals, M., (2016). Radi(c)al departures Comparing conventional octolinear versus concentric circles schematic maps for the Berlin U-Bahn/S-Bahn networks using objective and subjective measures of effectiveness. Information Design Journal. 22 (2), 92-115
Roberts, MJ., Newton, EJ., Lagattolla, FD., Hughes, S. and Hasler, MC., (2013). Objective versus subjective measures of Paris Metro map usability: Investigating traditional octolinear versus all-curves schematics. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies. 71 (3), 363-386
Newton, EJ., Roberts, MJ. and Donlan, C., (2012). The effects of presentation and content on syllogistic reasoning by children with and without specific language impairment. Journal of Cognitive Psychology. 24 (7), 802-814
Pérez-Salas, CP., Streiner, DL. and Roberts, MJ., (2012). A comparison between element salience versus context as item difficulty factors in Raven's Matrices. Intelligence. 40 (4), 325-332
Roberts, MJ. and Newton, EJ., (2011). Rapid-response versus free-time selection tasks using different logical connectives. Journal of Cognitive Psychology. 23 (7), 858-872
Newton, EJ., Roberts, MJ. and Donlan, C., (2010). Deductive reasoning in children with specific language impairment. British Journal of Developmental Psychology. 28 (1), 71-87
Newton, EJ., Roberts, MJ. and Donlan, C., (2010). Deductive reasoning in children with specific language impairment. British Journal of Developmental Psychology. 28 (1), 71-87
Roberts, MJ., Taylor, RJ. and Newton, EJ., (2007). Explaining inappropriate strategy selection in a simple reasoning task. British Journal of Psychology. 98 (4), 627-644
Meo, M., Roberts, MJ. and Marucci, FS., (2007). Element salience as a predictor of item difficulty for Raven's Progressive Matrices. Intelligence. 35 (4), 359-368
Roberts, MJ., Taylor, RJ. and Newton, EJ., (2007). Explaining inappropriate strategy selection in a simple reasoning task.. British Journal of Psychology. 98 (Pt 4), 627-44
Roberts, MJ., (2005). Expanding the universe of categorical syllogisms: A challenge for reasoning researchers. Behavior Research Methods. 37 (4), 560-580
Roberts, MJ. and Sykes, EDA., (2005). Categorical Reasoning from Multiple Diagrams. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology Section A. 58 (2), 333-376
Hayes, M., Masterson, J. and Roberts, MJ., (2004). Improvement in reading speed in an adult with developmental dyslexia of the ?mixed? type. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation. 14 (3), 365-382
Roberts, MJ. and Sykes, EDA., (2003). Belief Bias and Relational Reasoning. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology Section A. 56 (1), 131-153
Newton, EJ. and Roberts, MJ., (2003). Individual differences transcend the rationality debate. Behavioral and Brain Sciences. 26 (4), 530-531
Roberts, MJ. and Sykes, EDA., (2003). Belief bias and relational reasoning. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology Section A. 56 (1), 131-154
Roberts, MJ., (2002). The Elusive Matching Bias Effect in the Disjunctive Selection Task. Experimental Psychology. 49 (2), 89-97
Roberts, MJ., (2002). The relationship between extraversion and ability. Personality and Individual Differences. 32 (3), 517-522
Roberts, MJ. and Newton, EJ., (2001). Inspection times, the change task, and the rapid-response selection task. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology Section A. 54 (4), 1031-1048
Ward, G., Roberts, MJ. and Phillips, LH., (2001). Task-Switching Costs, Stroop-Costs, and Executive Control: A Correlational Study. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology Section A. 54 (2), 491-511
ROBERTS, MJ. and NEWTON, EJ., (2001). Understanding strategy selection. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies. 54 (1), 137-154
Roberts, MJ. and Roberson, D., (2001). Predicting strategy usage for the compass point directions task: Spatial versus verbal ability across the lifespan. Cahiers de Psychologie Cognitive. 20 (1-2), 3-18
Roberts, MJ., (2001). Can an Entire Introductory Research Methods Course Be Squeezed Into a Short Text?. Contemporary Psychology. 46 (6), 611-613
Roberts, MJ., Newstead, SE. and Griggs, RA., (2001). Quantifier interpretation and syllogistic reasoning. Thinking & Reasoning. 7 (2), 173-204
Roberts, MJ. and Newton, EJ., (2001). Understanding strategy selection. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies. 54 (1), 137-154
Newton, EJ. and Roberts, MJ., (2000). An experimental study of strategy development. Memory & Cognition. 28 (4), 565-573
Roberts, MJ., Welfare, H., Livermore, DP. and Theadom, AM., (2000). Context, visual salience, and inductive reasoning. Thinking & Reasoning. 6 (4), 349-374
Roberts, MJ., (2000). Strategies in relational inference. Thinking & Reasoning. 6 (1), 1-26
Roberts, MJ. and Seager, PB., (1999). Predicting belief in paranormal phenomena: a comparison of conditional and probabilistic reasoning. Applied Cognitive Psychology. 13 (5), 443-450
Roberts, MJ., (1998). Inspection Times and the Selection Task: Are They Relevant?. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology Section A. 51 (4), 781-810
Roberts, MJ., (1998). How Should Relevance be Defined? What Does Inspection Time Measure? A Reply to Evans. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology Section A. 51 (4), 815-817
Roberts, MJ., (1997). On dichotomies and deductive reasoning research. CAHIERS DE PSYCHOLOGIE COGNITIVE-CURRENT PSYCHOLOGY OF COGNITION. 16 (1-2), 196-204
Roberts, MJ., Gilmore, DJ. and Wood, DJ., (1997). Individual differences and strategy selection in reasoning. British Journal of Psychology. 88 (3), 473-492
Roberts, MJ. and Stevenson, NJ., (1996). Reasoning with Raven — with and without help. British Journal of Educational Psychology. 66 (4), 519-532
Roberts, MJ., (1996). Putting context into context: A rejoinder. BRITISH JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY. 66, 539-542
Roberts, MJ., (1996). Putting context into context: a rejoinder to Richardson. British Journal of Educational Psychology. 66 (4), 539-542
Roberts, MJ., Wood, DJ. and Gilmore, DJ., (1994). The sentence—picture verification task: Methodological and theoretical difficulties. British Journal of Psychology. 85 (3), 413-432
Roberts, MJ. and Erdos, G., (1993). Strategy Selection and Metacognition. Educational Psychology. 13 (3-4), 259-266
Roberts, MJ., (1993). Human reasoning: Deduction rules or mental models, or both?. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology Section A. 46 (4), 569-589
Underwood, G., Roberts, MJ. and Thomason, H., (1988). Strategical invariance in lexical access: The reappearance of the pseudohomophone effect. Canadian Journal of Psychology/Revue canadienne de psychologie. 42 (1), 24-34
Books (1)
Roberts, MJ., (2012). Underground Maps Unravelled: Explorations in Information Design. Maxwell J Roberts. 9780957266407
Book chapters (5)
Lloyd, PB., Rodgers, P. and Roberts, MJ., (2018). Metro map colour-coding: Effect on usability in route tracing. In: Diagrammatic Representation and Inference. Editors: Chapman, P., Stapleton, G., Moktefi, A., Perez-Kriz, S. and Bellucci, F., . Springer. 411- 428. 9783319913759
(2016). The Thinking Mind. In: The Thinking Mind: A Festschrift for Ken Manktelow. Psychology Press. 178- 190. 9781138937864
Fink, M., Haverkort, H., N�llenburg, M., Roberts, MJ., Schuhmann, J. and Wolff, A., (2013). Drawing Metro Maps Using B�zier Curves. In: Graph Drawing. Editors: Didimo, W. and Patrignani, M., . Springer. 463- 474. 9783642367625
(2004). Methods of Thought. In: Methods of Thought: Individual Differences in Reasoning Strategies. Psychology Press. 183- 186. 9780203503881
Roberts, MJ. and Newton, EJ., (2003). Individual Differences in the Development of Reasoning Strategies. In: Thinking: Psychological Perspectives on Reasoning, Judgment and Decision Making. Wiley. 23- 43. 9780471494577
Conferences (4)
Roberts, MJ., (2014). Schematic maps in the laboratory
Roberts, MJ., (2014). What?s your theory of effective schematic map design?
(2013). The Mental Models Theory of Reasoning
Roberts, MJ., (2000). Individual differences in reasoning strategies: A problem to solve or an opportunity to seize?
