Rate My Professor Simon Cropper

Associate Professor Simon Cropper is a distinguished teaching and research academic in the Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences at the University of Melbourne, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences. He has held the position of Senior Lecturer since 2002 and currently serves as Associate Professor and Deputy Director of the Complex Human Data Hub (CHDH). Cropper earned his PhD in 1992 from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, with a thesis titled 'Human Motion Detection: Different Patterns, Different Detectors?', and a Bachelor of Science with Honours. His career encompasses roles in physiology and psychology departments in the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia, reflecting a diverse academic trajectory focused on human sensory and cognitive processes.

Cropper's research specializations center on human sensation and perception, particularly visual processing and cognition. His primary interests include colour perception, motion perception, time perception, and individual differences in perception. He investigates the nexus between colour and motion perception, underlying neural structures, hallucinations in normal and clinical populations, and the role of personality in visual experiences. More recently, he has explored higher cognitive functions such as problem solving and creativity. With over 90 publications and more than 2,500 citations on Google Scholar, his influential works include 'Rapid colour-specific detection of motion in human vision' published in Nature in 1996, 'Perceptual grouping explains constellations across cultures' in 2022, and contributions to studies on creativity measurement and time metacognition. Cropper engages the public through articles in Pursuit by the University of Melbourne, addressing topics like the challenges in measuring creativity and the concept of a 'normal' brain. His interdisciplinary perspective, drawing inspiration from both arts and sciences, informs his teaching and research, enhancing understanding of perceptual and cognitive mechanisms in psychological sciences.