Projects per year
Personal profile
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 / biography
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.
Education/Academic qualification
Bachelor, BA (UCD)
Master, M Litt (UCD)
Master, MA (UCD)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), D Phil (Sussex)
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
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SDG 4 Quality Education
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Projects
- 1 Finished
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Problem Based Learning in Digital Spaces
O'Brien, E. (PI) & McGann, M. (PI)
1/10/20 → 30/10/22
Project: Research
Profiles
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Noise, the Mess, and the Inexhaustible World
McGann, M., 23 Mar 2025, The Experience of Noise: Philosophical and Phenomenological Perspectives: Philosophical and Phenomenological Perspectives. Vassilicos, B., Torre, G. & Tommy Pellizzer, F. (eds.). 1 ed. Palgrave Macmillan, p. 177-194 18 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
1 Citation (Scopus) -
Psychology's Questionable Research Fundamentals (QRFs): Key problems in quantitative psychology and psychological measurement beyond Questionable Research Practices (QRPs)
Uher, J., Arnulf, J. K., Barrett, P. T., Heene, M., Heine, J. H., Martin, J., Mazur, L. B., McGann, M., Mislevy, R. J., Speelman, C., Toomela, A. & Weber, R., 2025, In: Frontiers in Psychology. 16, 1553028.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
Open Access7 Citations (Scopus) -
Facing life: the messy bodies of enactive cognitive science
McGann, M., 18 Jan 2024, In: Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences. 25, 4, p. 803-820 18 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access8 Citations (Scopus) -
Large models of what? Mistaking engineering achievements for human linguistic agency
Birhane, A. & McGann, M., Nov 2024, In: Language Sciences. 106, 101672.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access26 Citations (Scopus) -
Most Psychological Researchers Assume Their Samples Are Ergodic: Evidence From a Year of Articles in Three Major Journals
Speelman, C. P., Parker, L., Rapley, B. J. & McGann, M., 9 Feb 2024, In: Collabra: Psychology. 10, 1, p. 1597-1613 17 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access19 Citations (Scopus) -
People, places, things and communities: expanding behaviour settings theory in the twenty-first century
Mcgann, M., Lucas, M., Mchugh, C. & Barrett, L., 23 Sept 2024, In: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 379, 1910, 20230282.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
Open Access12 Citations (Scopus) -
Reorienting psychological science
McGann, M., 7 Aug 2024, In: Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences. 379, 1910, 20230288.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
4 Citations (Scopus) -
Cognitive Load Can Reduce Reason-Giving in a Moral Dumbfounding Task
McHugh, C., McGann, M., Igou, E. R. & Kinsella, E. L., 3 Apr 2023, In: Collabra: Psychology. 9, 1, 73818.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access4 Citations (Scopus) -
Pervasiveness of effects in sample-based experimental psychology: A Re-examination of replication data from nine famous psychology experiments
Moore, S., Speelman, C. P. & McGann, M., Jan 2023, In: New Ideas in Psychology. 68, 100978.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
5 Citations (Scopus) -
Qualities of consent: an enactive approach to making better sense
Vassilicos, B. & McGann, M., 20 Feb 2023, In: Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences. 24, 5, p. 1207-1229 23 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access3 Citations (Scopus)
Activities
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M.Sc. Cognitive Science
McGann, M. (Examiner - Postgraduate Programme)
2020 → 2024Activity: Examination & Postgraduate Supervision › Examination
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International Association of Person-Environment Studies (External organisation)
McGann, M. (Network Member)
2018 → 2020Activity: Membership › Network Membership
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Enactive Social Cognition: The interplay of mind, language, and culture
McGann, M. (Examiner - Doctorate)
2018Activity: Examination & Postgraduate Supervision › Examination
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Evaluation of Zones of Regulation programme with children with a general learning disability
McGann, M. (Supervisor - Taught Masters)
2016Activity: Examination & Postgraduate Supervision › Postgraduate Supervision
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Facilitate (External organisation)
McGann, M. (Committee Member)
2015 → 2023Activity: Membership › Committee Membership › External Committee
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"It's wrong but I can't explain why." Moral dumbfounding and moral judgement: How failure to justify moral judgements can inform our understanding of how they are made.
McGann, M. (Supervisor - Doctorate)
2014 → 2018Activity: Examination & Postgraduate Supervision › Postgraduate Supervision
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Artificial Intelligence and the Simulation of Behaivour (External organisation)
McGann, M. (Network Member)
2013 → 2015Activity: Membership › Network Membership
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European Society for Philosophy and Psychology (External organisation)
McGann, M. (Network Member)
2010 → 2015Activity: Membership › Network Membership
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Phenomenology in laboratory-based tasks: Exploring methodologies that integrate experiential reports with behavioural measures in psychological research.
McGann, M. (Supervisor - Doctorate)
2010 → 2016Activity: Examination & Postgraduate Supervision › Postgraduate Supervision
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The Time of Our Lives
McGann, M. (Supervisor - Doctorate)
2008 → 2012Activity: Examination & Postgraduate Supervision › Postgraduate Supervision