Dr Pedro Vital

During the time I worked as a history teacher, I developed a keen interest in human development and cognition, which I pursued by doing a BSc Psychology degree at the University of Greenwich. The undergraduate degree further stimulated my enthusiasm in this area. I followed it with an MSc Cognitive Neuropsychology at UCL, and finally with a PhD at Kings College London, more specifically at the MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, part of the Institute of Psychiatry.

My PhD consisted of a series of investigations into the association between Autism and talent. More specifically, it involved trying to gain a better understanding of the cognitive factors that may predispose individuals with these conditions to develop skills and talents at such a high prevalence. I have also investigated the aetiology of this association, with results suggesting a marked degree of genetic overlap between Autistic traits and skills and talents.

During my PhD, I worked as a lecturer at the University of Greenwich, mainly responsible for teaching individual differences. After completing my PhD, I worked as a Lecturer at the University of Lisbon, where I was responsible for developing and delivering a number of subjects, mainly focused on the topics of neuropsychology, biological psychology and abnormal psychology.

Presently I am involved in teaching a number of modules focusing on a number of topics (from conceptual and historical issues in psychology to cognitive psychology, evolutionary psychology and social neuroscience) across a variety of levels (from the foundation year to PhD supervision level).