I completed my first degree in Psychology at the University of York (2004). For my dissertation I studied the effect of music on computer game performance. I gained an MA in the Psychology of Music at Sheffield University where I also co-authored a highly cited project investigating music and driving. I was awarded a University of York PhD Studentship in 2006 to study with Profs. Alan Baddeley and Graham Hitch, investigating the role of music in the working memory model.
In 2008 I won an ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowship allowing me to move to Goldsmiths, University of London to study the memory abilities of individuals with congenital amusia. I have also completed my own grant from the British Academy entitled “What causes earworms?” From summer 2011 I will be taking up a post as lecturer and course co-director on the MSc in Music, Mind and Brain at Goldsmiths.
Email: vickywilliamson01@googlemail.com
Phone: (+44) 0207 078 5465
The Earworm Team (I'm in purple)
Publications
Williamson & L. Stewart (2012-In press) Congenital Amusia. In The Handbook of Paediatric Neurology (Eds. O. Dulac, H. Sarnat, M. Lassonde). Elsevier.
V.Williamson, F.Liu, G.Peryer, M.Greierson, & L.Stewart (2012) Perception and action de-coupling in congenital amusia: Sensitivity to task demands. Neuropsychologia, 50(1), 172-180 Link to abstract
V.Williamson, S.Jilka, J.Fry, S.Finkel, D.Mullensiefen & L.Stewart (2011) How do earworms start? Classifying the everyday circumstances of Involuntary Musical Imagery. Psychology of Music. Link to abstract
V.Williamson, G. Cocchini & L.Stewart (2011) The relationship between pitch and space in congenital amusia. Brain and Cognition, 76 (1), 70-76 - link to abstract
V. Williamson & L. Stewart (2010) Memory for pitch in Congenital Amusia: Beyond a fine-grained pitch perception problem. Memory, 18(6), 657-669. – link to abstract
V. Williamson., T. Mitchell., G. Hitch., & A. Baddeley (2010) Musicians’ memory for language and music in conditions of irrelevant sound. Psychology of Music, 38(3), 331-350 -link to abstract
V.Williamson, C.McDonald, D.Deutsch, T.Griffiths & L.Stewart (2010) Faster decline of pitch memory over time in congenital amusia. Advances in Cognitive Psychology, 6, 15-22. – link to paper
V. Williamson, A. Baddeley & G. Hitch (2010) Musicians’ and nonmusicians’ short-term memory for verbal and musical sequences: Comparing phonological similarity and pitch proximity. Memory and Cognition, 38(2), 163-175 – link to abstract
V. Williamson (2009) In search of the language of music. The Psychologist, 22 (12), 1022-1025. – link to abstract
N. Dibben & V. Williamson (2007). An exploratory survey of in-vehicle music listening. Psychology of Music, 35 (4), 571-589 – link to paper
V. Williamson (2006) Thank you for the music. The Psychologist, 19 (12), 743. link to paper
V. Williamson, A. Baddeley, & G. Hitch (2006) Music in the working memory model? In M. Baroni, A. R. Addessi, R. Caterina, M. Costa (Eds) Proceedings of the ICMPC9 (Bologna: Italy) pp. 1581-1590.
Book Reviews
V. Williamson (2010) Memory Rehabilitation: Integrating Theory and Practice (Barbara A. Wilson) New York: The Guilford Press, 2009. The Psychologist, 23(2), 127.
V.Williamson (2009) Music, Thought, and Feeling: Understanding the Psychology of Music (W. F.Thompson). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008. Psychology of Music, 37, 371-374 – link to paper
Presentations
V.Williamson (2012) The musical mind: Insights from congenital amusia. Paper presented at Midsomer Norton for the Oxford International Biomedical Centre: Bath: February 2012
V.Williamson (2011) Harnessing the power of music for public health promotion. Paper presented at SEMPRE conference on Health and Wellbeing. Folkstone: September 2011
V.Williamson (2011) Why does music get stuck in our heads? Paper presented at Queen Marys ‘Four Summer Panels’ Series (May 2011), Westminster Psychology Seminar Series (November, 2011) and Edge Hill’s Psychology Seminar Series (December, 2011)
V. Williamson, G. Cocchini & L.Stewart (2011). Pitch and space in congenital amusia. Paper presented at the Experimental Psychology Society London Meeting: January, 2011.
V.Williamson & L.Stewart (2010). Musical memory: Insights from Congenital Amusia. Paper given at the 11th International Conference on Music Perception and Cognition. Seattle WA: Auguest 2010.
V. Williamson & L. Stewart (2010). Memory in Congenital Amusia: Beyond a fine-grained pitch discrimination problem. Paper presented at the Experimental Psychological Society. London: January 6th 2010 and the British Pychological Society. Stratford Upon Avon: April 2010.
V. Williamson & L. Stewart (2009). Memory in Congenital Amusia. Paper presented at the British Association of Cognitive Neuroscience. London: September 23rd 2009.
V. Williamson, G. Hitch & A. Baddeley (2009) Comparing verbal and musical memory: A tale of two paradigms. Paper presented at the Experimental Psychological Society York Meeting. July 9th 2009.
V. Williamson, A. Baddeley & G. Hitch (2008) Memory for verbal and tonal sequences. Paper presented at the University College of London Institute for Child Health. December 10th, 2008
V. Williamson, G. Hitch & A. Baddeley (2007) Musicians and nonmusicians short-term memory for music and language. Paper presented at ‘SEMPRE conference on Musical Experience and Behaviour’ (Sheffield University) October 19th, 2007.
V. Williamson, G. Hitch & A. Baddeley (2007) Comparing memory for speech and music. Paper presented at ‘Language and Music as Cognitive Systems’ (LAMACS. Cambridge; UK) May 11-13, 2007
Posters
V.Williamson, G. Cocchini & L.Stewart (2011) Pitch and space in congenital amusia. Poster presented at ‘Music and Neuroscience IV’. Edinburgh, UK: June 2011.
V.Williamson, C.McDonald, D.Deutsch, T.Griffiths & L.Stewart (2010) Faster decline of pitch memory over time in congenital amusia. Poster presented at the ’11th International Conference on Music Perception and Cognition’. Seattle WA: Auguest 2010.
V. Williamson, G. Hitch and A. Baddeley (2009) Comparing verbal and tonal memory: A tale of two paradigms. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the British Psychological Society, April, 2009
V. Williamson, A. Baddeley and G. Hitch (2009) Verbal vs. tonal memory: Sequence length and serial position effects. Poster presented at Experimental Psychological Society London Meeting, January, 2009
V. Williamson, A. Baddeley and G. Hitch (2008) Does articulatory suppression affect memory for tones? Poster presented at Psychonomics Annual Meeting in Chicago, November, 2008.
V. Williamson, G. Hitch and A. Baddeley (2007) Comparing memory for speech and music. Poster presented at Experimental Psychological Society Edinburgh Meeting, July, 2007.
V. Williamson, A. Baddeley and G. Hitch (2006) Music in the working memory model? Poster presented at the International Conference on Music Perception and Cognition 9. August, 2006.
