Rate My Professor Babette Rae

Dr Babette Rae is an Associate Lecturer in the School of Psychological Sciences, School of Science, within the College of Engineering, Science and Environment at the University of Newcastle, Australia. She obtained her PhD in Psychology (Science) from the University of Newcastle in 2018, preceded by a Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) and a Bachelor of Music from the same institution. Her academic journey reflects a strong foundation in both psychological sciences and music, aligning with her research trajectory.

Rae's research interests center on cognitive science, music cognition, and music psychology. Her fields of research are delineated as music cognition (40%), cognitive and computational psychology not elsewhere classified (50%), and psychology of ageing (10%). She has successfully led grant-funded projects, including the 2022 initiative 'Song-write your way to wellbeing: A facilitator’s song-writing intervention manual for older adults,' which received $5,965 from the College of Engineering, Science and Environment. The project team comprised Rae, Associate Professor Helen English, Professor Frini Karayanidis, Dr Michelle Kelly, and Dr Sharon Savage. Earlier, in 2011, she spearheaded 'Do tonal language speakers have an advantage in absolute pitch perception?,' funded by $9,150 from the Keats Endowment Research Fund, collaborating with Prof Scott Brown and Conjoint Associate Professor Shuguang Wang. Rae's publication record includes peer-reviewed journal articles such as 'Need for closure is associated with urgency in perceptual decision-making' (Memory & Cognition, 2017, with N. J. Evans, M. Bushmakin, M. Rubin, S. D. Brown); 'The Hare and the Tortoise: Emphasizing Speed Can Change the Evidence Used to Make Decisions' (Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 2014, with A. J. Heathcote, C. Donkin, L. Averell, S. D. Brown); 'Gamelike features might not improve data' (Behavior Research Methods, 2013, with G. E. Hawkins, K. V. Nesbitt, S. D. Brown); and 'Perhaps Unidimensional Is Not Unidimensional' (Cognitive Science, 2012, with P. M.-J. Dodds, S. D. Brown). She has also authored a book chapter, 'Why is Accurately Labeling Simple Magnitudes So Hard? A Past, Present, and Future Look at Simple Perceptual Judgment' (2015, with C. Donkin, A. Heathcote, S. Brown), and presented at conferences including the Combined Abstracts of Australian Psychology Conferences (2012). Her work has accumulated over 400 citations, underscoring her contributions to cognitive psychology and decision-making research. Rae coordinates PSYC3002 Work Integrated Learning in Psychology and is recognized for excellence in student experience and employability initiatives at the university.