astronomy

Martin Pickering

Martin Pickering is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Martin Pickering rather than just read about it. In short: Martin John Pickering (born 2 June 1966) is a British cognitive psychologist. He is Professor of the Psychology of Language and Communication at the University of Edinburgh.

Key takeaways

Martin Pickering belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Martin Pickering to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Martin Pickering from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Martin John Pickering (born 2 June 1966) is a British cognitive psychologist. He is Professor of the Psychology of Language and Communication at the University of Edinburgh.

Early life and education Pickering was educated at the City of London School and studied psychology at Durham University, graduating with a first-class Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1987. He completed his PhD in Cognitive Science at the University of Edinburgh in 1991, having been supervised by Elisabet Engdahl.

Career and research After a period as a postdoc, he joined the University of Glasgow as a lecturer in 1995. He returned to Edinburgh as Reader in Psychology in 2000, and was promoted to Professor in 2003. He serves as the Director of Research for the School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences at the University of Edinburgh. Pickering describes his main research interests within the psychology of language as language production, language comprehension, dialogue, language and imagination, joint action, and bilingualism. He has served as editor of the Journal of Memory and Language and in 2023 was elected a Fellow of the British Academy (FBA). He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) in 2007. He was also the recipient of the Experimental Psychology Society Mid-Career Award. In April 2026, Aix-Marseille University awarded him an honorary doctorate in recognition of his contributions to psycholinguistics.

Selected publications

Books Pickering, M. J.; Garrod, S. (2021). Understanding dialogue: Language use and social interaction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Journal articles Pickering, M. J.; Garrod, S. (2004). "Toward a mechanistic psychology of dialogue" (PDF). Behavioral and Brain Sciences. 27 (2): 169–225. doi:10.1017/S0140525X04000056. Hartsuiker, R. J.; Pickering, M. J.; Veltkamp, E. (2004). "Is syntax separate or shared between languages?" (PDF). Psychological Science. 15 (6): 409–414. doi:10.1111/j.0956-7976.2004.0069. Pickering, M. J.; Ferreira, V. S. (2008). "Structural priming: A critical review" (PDF). Psychological Bulletin. 134 (3): 427–459. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.134.3.427. Pickering, M. J.; Garrod, S. (2013). "An integrated theory of language production and comprehension" (PDF). Behavioral and Brain Sciences. 36 (4): 329–392. doi:10.1017/S0140525X12001495. Branigan, H. P.; Pickering, M. J. (2017). "An experimental approach to linguistic representation" (PDF). Behavioral and Brain Sciences. 40: e282. doi:10.1017/S0140525X16002028. Pickering, M. J.; Gambi, C. (2018). "Predicting while comprehending language: A theory and review" (PDF). Psychological Bulletin. 144 (10): 1002–1044. doi:10.1037/bul0000158.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Martin Pickering

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Martin Pickering claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Martin Pickering before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Martin Pickering ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Martin Pickering

In research: Martin Pickering appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Martin Pickering in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Martin Pickering is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1966 births, Academics of the University of Edinburgh, Alumni of Durham University, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Martin Pickering outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Martin Pickering in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Martin Pickering means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Martin Pickering out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Martin Pickering in simple terms?

Martin John Pickering (born 2 June 1966) is a British cognitive psychologist. He is Professor of the Psychology of Language and Communication at the University of Edinburgh.

Why does Martin Pickering matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Martin Pickering?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Martin Pickering.