Profile
Biography
Professor Mercedes Sheen has been teaching at university level in the United Arab Emirates since 2002. She joined Heriot-Watt University Dubai in 2019 and is the Head of the Psychology Department and Associate Director for Research for the School of Social Sciences. Mercedes received her PhD from the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand, for her work on false memories, where she identified a new type of memory error termed ‘disputed memories’, arising from differing recollections shared with her identical twin sister. Her current research interests lie in social cognition, particularly how human facial attractiveness shapes social perception.
Academic leadership and affiliations
- Head of Psychology Department, Dubai
- Associate Director for Research – School of Social Sciences
- Visiting Professor at Ibn Haldun University, Istanbul, Türkiye
Qualifications
- PhD – University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
- BSc (Hons) – Open University, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom