Background
McGurk, Harry was born on February 23, 1936 in Glasgow, Scotland. Son of Harry and Katherine (Gallagher) McGurk.
McGurk, Harry was born on February 23, 1936 in Glasgow, Scotland. Son of Harry and Katherine (Gallagher) McGurk.
On their return, he studied psychology at University of Strathclyde, gaining a Bachelor, an Master of Science , and a Doctor of Philosophy for his seminal work on infant perception.
He is known for his discovery of the McGurk effect, described in a 1976 paper with his research assistant John MacDonald, while he was a senior developmental psychologist at the University of Surrey. After training at the University of Glasgow, he became a probation officer in Edinburgh. Following a period as a Research Fellow at Princeton University, he joined the University of Surrey, as a lecturer in child development and later was appointed to a personal chair in the same subject.
Between 1990 and 1994 he was Director of the Thomas Coram Research Unit at the Institute of Education, University of London.
In 1994, he was appointed as Director of the Australian Institute of Family Studies in Melbourne. Harry McGurk died on 17 April, in Melbourne, aged 62, from complications after a heart operation.
Fellow British Psychological Society. Member Society Research in Child Development, International Journal for Behavioral Development (editor since 1984), International Society for Study of Behavioral Development (president 1996-1998).
1 child, Rhona.