Dr Andrea Piovesan

Profile

Biography

I am an Italian psychologist based in the UK since 2014. I completed my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Psychology at the University of Padova (Italy) in 2012 and 2014, respectively, before earning a PhD in Psychology from Liverpool John Moores University in 2019. Following my doctorate, I held a range of teaching and research positions at Liverpool John Moores University, Edge Hill University, and IUAV University of Venice. Currently, I am a Lecturer in Psychology at Edge Hill University. My research focuses on neurocognitive processes, with a particular interest in perception—especially the perception of time and typefaces. I am also the creator of Tipo, a research-driven platform that explores how people perceive typefaces in terms of elegance, professionalism, and other qualities.

Research Interests

My research focuses on human perception, including time, pain, vision, and typeface perception. I often combine behavioural tasks with physiological recordings such as electrodermal activity (EDA), electrocardiography (ECG), and electroencephalography (EEG) to uncover how these processes unfold.

Typeface perception

My primary research explores how typefaces convey qualities like simplicity, elegance, and professionalism. This work began with a comprehensive literature review examining how different typefaces communicate these traits.

I am now collecting data from thousands of participants, asking them to evaluate hundreds of typefaces based on various qualities. The goal is to build a large, accessible dataset that can guide graphic designers and other professionals in choosing typefaces that align with their intended message. A first version of this dataset can be easily explored at tipotype.co.uk.

I am also expanding this research by:

• Investigating whether neurodivergent individuals (e.g., those with ADHD, autism, dyslexia) perceive typefaces differently.
• Developing methods to measure unconscious associations between typefaces and perceived qualities.
• Testing whether typeface can influence how much individuals enjoy reading books.

Time perception

Since my PhD, I have been fascinated by how humans perceive time — especially how we judge the duration of events. How do we know an amber light is about to turn red, urging us to brake? Why does a scream feel longer than a laugh, even if they last the same? Time shapes how we navigate the world, yet it’s remarkably easy to distort.

My research investigates these distortions. In my PhD, I manipulated participants’ time perception by inducing physical pain or guiding them through meditation, examining whether physiological arousal drives our sense of duration.

More recently, I’ve been exploring where time perception begins. By measuring retinal activity and presenting stimuli with different physical properties — like size and brightness — I am testing whether the brain’s ability to track time may start not in the brain, but in the eyes, the sense organ encoding the stimuli.

Autism

Since 2020, I have collaborated with Dr. Atherton and Dr. Cross (University of Plymouth) on several projects examining autism. My role focuses on data analysis and writing up the results. This collaboration has already led to multiple publications in high-impact journals.

• The relationship between pain-induced autonomic arousal and perceived duration.
• The effect of mindfulness meditation on the perceived duration of pain
• The perception of qualities in typefaces: a data review
• Autism through the ages: A mixed methods approach to understanding how age and age of diagnosis affect quality of life