Oliver John Braddick (born 16 November 1944) is a British developmental psychologist who is involved in research on infant visual perception.
Braddick is professor of Experimental Psychology and head of department at Oxford University.[1] He attained a BA (1965) and PhD (1968) in Experimental Psychology at Trinity College, Cambridge. Between 1968-69 he was a post-doctoral fellow in the laboratory of Lorrin Riggs, Brown University, USA. In 1969 he returned to Cambridge as a University Demonstrator, proceeding to become a lecturer and then reader. By 1976, Braddick was an active member of the Cambridge Visual Development Unit, along with Janette Atkinson, his wife. The unit carried out pioneering research on the development of visual cortical function in infancy and in early visual screening. He also progressed understanding in binocular processes of both infants and adults.[2] In 1993 Braddick moved to University College London, together with Janette Atkinson, as professors of Psychology. He proceeded to become head of the Psychology department in 1998. He was elected fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2001 and that same year appointed Head Professor of Psychology at the University of Oxford and fellow at Magdalen College, Oxford - positions which he has held until the present.
Braddick specialises in infant vision,[3] particularly visual and visuomotor development of the dorsal and ventral streams[4] in infants and children. In infancy, visual traits determine a manual response and the kinematic parameters of each type of response, including reach-and-grasp and surface exploration. These responses reflect the properties of visuo-motor modules which appear in infants from 4 to 12 months old. Since these modules are part of the dorsal cortical stream, they interact with the ventral stream processing in development and in the mature system.[5] His current research is on the perceptual development of infants with hyperopia.[6][7]