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.
She was invited to go out to the Church of Scotland mission in Nigeria to use her accountancy skills and for two years he became involved with the management of the school and hospital.
On their return, he studied psychology at University of Strathclyde, gaining a BA, an MSc, and a PhD for his seminal work on infant perception.
Between 1990 and 1994 he was Director of the Thomas Coram Research Unit at the Institute of Education, University of London.
[3] Harry McGurk died on 17 April 1998, in Melbourne, aged 62, from complications after a heart operation.