Biography
After completing my PhD in face recognition at Lancaster University, I worked for over ten years at the University of Central Lancashire before moving to Edinburgh Napier University in December 2014. I am interested in face perception and recognition, and memory. Primarily this is applied to the forensic field, for example looking at reliability of eyewitness evidence (including identification of perpetrators). I investigate ways of improving police facial composites ('E-FITs') in terms of how to recover information from memory, best practice for system use, and ways of improving recognition of the final image (e.g. by caricature). I am also interested in miscarriages of justice, and am currently exploring experiences of miscarriages of justice (wrongful imprisonment) with Dr Mandy Winterton on a British Academy/Leverhulme funded project.
I teach cognitive psychology and social cognition at undergraduate level, including perception, consciousness, face and object recognition, and understanding self and others. I am also Programme Leader of the MSc Applied Criminology and Forensic Psychology.
I enjoy taking my research out to the public and have delivered shows at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Edinburgh International Science Festival, and Northern Ireland Science Festival.