Dr Carolyn Semmler
Room 507, Hughes Building |  |
Area of Research
Eyewitness memory, judgment and decision making, metacogition
Senior Appointments and Memberships
Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition
Member of the Brain and Cognition Research CentreAwards
Maconochie Prize ( APS College of Forensic Psychologists, 2004)
Flinders University Research Scholarship (2000-2004)
Psychology Research Interests
Assessments of eyewitness identification evidence play a central role in the legal process. Every time an identification procedure is used investigators, judges and jurors must assess the reliability of the witnesses’ identification decision (or lack of decision). My research addresses the factors affecting the reliability of these assessments. I am also interested in the applying of theories of judgment and decision making to the legal process to improve the decisions made by investigators, judges and jurors
Recent Key Publications
Semmler, C., & Brewer, N. (2010). Eyewitness memory. In J. Brown & E. Campbell (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of forensic psychology (pp. 49-57). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press
Douglass, A. B., Brewer, N., & Semmler, C. (2009). Moderators of post-identification feedback effects on eyewitnesses' memory reports. Legal and Criminological Psychology. DOI: 10.1348/135532509X446337
Semmler, C. & Brewer, N. (2006). Postidentification feedback effects on face recognition confidence: Evidence for metacognitive influences. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 20, 895-916.
Semmler, C. , Brewer, N., & Wells, G.L. (2004). Effects of post-identification feedback on eyewitness identification and non-identification confidence. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89, 334-346.
Brewer, N., Harvey, S., & Semmler, C. (2004). Improving comprehension of jury instructions with audio-visual presentation. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 18, 765-776.
