Psychology

Profile

BPsyc (Hons) Flinders University, Australia

PhD Flinders University, Australia

Background

Before joining the University of Portsmouth in 2009, I completed my PhD and a one year post-doctoral Research Associate position (funded by an Australian Research Council Discovery Project grant) at Flinders University. During this time I worked on a number of projects investigating applied cognitive issues in forensic psychology (e.g., eyewitness memory and confidence, and juror decision making). 

Teaching Responsibilities

I am currently the Unit Co-ordinator for Forensic Psychology in Context (undergraduate level).  I also give lectures, in undergraduate and postgraduate units, on issues related to eyewitness memory and decision making, metacognition, interviewing witnesses, and inattentional blindness.

I supervise undergraduate and postgraduate dissertations on issues relating to forensic and applied cognitive psychology (e.g., eyewitness memory, confidence and decision making, inattentional blindness, and the effects of video games on cognition and behaviour).

Research Interests

In general, I’m interested in memory, decision making and confidence. I’m particularly interested in developing better ways to test eyewitnesses’ memories (i.e., better than the typical lineup task), and ways to use confidence to discriminate between memory judgements that are more or less likely to be reliable. Most of my research thus far has concentrated on investigating a new procedure for eliciting identification information from eyewitnesses. Eyewitness evidence is a common and persuasive form of evidence, but is also prone to error. To avoid many of the social and environmental biases thought to contribute to eyewitness error, this new procedure uses ratings obtained for each lineup member (rather than the traditional global, yes/no response) in an attempt to gain a more direct index of the quality of a witness’ memory, and the degree of match between a suspect and the witness’ memory of the culprit. This research has prompted another line of enquiry trying to tease apart various potential bases that may influence the ratings obtained using the new procedure.

Other recent research has focussed on aiding/improving jurors’ decision making and interpretation of evidence (particularly eyewitness evidence). I also have a developing interests in (a) face matching in security settings (i.e., border security), (b) decision-making based on CCTV information, and particularly the vulnerability of CCTV operators to cognitive deficits like change blindness, and (c) the effects of playing video games on cognition and behaviour.

Current Research Projects

• With Dr Nathan Weber and Professor Neil Brewer (Flinders University) The accessibility model of Feeling of Knowing and the meta-cognitive and meta-memorial bases of confidence in recognition
• With Professor Tim Perfect (University of Plymouth), and Dr Nathan Weber (Flinders University) Novel approaches to testing eyewitness recognition memory
• With Dr Melanie Sauerland (Maastricht University) and Professor Rod Lindsay (Queens University)The Confidence-Accuracy relationship for non-choosers
• With Professor Neil Brewer (Flinders University) and Dr Matt Palmer (University of Tasmania)

1. The Confidence-Accuracy relationship in recall memory
2. Mock–juror decision making, and procedures designed to help mock–jurors better evaluate trial evidence

• With Dr Hartmut Blank (University of Portsmouth) The effects of liking bias on eyewitness decision-making
• With Dr. Anne Hillstrom, Dr. Lorraine Hope, and  Dr Carolyn Semmler (University of Adelaide) Face matching performance in border security settings

External Funding

£100,000. The effects of liking bias on eyewitness identifications. The Economic and Social Research Council. Blank, H., & Sauer, J. D. November 2010 – October 2012.

£49,256. Learning from the expert: Can observing the oculomotor behaviour of expert face processors improve training of face matching?The Economic and Social Research Council. Hillstrom, A., Hope, L., and Sauer, J. D. August 2012 - August 2013.

£9,118. A Literature Review of Training Methods for Facial Image Comparison. Home Office Scientific Development Branch. Hillstrom, A., Hope, L., & Sauer, J.D. December 2010 – April 2011.

Recent Publications

More recent publications

Book chapters

Sauer, J.D., & Brewer, N. (in press). Confidence and accuracy of eyewitness identification. In T. Valentine & J. Davis (Eds.), Forensic Facial Identification: Theory and Practice of Identification from Eyewitnesses, Composites and CCTV.

Conference Presentations

• Sauer, J. D., Weber, N., & Brewer, N.  (2011, June). Indexing recognition memory: The effects of criterion placement. British Psychological Society Division of Forensic Psychology Conference, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, UK.
• Sauer, J. D., Hope, L., Brewer, N., & Palmer, M. (2011, August). The effects of encoding conditions on witnesses’ regulation of grain size and the confidence-accuracy relationship. International Conference on Memory, University of York, York, UK.
• Sauer, J. D., Weber, N., & Brewer, N. (2011, June). Indexing recognition memory: The effects of criterion placement. 9th Biennial Conference of the Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, New York, USA.
• Sauer, J. D., Weber, N., & Brewer, N. (2011, May). Discriminating seen from unseen faces using confidence ratings: Effects of retention interval and facial distinctiveness. British Psychological Society Annual Conference, Glasgow, Scotland.
• Sauer, J. D., Weber, N., & Brewer, N. (2011, March). Discriminating seen from unseen faces using confidence ratings: Effects of retention interval and facial distinctiveness. 4th International Congress on Psychology & Law, Miami, USA.
• Sauer, J., Brewer, N., & Weber, N. (2010, November). Multiple confidence estimates as indices of recognition memory: Bases for confidence and boundary conditions for discrimination. University of Hull, Hull, UK.
• Sauer, J., Brewer, N., & Weber, N. (2010, June). Using witnesses’ confidence estimates to identify a culprit among foils. British Psychological Society Division of Forensic Psychology Conference, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK.
• Sauer, J., Brewer, N., & Palmer, M. (2010, March). The effects of witnesses’ regulation of grain size and report option on the confidence-accuracy relationship. American Psychology-Law Society Conference, Vancouver, Canada
• Sauer, J. (2009, December). Confidence estimates as indices of memory... and other things. International Centre for Research in Forensic Psychology research seminar, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, UK.
• Sauer, J., Brewer, N., Zweck, T., & Weber, N. (2009, November). Probing the boundary conditions of the confidence-accuracy calibration for eyewitness recognition memory: The effects of varied retention interval. Paper presented to the South East Eyewitness Network, University of Greenwich, London, UK.
• Sauer, J., Brewer, N., Zweck, T., & Weber, N. (2009, July). The effects of varied retention interval on the confidence-accuracy relationship for eyewitness recognition memory: A field study. 8th Biennial Conference of the Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, Kyoto, Japan.
• Sauer, J., Brewer, N., & Weber, N. (2007, July). Identifying the culprit using patterns of confidence judgments across simultaneous lineup members. 7th Biennial Conference of the Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, Lewiston, USA.
• Sauer, J., Brewer, N., & Weber, N. (2006, July). The diagnosticity of multiple eyewitness confidence assessments. The 4th International Conference on Memory, University of New South Wales, Australia.
• Sauer, J., Brewer, N., & Weber, N. (2006, April). Using multiple confidence estimates to discriminate seen from unseen faces. 33rd Australasian Experimental Psychology Conference, Brisbane.
• Sauer, J., Brewer, N., & Wells, G.L. (2005, January). Diagnosing accuracy in sequential lineups. 6th Biennial Conference of the Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, Wellington, New Zealand.
• Sauer, J., & Brewer, N. (2005, January). Using multiple confidence estimates to discriminate studied from unstudied faces. 6th Biennial Conference of the Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, Wellington, New Zealand.