Photo of Joanna Pozzulo

Joanna Pozzulo

Chancellor's Professor

Degrees:Ph.D. (Queen's)
Phone:613-520-2600 x 1412
Email:joanna.pozzulo@carleton.ca
Office:A529 Loeb Building
Website:The Laboratory for Child Forensic Psychology

Research Interests

The goal of Dr. Pozzulo’s research is to understand how memory in the applied context of witnessing crime differs developmentally and the cognitive/social processes eyewitnesses engage to recall the event and recognize the culprit. On an applied level, Dr. Pozzulo is interested in developing age-appropriate identification procedures that police can use with eyewitnesses. Dr. Pozzulo is focused on evidence-based, best practices for child eyewitness identification with the aim of reducing wrongful conviction.

As a secondary line of research, Dr. Pozzulo is interested in the factors that influence perceptions of historical cases of sexual misconduct within a juror-decision-making paradigm.

Dr. Pozzulo is the Director of the Mental Health and Well-being Research and Training Hub.

PUBLICATIONS

Books

Pozzulo, J.D., Sheahan, C., & Pica, E. (2019). “Have I seen you Before?”: How “familiarity” influences conviction. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. (144pp)

Pozzulo, J.D. (2016). Describing and Identifying Perpetrators: The Young Eyewitness. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association. (232pp)

Books edited:

Pozzulo, J.D., Pica, E., & Sheahan, C. (Eds.). (2020). Memory and Sexual Misconduct: Psychological Research for Criminal Justice. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis Group. (360pp)

 Pozzulo, J.D., & Bennell, C. (Eds.). (2018). Working with Trauma-Exposed Children and Adolescents: Evidence-Based and Age-Appropriate Practices. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis Group. (340pp)

Toglia, M., Ross, D., Pozzulo, J.D., & Pica, E. (Eds.). (2014). The Elderly Eyewitness in Court. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis Group. (390pp)

Chapters in edited books:

Pozzulo, J.D., Pica, E., & Sheahan C. (in press). Methodological Considerations for Lifespan Focused Identification Research. In A.M. Smith, M.P. Toglia, & J.M. Lampinen, Methods, Measures, and Theories in Eyewitness Recognition Tasks. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis Group. (200pp)

Articles in refereed journals:

Thompson, L. E., Pozzulo, J., Pratt, K. J., Sheahan, C. L., Fraser, B. M., & Deweyert, C. E.(2020). Testing a new lineup procedure with children: The elimination with wildcard. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology.

Pica, E., Sheahan, C.L., Pozzulo, J., & Bennell, C. (2020). Guns, gloves, and tasers: Perceptions of police officers and their use of weapon as a function of race and gender. Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-020-09365-3

Smith, A., Mackovichova, S., Jalava, S., & Pozzulo, J. (2020). Fair forensic-object lineups are superior to forensic-object showups. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 9(1), 68-82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jarmac.2019.11.001

Pica, E., Thompson, L.E., Pozzulo, J., & Sheahan, C.L. (2019). Perceptions of police conduct when race and gender are considered. Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-019-09346-1

Pica, E., Pozzulo, J., & Sheahan, C. (2019). Examining mock jurors’ perceptions of intimate partner violence factors. Partner Abuse, 10(4), 391-408. https://doi.org/10.1891/1946-6560.10.4.391

Thompson, L.E., Sheahan, C., Pica, E., & Pozzulo, J. (2019). The influence of familiarity recency and eyewitness age on mock jurors’ judgement. Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology 34(4), 362-372. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-018-9311-z

Pica, E., Pozzulo, J., Sheahan, C.L., & Pratt, K. (2019). “I know him!”: Does witness-defendant familiarity impact mock jurors across different aged witnesses and types of crime? Applied Psychology in Criminal Justice, 15(2), 171-184.

Vallano, J.P., Slapinski, K.A., Steele, L.J., Briggs, A.P., & Pozzulo, J.D. (2019). Familiar eyewitness identifications: The current state of affairs. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 25(3), 128-146. https://doi.org/10.1037/law0000204

Pica, E., Sheahan, C.L., Pozzulo, J., (2019). Prior allegations of harassment impact mock jurors’ perceptions of sexual harassment in a criminal trial. Sex Roles, 82, 541-549. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-019-01076-2

Pica, E., Sheahan, C.L., Pozzulo, J., Vallano, J., & Pettalia, J. (2019). The influence of familiar and confident eyewitnesses on mock jurors’ judgments. Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, 34(4), 351-361. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-018-9306-9

Sheahan, C.L., Pratt, E., Pica, E., & Pozzulo, J. (2019). One PERP, two PERP: Examining children’s and adults’ description and identification of single versus multiple perpetrator crimes. American Journal of Forensic Psychology, 36(4), 7-33.

Vallano, J., Pettalia, J., Pica, E., & Pozzulo, J. (2019). An examining of mock jurors’ judgments in familiar identification cases. Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, 34(2), 121-133. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-018-9266-0

Pica, E., Pozzulo, J., & Sheahan, C.L. (2019). Dance like no one’s watching: The influence of demand characteristics when examining lineups via computer or in-person. Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, 34(1), 23-33. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-018-9270-4