Investigating Eyewitness Memory – an interview with Camilla Elphick

University of Sussex doctoral student in psychology, Camilla Elphick, will be investigating eyewitness memory for the Brighton Pier Takeover as part of the British Science Festival on 8 September.

‘My research could help minimise wrongful conviction’

What first sparked your interest in science?

My Uncle was Professor Teddy Hall, who carbon dated the Turin Shroud and the Piltdown Man.

What’s it like to have a ‘eureka’ moment?

It feels incredible, as if you have been wading through treacle and become instantly free to run and jump. I had two moments.

The first was when I was in an MSc eye-tracking module and suddenly realised that pupillometry could be used to index face recognition in eyewitnesses during a police line-up.

The second was months later once I’d collected all my data, and I suddenly worked out how I could use it to index real-time recognition in individuals, rather than just using it to make inferences about recognition in general. This meant that my research could potentially be used in forensic settings.

What will the audience learn at your event?

They will learn about some of the issues surrounding eyewitness memory and why this research is important. They will also learn that pupils respond not just to changes in luminance, but also to cognitive processing. Hopefully, they will also learn how much fun it is to be a scientist, as my participants will need to take a fairground ride to be eligible to participate.

What’s important about your area of research?

My research will contribute to face recognition research in general, and will hopefully provide a tool for indexing eyewitness recognition that can be used to minimise wrongful convictions and improve social justice.

Which scientific discovery or invention has made the greatest difference to your life?

My brand new robot vacuum cleaner!

Which scientific mystery would you most like solved?

I love anything to do with Space and am a massive fan of Brian Cox!

Which scientists (alive, dead or fictional) would you invite to a summer picnic?

My Uncle Teddy and Brian Cox. Both fascinating men and enormous fun too!

Camilla Elphick will be investigating eyewitness memory for the Brighton Pier Takeover as part of the British Science Festival.