Dr Melissa Colloff BSc, MSc, PhD

Dr Melissa Colloff

School of Psychology
Assistant Professor in Forensic Psychology

Contact details

Address
School of Psychology
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Dr Melissa Colloff conducts research on applied memory and cognition. Melissa mainly uses research and statistical modelling techniques from basic psychology to investigate memory and decision-making in the legal system. Melissa is interested in both theoretical and applied aspects.

https://www.melissacolloff.com/

Qualifications

  • PhD Psychology, University of Warwick
  • MSc Forensic Psychology, University of Leicester
  • BSc Psychology, University of Bath

Biography

Dr Melissa Colloff conducted postgraduate research on the influence of alcohol intoxication on face recognition and completed a PhD examining how police lineup techniques for distinctive suspects influence eyewitness identification accuracy. During her education, Melissa worked on applied and theoretical research projects at Edith Cowan University, Western Australia, The University of Leicester, UK and University of California, San Diego. Following her PhD, Melissa worked with Dr Heather on a funded project which examined whether a novel identification procedure can improve face recognition accuracy. Melissa has been a Lecturer in Forensic Psychology at Birmingham since 2018.

Teaching

Postgraduate supervision

Melissa welcomes applications from first-rate graduate students wishing to pursue postgraduate research degrees on applied memory and cognition topics. Undergraduate students are also encouraged to contact Melissa directly if they are interested in contributing to research in the Applied Memory and Cognition Lab.

Research

Melissa’s research interests include:

  • Face recognition and police lineup procedures
  • Signal detection theory and recognition memory
  • Eyewitness memory and memory distortions
  • The effects of alcohol intoxication on memory

Research identifiers

ORC ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6401-4872

Publications

Highlight publications

Shen, K, Colloff, M, Vul, E, Wilson, B & Wixted, JT 2022, 'Modeling face similarity in police lineups', Psychological Review. https://doi.org/10.1037/rev0000408

Winsor, A, Seale-Carlisle, T, Killeen, I, Hett, D, Jores, T, Ingham, M, Lee, B, Stevens, L & Colloff, M 2021, 'Child witness expressions of certainty are informative', Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0001049

Colloff, M, Wilson, B, Seale-Carlisle, T & Wixted, JT 2021, 'Optimizing the selection of fillers in police lineups', Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 118, no. 8, e2017292118. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2017292118

Flowe, H, Colloff, M, Smith, HMJ, Seale-Carlisle, T, Rockey, J & Pradhan, M 2020, 'Active exploration of faces in police lineups increases discrimination accuracy', American Psychologist.

Colloff, M, Wade, KA & Strange, D 2016, 'Unfair lineups make witnesses more likely to confuse innocent and guilty suspects', Psychological Science, vol. 27, no. 9, pp. 1227-1239. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797616655789

Recent publications

Article

Psychological Science Accelerator COVID-19 Rapid Team, Dorison, CA, Coles, NA, Lerner, JS, Heller, BH, Rothman, AJ, Kawachi, II, Wang, K, Rees, VW, Gill, BP & Gibbs, N 2022, 'In COVID-19 health messaging, loss framing increases anxiety with little-to-no concomitant benefits: experimental evidence from 84 countries', Affective science, vol. 3, no. 3, pp. 577-602. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42761-022-00128-3

Wang, K, Goldenberg, A, Dorison, CA, Miller, JK, Uusberg, A, Lerner, JS, Gross, JJ, Agesin, BB, Bernardo, M, Campos, O, Eudave, L, Grzech, K, Ozery, DH, Jackson, EA, Garcia, EOL, Drexler, SM, Jurković, AP, Rana, K, Wilson, JP, Antoniadi, M, Desai, K, Gialitaki, Z, Kushnir, E, Nadif, K, Bravo, ON, Nauman, R, Oosterlinck, M, Pantazi, M, Pilecka, N, Szabelska, A, van Steenkiste, IMM, Filip, K, Bozdoc, AI, Marcu, GM, Agadullina, E, Adamkovič, M, Roczniewska, M, Reyna, C, Kassianos, AP, Westerlund, M, Ahlgren, L, Pöntinen, S, Adetula, GA, Dursun, P, Arinze, AI, Arinze, NC, Ogbonnaya, CE, Ndukaihe, ILG, Dalgar, I, Akkas, H, Macapagal, PM, Lewis, S, Metin-Orta, I, Foroni, F, Willis, M, Santos, AC, Mokady, A, Reggev, N, Kurfali, MA, Vasilev, MR, Nock, NL, Parzuchowski, M, Espinoza Barría, MF, Vranka, M, Kohlová, MB, Ropovik, I, Harutyunyan, M, Wang, C, Yao, E, Becker, M, Manunta, E, Kaminski, G, Marko, D, Evans, K, Lewis, DMG, Findor, A, Landry, AT, Aruta, JJB, Ortiz, MS, Vally, Z, Pronizius, E, Voracek, M, Lamm, C, Grinberg, M, Li, R, Valentova, JV, Mioni, G, Cellini, N, Chen, S-C, Zickfeld, J, Moon, K, Azab, H, Levy, N, Karababa, A, Beaudry, JL, Boucher, L, Collins, WM, Todsen, AL, van Schie, K, Vintr, J, Bavolar, J, Kaliska, L, Križanić, V, Samojlenko, L, Pourafshari, R, Geiger, SJ, Beitner, J, Warmelink, L, Ross, RM, Stephen, ID, Hostler, TJ, Azouaghe, S, McCarthy, R, Szala, A, Grano, C, Solorzano, CS, Anjum, G, Jimenez-Leal, W, Bradford, M, Pérez, LC, Cruz Vásquez, JE, Galindo-Caballero, OJ, Vargas-Nieto, JC, Kácha, O, Arvanitis, A, Xiao, Q, Cárcamo, R, Zorjan, S, Tajchman, Z, Vilares, I, Pavlacic, JM, Kunst, JR, Tamnes, CK, von Bastian, CC, Atari, M, Sharifian, M, Hricova, M, Kačmár, P, Schrötter, J, Rahal, R-M, Cohen, N, FatahModarres, S, Zrimsek, M, Zakharov, I, Koehn, MA, Esteban-Serna, C, Calin-Jageman, RJ, Krafnick, AJ, Štrukelj, E, Isager, PM, Urban, J, Silva, JR, Martončik, M, Očovaj, SB, Šakan, D, Kuzminska, AO, Djordjevic, JM, Almeida, IAT, Ferreira, A, Lazarevic, LB, Manley, H, Ricaurte, DZ, Monteiro, RP, Etabari, Z, Musser, E, Dunleavy, D, Chou, W, Godbersen, H, Ruiz-Fernández, S, Reeck, C, Batres, C, Kirgizova, K, Muminov, A, Azevedo, F, Alvarez, DS, Butt, MM, Lee, JM, Chen, Z, Verbruggen, F, Ziano, I, Tümer, M, Charyate, ACA, Dubrov, D, Tejada Rivera, MDCMC, Aberson, C, Pálfi, B, Maldonado, MA, Hubena, B, Sacakli, A, Ceary, CD, Richard, KL, Singer, G, Perillo, JT, Ballantyne, T, Cyrus-Lai, W, Fedotov, M, Du, H, Wielgus, M, Pit, IL, Hruška, M, Sousa, D, Aczel, B, Szaszi, B, Adamus, S, Barzykowski, K, Micheli, L, Schmidt, N-D, Zsido, AN, Paruzel-Czachura, M, Bialek, M, Kowal, M, Sorokowska, A, Misiak, M, Mola, D, Ortiz, MV, Correa, PS, Belaus, A, Muchembled, F, Ribeiro, RR, Arriaga, P, Oliveira, R, Vaughn, LA, Szwed, P, Kossowska, M, Czarnek, G, Kielińska, J, Antazo, B, Betlehem, R, Stieger, S, Nilsonne, G, Simonovic, N, Taber, J, Gourdon-Kanhukamwe, A, Domurat, A, Ihaya, K, Yamada, Y, Urooj, A, Gill, T, Čadek, M, Bylinina, L, Messerschmidt, J, Kurfalı, M, Adetula, A, Baklanova, E, Albayrak-Aydemir, N, Kappes, HB, Gjoneska, B, House, T, Jones, MV, Berkessel, JB, Chopik, WJ, Çoksan, S, Seehuus, M, Khaoudi, A, Bokkour, A, El Arabi, KA, Djamai, I, Iyer, A, Parashar, N, Adiguzel, A, Kocalar, HE, Bundt, C, Norton, JO, Papadatou-Pastou, M, De la Rosa-Gomez, A, Ankushev, V, Bogatyreva, N, Grigoryev, D, Ivanov, A, Prusova, I, Romanova, M, Sarieva, I, Terskova, M, Hristova, E, Kadreva, VH, Janak, A, Schei, V, Sverdrup, TE, Askelund, AD, Pineda, LMS, Krupić, D, Levitan, CA, Johannes, N, Ouherrou, N, Say, N, Sinkolova, S, Janjić, K, Stojanovska, M, Stojanovska, D, Khosla, M, Thomas, AG, Kung, FYH, Bijlstra, G, Mosannenzadeh, F, Balci, BB, Reips, U-D, Baskin, E, Ishkhanyan, B, Czamanski-Cohen, J, Dixson, BJW, Moreau, D, Sutherland, CAM, Chuan-Peng, H, Noone, C, Flowe, H, Anne, M, Janssen, SMJ, Topor, M, Majeed, NM, Kunisato, Y, Yu, K, Daches, S, Hartanto, A, Vdovic, M, Anton-Boicuk, L, Forbes, PAG, Kamburidis, J, Marinova, E, Nedelcheva-Datsova, M, Rachev, NR, Stoyanova, A, Schmidt, K, Suchow, JW, Koptjevskaja-Tamm, M, Jernsäther, T, Olofsson, JK, Bialobrzeska, O, Marszalek, M, Tatachari, S, Afhami, R, Law, W, Antfolk, J, Žuro, B, Van Doren, N, Soto, JA, Searston, R, Miranda, J, Damnjanović, K, Yeung, SK, Krupić, D, Hoyer, K, Jaeger, B, Ren, D, Pfuhl, G, Klevjer, K, Corral-Frías, NS, Frias-Armenta, M, Lucas, MY, Torres, AO, Toro, M, Delgado, LGJ, Vega, D, Solas, SÁ, Vilar, R, Massoni, S, Frizzo, T, Bran, A, Vaidis, DC, Vieira, L, Paris, B, Capizzi, M, Coelho, GLDH, Greenburgh, A, Whitt, CM, Tullett, AM, Du, X, Volz, L, Bosma, MJ, Karaarslan, C, Sarıoğuz, E, Allred, TB, Korbmacher, M, Colloff, MF, Lima, TJS, Ribeiro, MFF, Verharen, JPH, Karekla, M, Karashiali, C, Sunami, N, Jaremka, LM, Storage, D, Habib, S, Studzinska, A, Hanel, PHP, Holford, DL, Sirota, M, Wolfe, K, Chiu, F, Theodoropoulou, A, Ahn, ER, Lin, Y, Westgate, EC, Brohmer, H, Hofer, G, Dujols, O, Vezirian, K, Feldman, G, Travaglino, GA, Ahmed, A, Li, M, Bosch, J, Torunsky, N, Bai, H, Manavalan, M, Song, X, Walczak, RB, Zdybek, P, Friedemann, M, Rosa, AD, Kozma, L, Alves, SG, Lins, S, Pinto, IR, Correia, RC, Babinčák, P, Banik, G, Rojas-Berscia, LM, Varella, MAC, Uttley, J, Beshears, JE, Thommesen, KK, Behzadnia, B, Geniole, SN, Silan, MA, Maturan, PLG, Vilsmeier, JK, Tran, US, Izquierdo, SM, Mensink, MC, Sorokowski, P, Groyecka-Bernard, A, Radtke, T, Adoric, VC, Carpentier, J, Özdoğru, AA, Joy-Gaba, JA, Hedgebeth, MV, Ishii, T, Wichman, AL, Röer, JP, Ostermann, T, Davis, WE, Suter, L, Papachristopoulos, K, Zabel, C, Ebersole, CR, Chartier, CR, Mallik, PR, Urry, HL, Buchanan, EM, Coles, NA, Primbs, MA, Basnight-Brown, DM, IJzerman, H, Forscher, PS & Moshontz, H 2021, 'A multi-country test of brief reappraisal interventions on emotions during the COVID-19 pandemic', Nature Human Behaviour, vol. 5, no. 8, pp. 1089-1110. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-021-01173-x

Stevens, L, Rockey, J, Rockowitz, S, Kanja, W, Colloff, M & Flowe, H 2021, 'Children's vulnerability to sexual violence during COVID-19 in Kenya: recommendations for the future', Frontiers in Global Women’s Health, vol. 2, 630901. https://doi.org/10.3389/fgwh.2021.630901

Rockowitz, S, Stevens, LM, Rockey, JC, Smith, LL, Ritchie, J, Colloff, MF, Kanja, W, Cotton, J, Njoroge, D, Kamau, C & Flowe, HD 2021, 'Patterns of sexual violence against adults and children during the COVID-19 pandemic in Kenya: a prospective cross-sectional study', British Medical Journal Open, vol. 11, no. 9, e048636. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2021-048636

Smith, HMJ, Andrews, S, Baguley, TS, Colloff, MF, Davis, JP, White, D, Rockey, JC & Flowe, HD 2021, 'Performance of typical and superior face recognizers on a novel interactive face matching procedure', British Journal of Psychology, vol. 112, no. 4, pp. 964-991. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjop.12499

Colloff, M, Seale-Carlisle, T, Karoğlu, N, Rockey, J, Smith, HMJ, Smith, LL, Maltby, J, Yaremenko, S & Flowe, H 2021, 'Perpetrator pose reinstatement during a lineup test increases discrimination accuracy', Scientific Reports, vol. 11, no. 1, 13830. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-92509-0

Jones, BC, Colloff, M & Flowe, H 2021, 'To which world regions does the valence-dominance model of social perception apply?', Nature Human Behaviour, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 159-169. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-020-01007-2

Butt, MM, Colloff, MF, Magner, E & Flowe, HD 2020, 'Eyewitness memory in the news can affect the strategic regulation of memory reporting', Memory. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658211.2020.1846750

Jores, T, Colloff, MF, Kloft, L, Smailes, H & Flowe, HD 2019, 'A meta-analysis of the effects of acute alcohol intoxication on witness recall', Applied Cognitive Psychology, vol. 33, no. 3, pp. 334-343. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.3533

Flowe, H, Colloff, M, Winsor, A, Seale-Carlisle, T, Hett, D, Jores, T & Stevens, L 2019, 'Child Witness Expressions of Certainty are Informative', Journal of Experimental Psychology.

Seale-Carlisle, TM, Colloff, MF, Flowe, HD, Wells, W, Wixted, JT & Mickes, L 2019, 'Confidence and Response Time as Indicators of Eyewitness Identification Accuracy in the Lab and in the Real World', Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, vol. 8, no. 4, pp. 420-428. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jarmac.2019.09.003

Chapter

Flowe, HD, Colloff, MF, Kloft, L, Jores, T & Stevens, LM 2019, Impact of alcohol and other drugs on eyewitness memory. in The Routledge International Handbook of Legal and Investigative Psychology. Taylor and Francis, pp. 149-162. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429326530-11

Comment/debate

Colloff, M, Wilson, B & Flowe, H 2021, 'Legal system v. eyewitness: the jury is still out on who is better able to reduce eyewitness error (variance)', Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 200-204. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jarmac.2021.04.001

Preprint

Stevens, L, Rockey, J, Rockowitz, S, Kanja, W, Colloff, MF & Flowe, HD 2021 'Children’s vulnerability to sexual violence during COVID-19 in Kenya: recommendations for the future' PsyArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/7sn3w

Review article

Rowsell, K & Colloff, M 2021, 'Are sad children more believable? A systematic review of the relationship between emotional demeanour of child victims and juror credibility judgements', Psychology, Crime and Law. https://doi.org/10.1080/1068316X.2021.1972109

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