Biography:Fiona Gabbert
Fiona Gabbert | |
|---|---|
| Occupation | Professor |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | University of Aberdeen |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Forensic Psychology |
| Sub-discipline | Reliability of memory and forensic interviewing |
| Institutions | Goldsmiths, University of London |
Fiona Gabbert is a forensic psychologist who focuses on the reliability of memory and investigative interviewing. Her research is used to shape police procedure and policy internationally.[1] She is the Director of the Forensic and Psychology Unit and Professor of Psychology at Goldsmiths, University of London, and a chairperson on the Scientific Committee of the International Investigative Interviewing Research Group (illRG).[1]
Education
Gabbert attended the University of Aberdeen where she received her PhD in psychology.[2]
Career
After graduating from the University of Aberdeen, she was a Reader in Psychology for Abertay University.[3] As of 2026, she is a professor of Psychology at Goldsmiths, University of London and is working with Amber Alert Europe and the National Crime Agency, and the International Cold Case Analysis Project.[1][4][5][6][7] In these partnerships, she is advancing ethical interviewing and applying psychological science to aid new leads in missing person cases.[1][5][6][7]
Awards and accolades
In 2011, Gabbert was the winner of the Academic and Practitioner Excellence Award from International Investigative Interviewing Research.[8][4] In 2016, Gabbert was the winner of the European Association of Psychology and Law prize for mid-career achievement.[9]
Community engagement
As the Director of the Forensic and Psychology Unit (FPU) at Goldsmiths, University of London, Gabbert hosts many events with the goal to educate the public.[1] One main way she educates the community, and the FPU engages with the public, is through the FPU's immersive, award-winning, and educational theatre events.[1] These event, in particular, have compelled people outside of the Goldsmiths' community to come and engage with psychology.[1] Other events include lectures, school events, festivals, panels, seminars, and more.[1] For certain organizations, Gabbert gives seminars and research consultancy. Finally, Gabbert has also been known to engage with the media via interviews.[1][10][11]
Research
Gabbert's main research interests include eyewitness memory, investigative Interviewing, facilitating recall, building trust and rapport, suggestibility of memory, social influences on memory, and memory conformity.[1][12][13][14][15][16] In some of her research, she specifically investigates questions such as "can we accurately interpret the dynamic behavior of others?".[17] Gabbert also investigates the value and challenges of age progression and potential bias' or factors that lead to an overrepresentation of ethnic minority background in missing persons cases.[18][19] Gabbert's most cited article on research gate is "Memory conformity: Can Eyewitnesses Influence Each Other's Memories for an Event?". This article discusses how individuals influence each others recall of an event.[12]
Gabbert's research on improving usability, creditability, and reliability of evidence from witnesses has helped introduce new evidence based investigative tools and training resources to the field, such as the Self-Administrated Interview, Structured Interview Protocol, and the Timeline Technique.[1] The Self-Administrative interview is a tool that is used right after someone witnesses a crime. The witness does the Self-Administrative Interview as soon as possible to make sure to relay the most accurate information. The SAI (Self-Administrative Interview) provides witnesses with clear instructions and retrieval cues.[20] This tool is used globally and by police officers.[21] The Structured Interview Protocol promotes new ethical practices that help officers elicit information from witnesses, victims, and suspects.[22] The Timeline Technique helps interviewees organize their own recall of an event in a sequential manner. It is self-administered and typically yields better detail of an event according to Crest Research.[23] Furthermore, through Crest Research, Gabbert developed an evidence-based training program regarding rapport within an information gathering context, and specifically whether individuals can be trained in their own rapport skills.[24]
Books
- Ridley, Anne; Gabbert, Fiona; and La Rooy, David, eds. 2013. Suggestibility in Legal Contexts: Psychological Research and Forensic Implications. London: Wiley-Blackwell.
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 "Professor Fiona Gabbert" (in en). https://www.gold.ac.uk/psychology/staff/gabbert/.
- ↑ "Fiona GABBERT | PhD University of Aberdeen | Goldsmiths University of London, London | Department of Psychology | Research profile" (in en). https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Fiona-Gabbert.
- ↑ Ridley, Anne M., ed (2013-01-14) (in en). Suggestibility in Legal Contexts: Psychological Research and Forensic Implications (1 ed.). Wiley. doi:10.1002/9781118432907. ISBN 978-0-470-66369-1. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.1002/9781118432907.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Chemical Manufacturing - Jupiter X Templates" (in en-US). https://www.selfadministeredinterview.com/our-team/.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "AMBER Alert Europe Launches First-Ever Scientific Advisory Board on Missing Persons - AMBER Alert Europe" (in en-US). 2025-07-28. https://www.amberalert.eu/news/amber-alert-europe-launches-first-ever-scientific-advisory-board-on-missing-persons.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Downloads - National Crime Agency". https://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/find-support/downloads.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Toolin, Katie; van Langeraad, Amy; Hoi, Viktoria; Scott, Adrian J.; Gabbert, Fiona (2022-01-01). "Psychological contributions to cold case investigations: A systematic review". Forensic Science International: Synergy 5. doi:10.1016/j.fsisyn.2022.100294. ISSN 2589-871X. PMID 36465483.
- ↑ "iIIRG AWARDS – IIIRG – International Investigative Interviewing Research Group" (in en). https://iiirg.org/iiirg-awards/.
- ↑ Cox, Sarah (2016-07-12). "Forensic Psychology Unit director's career recognised with European award" (in en). https://www.gold.ac.uk/news/fiona-gabbert-eapl-award/.
- ↑ "Forensic Psychology Unit Interactive Events" (in en). https://www.gold.ac.uk/research/public-engagement/forensic-psychology-unit-interactive-events/.
- ↑ "Join Us for "Missing Without a Trace" - An Evening of Cold Case Investigation — Locate International" (in en-GB). Locate International. https://locate.international/news/join-us-for-missing-without-a-trace-an-evening-of-cold-case-investigation.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 "Memory Conformity: Can Eyewitnesses Influence Each Other's Memories for an Event?" (in en). https://www.researchgate.net/publication/39064700.
- ↑ Farrugia, Laura; Gabbert, Fiona (2019-11-18). "Vulnerable suspects in police interviews: Exploring current practice in England and Wales" (in en). Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling 17 (1): 17–30. doi:10.1002/jip.1537. ISSN 1544-4759. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jip.1537.
- ↑ Gabbert, Fiona; Hope, Lorraine; Luther, Kirk; Wright, Gordon; Ng, Magdalene; Oxburgh, Gavin (March 2021). "Exploring the use of rapport in professional information-gathering contexts by systematically mapping the evidence base" (in en). Applied Cognitive Psychology 35 (2): 329–341. doi:10.1002/acp.3762. ISSN 0888-4080. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/acp.3762.
- ↑ Gabbert, Fiona; Memon, Amina; Allan, Kevin; Wright, Daniel B. (September 2004). "Say it to my face: Examining the effects of socially encountered misinformation" (in en). Legal and Criminological Psychology 9 (2): 215–227. doi:10.1348/1355325041719428. ISSN 1355-3259. https://bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1348/1355325041719428.
- ↑ Gabbert, Fiona; Memon, Amina; Wright, Daniel B. (2006-06-01). "Memory conformity: Disentangling the steps toward influence during a discussion" (in en). Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 13 (3): 480–485. doi:10.3758/BF03193873. ISSN 1531-5320. PMID 17048734. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03193873.
- ↑ Toolin, Katie; Gabbert, Fiona; Scott, Adrian J. (January 2026). "What Works in Behavioural Recognition? A Systematic Review". Applied Cognitive Psychology 40 (1). doi:10.1002/acp.70153. ISSN 0888-4080. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.70153.
- ↑ Donato, Laura; Treglia, Michele; Cecchi, Rossana; Ubelaker, Douglas H.; Camatti, Jessika; Gabbert, Fiona; Pallocci, Margherita; Santunione, Anna Laura et al. (April 2026). "Forensic age progression for missing person investigations: A pilot evaluation of recognition accuracy". Legal Medicine 82. doi:10.1016/j.legalmed.2026.102808. ISSN 1344-6223. PMID 41687395. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.legalmed.2026.102808.
- ↑ Gabbert, Fiona; Scott, Adrian J.; Shalev, Karen; van Langeraad, Amy (2025-11-27). "Disproportion and Decision: Ethnic Minority Overrepresentation and Police Risk Assessment in Missing Persons Cases". Behavioral Sciences 15 (12): 1628. doi:10.3390/bs15121628. ISSN 2076-328X. PMID 41463971.
- ↑ Hope, Lorraine; Gabbert, Fiona; Fisher, Ronald P. (2011-06-16). "From laboratory to the street: Capturing witness memory using the Self-Administered Interview" (in en). Legal and Criminological Psychology 16 (2): 211–226. doi:10.1111/j.2044-8333.2011.02015.x. ISSN 1355-3259. https://bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.2044-8333.2011.02015.x.
- ↑ "SAI - Self Administered Interview" (in en-US). https://www.selfadministeredinterview.com/.
- ↑ "Promoting justice: Professionalising frontline policing with an evidence-based Structured Interview Protocol" (in en). https://pure.royalholloway.ac.uk/en/projects/promoting-justice-professionalising-frontline-policing-with-an-ev/.
- ↑ Hope, Lorraine. "A timeline helps interviewees recall and report events" (in en-GB). https://crestresearch.ac.uk/resources/a-timeline-helps-interviewees-recall-and-report-events/.
- ↑ "Quantifying the effectiveness of an evidence-based rapport-building training programme" (in en-GB). https://www.crestresearch.ac.uk/projects/evidence-based-rapport-building-training-programme/.
