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Demi Hart

Doctoral student
Headshot of Waleed Jami
She, her, hers

Summary

My research interests lie within the realm of memory for witnessed and experienced traumatic events, such as sexual assaults. I am also interested in how suggestive criminal justice procedures, such as forensic confirmation bias and police interviewing techniques, can lead to false memories and wrongful convictions. I wrote my master's thesis on the persistent impact of lying on autobiographical memory and presented my findings at the Association for Psychological Science 2022 conference. I also collaborated with my master's lab and with researchers in India and England to examine political false memories in a novel Indian population. Currently, my research interests are moving in a direction that combines human memory with sexual assault literature.

Manuscripts in preparation

  • Hart, D. J. (2023). The Impact of Lying on Autobiographical Memories. Master’s Thesis.
  • Frenda, S. J., Yu, C., Hart, D. J., Hogan, A. A., & Loftus, E. F. (2022). Lying creates persistent false memories. Manuscript in preparation.
  • Frenda, S. J., Hogan, A. A., Hart, D. J., Hopwood, A. (2022). False memories of fabricated news events in India. Manuscript in preparation.

Poster presentations

Frenda, S. J., Yu, C., Hart, D. J., Hogan, A. A., & Loftus, E. F. (2022). Lying creates persistent false memories. Poster presented at the Association for Psychological Science 2022 Annual Convention, in Chicago, IL.

Student funding

  • Graduate Assistant at the Grant Sawyer Center for Criminal Justice
  • Dean's Merit Scholarship recipient

Education

  • M.S. Forensic Psychology, California State University, Los Angeles, 2023
  • B.A. Psychology with a minor in Criminal Justice, California State University, Chico, 2021