Dr

Kate Muir

Personal statement

Kate is a Lecturer in Forensic Psychology. Her research concerns interpersonal communication, and how interacting with others impacts on various elements of cognition and social relationships.

Kate’s main focus is forensic linguistics: What can we tell about an individual’s personality, behavior and relationships from the language that they use? And what factors influence the language used by individuals? Her research has shown that language use can point to who is in a greater position of power in a conversation, who is trying to persuade someone else and what type of personality they have. She has examined this in the context of both face to face and computer mediated communication. She is also interested in eyewitness memory and the social factors that impact on memory accuracy: how does discussing memory for a crime impact on witness memory?

Finally, she has a longstanding interest in the social and personality factors that influence the Fading Affect Bias, which is a phenomenon of autobiographical memory thought to exist as a result of self-protective processes. She has previously explored how discussing personal memories can lead negative emotions to fade, and positive emotions to be retained, and how the interactions between speaker and listener can be an important moderator of this process.

Academic qualifications

• PhD, Psychology, University of Leeds
• BSc (Hons), Psychology, University of Leeds

Professional Memberships

• Chartered Member, British Psychological Society

Teaching specialisms

• Forensic Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Cognitive Psychology