Claudia McArthur, Graduate Student – MSc 2
claudia.mcarthur@ontariotechu.net
Claudia is a second-year MSc student in the Forensic Psychology program. Under the supervision of Dr. Amy Leach, her thesis will examine the roles of language proficiency and interpreter use in shaping observers’ lie detection judgements of non-native speakers. Claudia’s other research interests include dyadic and triadic rapport development in investigative interviews.
Claudia previously completed her Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Forensic Psychology at Ontario Tech University. Her honours thesis research examined psychological predictors of academic stress among undergraduate students.
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Gopa Gupta, Honours Student/Research Assistant
godhuli.gupta@ontariotechu.net
Gopa is a fourth-year student at Ontario Tech University, pursuing her BA in Forensic Psychology with a minor in Criminology and Justice. She joined The Lie Lab as a Research Assistant in 2024.
Gopa is currently completing her honours thesis under the supervision of Dr. Amy Leach. Her research investigates how language proficiency influences deception detection, comparing cognitive load and emotion blunting in native and basic speakers. After completing her undergraduate degree, Gopa plans to pursue graduate studies in Social Work.
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Nicole Cameron, Honours Student
nicole.cameron4@ontariotechu.net
Nicole is a fourth-year student at Ontario Tech University, pursuing her BA in Forensic Psychology and a minor in Criminology and Justice. She began working in The Lie Lab as a Research Assistant during the 2024 academic year. Nicole is currently working on her honours thesis under the supervision of Dr. Amy Leach.
Her research focuses on the role of interpreters and language proficiency in deception detection accuracy among observers. Nicole plans to pursue graduate studies in Forensic Psychology after the completion of her undergraduate degree.
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Elizabeth Elliot
Elizabeth completed her PhD in Forensic Psychology under Dr. Leach’s supervision in 2022 and is now a Postdoctoral Scholar at Iowa State University.
She received her Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Psychology from Carleton University and her Master of Arts in Criminology from Ontario Tech University. During her Masters, she examined the impact of interviewees’ language proficiency (across four levels) on interviewers’ deception detection. Elizabeth’s dissertation entitled “What Lies Beneath: An Examination of the Underlying Components of Deception Detection”, examined elements of lie detection decisions and the components that make up deceptive accounts. Specifically, she compared the typically dichotomous task to a novel dynamic (i.e., moment-to-moment) approach to assessing deception.
Elizabeth’s ResearchGate Profile
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Serra Baskurt
Serra completed her B.A. Honours specializing in Forensic Psychology in 2022 at Ontario Tech University and is now completing her MA in Forensic Psychology at Carleton University.
Serra completed her Honours thesis (“The Impact of Empathy Priming on the Rape Myth Acceptance Scale for those with Antisocial/ Psychopathic Traits”) under the supervision of Dr. Leigh Harkins, which examined the factors that influence people’s attitudes towards rape. Serra’s research interests broadly include cognitive distortions linked to antisocial behaviour, mentally disordered offenders, attitudes, and violence.
Serra worked as a Project Assistant in the Lie Lab from Fall 2021 until Spring 2022.
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Aisha Hussain
aisha.hussain@ontariotechu.net
Aisha is a student at Ontario Tech University enrolled in the Bachelor of Health Science (Honours), Medical Laboratory Science program. She worked in The Lie Lab as a Project Assistant from 2024-2025.
After the completion of her undergraduate studies, Aisha plans to write the national licensing exam to become a registered MLT and pursue graduate studies in Laboratory Medicine.
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Chelsea Blake
chelsea.blake@ontariotechu.net
Chelsea Blake completed her BA (Hons) in Forensic Psychology with a minor in Criminology and Justice at Ontario Tech University. For her undergraduate honour’s thesis under the supervision of Dr. Amy-Leach, she researched perceptions of accent and fluency in native and non-native English speakers and how that affected deception detection decision-making.
She completed her MSc in Forensic Psychology under the supervision of Dr. Amy-May Leach. Her research focused on the relationship between executive functioning demands and deception detection.
Chelsea’s ResearchGate profile
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Renée Snellings
Renée completed her MA in Forensic Psychology in 2013 under the supervision of Dr. Leach.
Her thesis “The Effect of Language Proficiency on Second-language Lie Detection” examined whether or not observers language proficiencies affected their judgement and biases with regards to lie detection in native and second-language speakers.
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Cayla Da Silva
cayla.dasilva@ontariotechu.net
Cayla completed her MA in Criminology and Forensic Psychology in 2011 under the supervision of Dr. Leach and now works in the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities at Ontario Tech University as the Practicum and Internship Coordinator.