Psych-AID at the European Association of Psychology and Law Conference 2025

The Psych-AID Network, along with partners and collaborators, had a productive week at the European Association of Psychology and Law (EAPL) Conference 2025 in Lithuania. The EAPL2025 was held in the old town of Vilnius from 6th to 9th August, with the theme “Technological advancements and applications in legal psychology”. The first keynote address was given by Professor Pekke Santtila on “The future of investigative interviewing: From avatar-based training to LLM-Driven conversations.

Pre-Conference Workshops

The programme began with captivating pre-conference workshops on “Avatar Technologies in Interview Research and Training” and “Effective and scientific interventions for youth prosocial behaviour”. The workshop on avatar training featured presentations and hands-on sessions on the use of avatar technologies in investigative psychology. Among other speakers, Dr Francesco Pompedda (University of Turku) presented the “Empowering Interviewer Training (EIT), an avatar-based training of interviewers’ questioning style in child interviews.” Together with Shumpei Haginoya (Meiji Gakuin University, Tokyo), master’s student and avatar expert Siyu Li (East China Normal University) led the session entitled “Avatar Training for Suspect Interviews: Training in a Deception Detection Technique.” Siyu will be joining the network from September. The workshop was attended by doctoral researchers Malin Ekelund and Obed Appiah.

Asylum Symposium

On the first official day of the EAPL2025 conference, Postdoctoral Researcher Jenny Skrifvars co-chaired a symposium with Research Fellow Laura Stevens (University of Suffolk) entitled “Novel perspectives on interviewing and decision-making in the asylum context.” Several team members and partners participated in the symposium.

Doctoral Researcher Md Yeasir Yunus (University of Portsmouth) presented a systematic review and meta-analysis on culture, memory, and trauma in the asylum context. Dr Zoe Given Wilson (Royal Holloway, University of London) presented a project based on qualitative data from 3 focus groups with asylum-seekers in the UK, focusing on their experiences of digital technology in the asylum framework. Dr Jenny Skrifvars presented a conceptual paper on the effectiveness of investigative interviewing principles in eliciting identity-based claims. Doctoral Researcher Maya Hertz (MOBILE – Center of Excellence for Global Mobility Law) then took the stage to present a study assessing how digital media is used in refugee status determinations in Denmark, based on a dataset of 15,000 cases. Finally, Professor Annelies Vredeveldt (Vrije Universiteit [VU] Amsterdam) shared important insights from a recent cross-cultural communication training tailored to investigative interviewing contexts, including asylum interviews, which adopted the “cultural humility” approach.

Oral Presentations

Researchers from the Psych-AID network actively participated in numerous oral presentations where they showcased cutting-edge research in the psychology of asylum evaluations.

Participating in a panel on investigative psychology, Doctoral Researchers Hedayat Selim and Obed Appiah each presented their recent studies on the influence of cognitive bias in the context of asylum decision-making. Hedayat presented a theoretical paper entitled “Behind the ‘Asylum Lottery’: Sources of Cognitive Bias in Asylum Decision-Making”, in which she and her co-authors review the relevant literature and map the factors that introduce bias in asylum evaluations, to propose preliminary bias counter-measures. Obed presented the findings from his recent survey study, in which over 100 asylum officials and appeal judges were asked to report their beliefs about cognitive bias and any strategies they undertake to prevent its influence on their asylum judgments.

Hedayat presenting
Obed Presenting

Four members had the opportunity to present their research on the psychology of asylum evaluations. Juliana Raitis presented her master’s thesis, which experimentally investigates whether asylum applicants’ signs of being affluent influence their perceived credibility and need for international protection. Master’s student and Research Assistant Anna Ilmoni then presented her thesis, a qualitative archival study investigating how intellectual disabilities are considered in decisions issued by the Swedish Migration Agency. Next, Doctoral Researcher Malin Ekelund presented her experimental study investigating the hypothesis that asylum applicants claiming protection based on their sexual minority status are more likely to be granted asylum if they conform to appearance-based stereotypes. Last but not least, Doctoral Researcher Rasmus Ahlgren shared the findings from two studies which investigate asylum interviewers’ and interpreters’ perceptions regarding rapport building, and how attempts at building rapport are apparent in official Finnish asylum interview transcripts.

Psych-AID shines at EAPL

Lastly, members of the Psych-AID network received three out of several awards at the conference. Doctoral Researcher Obed Appiah earned third place in the Paper Presentation Award for his work on cognitive bias among asylum decision-makers. Dr. Jenny Skrifvars received the Dissertation Award for her thesis, Investigating and Improving the Quality of Asylum Interviews and Decision-making Practices in Finland. Finally, the Educational Impact Award was presented to Professor Julia Korkman and her collaborators for their work on the Åbo Akademi Specialization Course in Legal and Forensic Psychology. We extend a heartfelt thanks and congratulations to awardees and the organizing committee in Vilnius for their outstanding work and exceptional hospitality, especially Professors Aleksandr Segal and Rita Žukauskienė.