Psych-AID presentation at the Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition Conference
Members of the Psych-AID network were at the 2025 biennial conference of the Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition (SARMAC), held in Ireland from 11-14th June 2025. SARMAC 2025 organised symposia and poster presentations in the area of applied or basic research on memory and cognition, such as law and investigation, education, engineering, and others. There were also pre-conference workshops on expert witnesses, which members of the team attended.
The team took part in a symposium titled “Interviewing and Decision-Making in the Asylum Context”, moderated by Dr. Laura Stevens (a postdoctoral researcher on the team). The session highlighted groundbreaking research at the intersection of psychology and asylum law, showcasing the latest contributions from our network. Doctoral Researcher Rasmus Ahlgren presented his latest study,
“Asylum Interviewers’ and Interpreters’ Approaches to Rapport Building in Asylum Interviews: A Thematic Analysis.”
Stepping in for Doctoral Researcher Obed Kwame Appiah, Doctoral Researcher Malin Ekelund presented Obed’s study titled “Cognitive Bias in Asylum Decision-Making: An Investigation of Asylum Officials’ Beliefs About Its Nature and Scope.” PDFs of the presentations are below.
In addition, the Principal Investigator of Psych-AID, Professor Jan Antfolk, presented findings from a recent survey study conducted by Dr. Jenny Skrifvars and colleagues, which explored the experiences of asylum officials, interpreters, and asylum applicants within Finnish asylum interviews. You can read more here.
The symposium also featured Professor Amina Memon (Royal Holloway, University of London), who discussed the challenges of decision-making in asylum contexts and discussed strategies to improve the fairness and quality of asylum decision-making. Prof. Memon’s research work has been one of the pioneering psychological investigations in the field of asylum and international protection.
Download slides below
