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Professor Graham Pike

Profile summary

  • Central Academic Staff
  • Professor of Forensic Cognition
  • Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences
  • School of Psychology
  • Psychology
  • graham.pike

Web links

Professional biography

I am Professor of Forensic Cognition at The Open University. Below are a selection of professional links and affiliations:

  • Chartered Psychologist and an Associate Fellow of The British Psychological Society
  • Chartered Scientist
  • Associate Director (Research) of the Centre for Policing Research and Learning
  • Member of the European Association of Psychology and Law
  • Member of the Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition
  • Deputy Director of the Harm and Evidence Research Collaborative

Research interests

I research in forensic psychology (mostly on eyewitness identification) and applied cognition (mostly in face perception). I have a particular interest in developing technology, policy and procedures designed to improve police investigations. Much of my current research is conducted as part of the Centre for Policing Research and Learning, which is funded by the Home Office and HEFCE and supported by the OU's Policing Consortium, which consists of 12 UK Police Forces and Agencies.

I am also a founding member of the Harm and Evidence Research Collaborative (HERC), and part of the centre's Forensic Psychology Research Group where I work closely with Nicky Brace, Gemma Briggs, Gini Harrison, Trina Havard, Helen Kaye, Hayley Ness, Ailsa Strathie, Martin Thirkettle, Jim Turner and Zoe Walkington.

Teaching interests

Since coming to the university in 2000, I have worked on a wide range of courses at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Recently this has included designing and directing the following qualifications:

as well as supporting the development of the following degrees:

modules:

and MOOCs:

Research Activity

Externally funded projects

Citizen Forensics

RoleStart dateEnd dateFunding source
Co-investigator01/May/201830/Apr/2021EPSRC EPSRC Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
The Citizen Forensics project reframes key challenges that underlie modern policing in a socio-technical world; a world instrumented with mobile and ubiquitous computing technologies, in which many citizens and communities live, work and play, but which must also manage threats to their wellbeing and their rights. The project aims to support a new engagement between authorities (such as the police) and communities of citizens in order to better investigate (and in the long term reduce) potential or actual threats to citizen security, safety, and privacy. This includes both empowering the police by opening up new ways of citizens providing data in ways that protect privacy and anonymity, and empowering citizens by using these new technologies to also hold the police to account. We will be harnessing many of the so-called Internet of Things, Smart City and Smart Home technologies to encourage and allow citizens to help the police collect and analyse disparate data to improve public safety at both local and ultimately national levels. This multidisciplinary investigation draws upon expertise in computing, policing, psychology and organisational theory. For more information, see https://www.citizenforensics.org/

Publications

A task‐ and role‐based perspective on super‐recognizers: Commentary on ‘Super‐recognizers: From the laboratory to the world and back again’ (2019-07-13)
Moreton, Reuben; Pike, Graham and Havard, Catriona
British Journal of Psychology, 110(3) (pp. 486-488)
Entitlement to Tell on Police Facebook Sites (2019-05-01)
Walkington, Zoe; Pike, Graham; Strathie, Ailsa; Havard, Catriona; Harrison, Virginia and Ness, Hayley
Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking, 22(5) (pp. 355-357)
The Effect of Facial Composite Construction on Eyewitness Identification Accuracy in an Ecologically Valid Paradigm (2019-02-01)
Pike, Graham E.; Brace, Nicola A.; Turner, Jim and Vredeveldt, Annelies
Criminal Justice and Behavior, 46(2) (pp. 319-336)
You can Believe your Eyes: Measuring Implicit Recognition in a Lineup with Pupillometry. (2019)
Elphick, Camilla; Pike, Graham and Hole, Graham
Psychology, Crime and Law ((Early Access))
A Mobile App Delivering a Gamified Battery of Cognitive Tests Designed for Repeated Play (OU Brainwave): App Design and Cohort Study (2018-10-30)
Thirkettle, Martin; Lewis, Jen; Langdridge, Darren and Pike, Graham
JMIR Serious Games, 6, Article e10519(4)
Are you talking to me? How identity is constructed on police-owned Facebook sites (2018-10)
Walkington, Zoe; Pike, Graham; Strathie, Ailsa; Havard, Catriona; Ness, Hayley and Harrison, Virginia
Narrative Inquiry, 28(2) (pp. 280-300)
Circling Around the Uncanny Valley: Design Principles for Research Into the Relation Between Human Likeness and Eeriness (2016-12-01)
Lay, Stephanie; Brace, Nicola; Pike, Graham and Pollick, Frank
i-Perception, 7(6) (pp. 1-11)
Are two views better than one? Investigating three-quarter view facial composites (2015)
Ness, Hayley; Hancock, Peter J.B.; Bowie, Leslie; Bruce, Vicki and Pike, Graham
Journal of Forensic Practice, 17(4) (pp. 291-306)
Eye-witness identification procedures and stress: a comparison of live and video identification parades (2009)
Brace, Nicola A.; Pike, Graham E.; Kemp, Richard I. and Turner, Jim
International Journal of Police Science & Management, 11(2) (pp. 183-192)
Children making faces: the effect of age and prompts on children's facial composites of unfamiliar faces (2008-05)
Paine, Carina B.; Pike, Graham E.; Brace, Nicola A. and Westcott, Helen L.
Applied Cognitive Psychology, 22(4) (pp. 455-474)
Holistic facial composite systems: are they compatible with witness recall? (2008)
Brace, Nicola A.; Pike, Graham E. and Turner, Jim A.
Cognitive Technology Journal, 13(2) (pp. 42-49)
Identifying composites of famous faces: Investigating memory, language and system issues (2006-08)
Brace, N.A.; Pike, G.E.; Allen, P. and Kemp, R.I.
Psychology, Crime & Law, 12(4) (pp. 351-366)
Does the presentation of multiple facial composites improve suspect identification? (2006-03)
Brace, Nicola; Pike, Graham; Kemp, Richard; Turner, Jim and Bennett, Peter
Applied Cognitive Psychology, 20(2) (pp. 213-266)
Making faces with computers: Witness cognition and technology (2005)
Pike, Graham; Brace, Nicola; Turner, Jim and Kynan, Sally
Pragmatics & Cognition, 13(3) (pp. 459-479)
Video-based identification procedures: combining best practice and practical requirements when designing identification systems (2001-12)
Kemp, Richard I.; Pike, Graham E. and Brace, Nicola A.
Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 7(4) (pp. 802-807)
Forensic Psychology (2019-04)
Pike, Graham
In: McLaughlin, Eugene and Muncie, John eds. The Sage Dictionary of Criminology (4th Edition)
ISBN : 9781526436719 | Publisher : Sage
The Challenges of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) (2018-06-28)
Pike, Graham and Gore, Hannah
In: Baxter, Jacqueline; Callaghan, George and McAvoy, Jean eds. Creativity and Critique in Online Learning: Exploring and Examining Innovations in Online Pedagogy (pp. 149-168)
ISBN : 978-3-319-78297-3 | Publisher : Palgrave Macmillan
Identification Evidence (2018-05-31)
Pike, Graham and Clark, Clifford
In: Griffiths, Andy and Milne, Rebecca eds. The Psychology of Criminal Investigation: From Theory to Practice. Issues in Forensic Psychology (pp. 133-153)
ISBN : 9781138639416 | Publisher : Routledge
Working therapeutically in forensic settings (2017-06-02)
Vossler, Andreas; Havard, Catriona; Barker, Meg-John; Pike, Graham; Raabe, Bianca and Walkington, Zoe
In: Vossler, Andreas; Havard, Catriona; Pike, Graham; Barker, Meg-John and Raabe, Bianca eds. Mad or Bad? A Critical Approach to Counselling and Forensic Psychology (pp. 9-22)
ISBN : 978-1-4739-6351-1 | Publisher : Sage
Prevention (2017)
Wager, Nadia and Pike, Graham
In: Vossler, Andreas; Havard, Catriona; Pike, Graham; Barker, Meg-John and Raabe, Bianca eds. Mad or Bad? A Critical Approach to Counselling and Forensic Psychology (pp. 297-310)
ISBN : 978-1-4739-6351-1 | Publisher : Sage | Published : London
Perception (2013-12-17)
Edgar, Graham; Edgar, Helen and Pike, Graham
In: Groome, David; Brace, Nicola; Edgar, Graham; Edgar, Helen; Eysenck, Michael; Manly, Tom; Ness, Hayley; Pike, Graham; Scott, Sophie and Styles, Elizabeth eds. An Introduction to Cognitive Psychology: Processes and Disorders (pp. 25-69)
ISBN : 978-1-84872-091-6 | Publisher : Psychology Press
Mad or Bad? A Critical Approach to Counselling and Forensic Psychology (2017-06-02)
Vossler, Andreas; Havard, Catriona; Pike, Graham; Barker, Meg-John and Raabe, Bianca eds.
ISBN : 9781473963511 | Publisher : Sage
An Introduction to Cognitive Psychology: Processes and Disorders (2013-12-17)
Groome, David; Brace, Nicola; Edgar, Graham; Edgar, Helen; Eysenck, Michael; Manly, Tom; Ness, Hayley; Pike, Graham; Scott, Sophie and Styles, Elizabeth eds.
ISBN : 978-1848720916 | Publisher : Psychology Press | Published : Hove, East Sussex
Public and police perceptions of policing ethics (2018-03-01)
Pike, Graham; Westmarland, Louise; Conway, Steve and Rowe, Michael
In : 2018 Conference of the Society of Evidence Based Policing (1-2 Mar 2018)
The use of Facebook in creating police identity (2018-03-01)
Walkington, Zoe; Pike, Graham; Strathie, Ailsa; Havard, Catriona; Ness, Hayley and Harrison, Virginia
In : 2018 Conference of the Society of Evidence Based Policing (1-2 Mar 2018)
How to develop evidence based practice to support witnesses on the autistic spectrum (ASD) when they give evidence (2018-03-01)
Lali, Dionysia; Pike, Graham and Ness, Hayley
In : 2018 Conference of the Society of Evidence Based Policing (1-2 Mar 2018)
Testing the weapon focus effect: change blindness and eyewitness identification (2016)
Briggs, Gemma; Turner, Jim and Pike, Graham
In : European Association of Psychology and Law Conference (EAPL 2016) (5-8 Jul 2016, Toulouse, France)
Identity, citizenship and engaging with the criminal justice system (2015-08)
Briggs, Gemma and Pike, Graham
In : European Association of Psychology and Law Conference (EAPL 2015) (4-7 Aug 2015, Nuremberg, Germany)
Police perceptions of eyewitness evidence and research (2015)
Harrison, Virginia; Pike, Graham; Havard, Catriona and Ness, Hayley
In : European Association of Psychology and Law Conference (EAPL 2015) (4-7 Aug 2015, Nuremberg, Germany)
Violent, realistic and unexpected staged crimes: do participant-witnesses behave differently? (2011-06)
Pike, Graham
In : 9th Conference of The Society for Applied Research in Memory & Cognition (SARMAC IX) (27-29 Jun 2011, New York City, NY, USA)
Investigating eye movement patterns for sequential video VIPER line-ups (2011-06)
Hunter, Sue and Pike, Graham
In : 9th Conference of The Society for Applied Research in Memory & Cognition (SARMAC IX) (27-29 Jun 2011, New York City, NY, USA)
Comparing types of sequential lineups (2009-07-26)
Pike, Graham; Brace, Nicola; Briggs, Gemma and Turner, Jim
In : The 8th Biennial Conference of the Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition (26-30 Jul 2009, Kyoto, Japan)
Improving the accuracy of visual and eyewitness evidence (2009-07-26)
Pike, Graham
In : The Eighth Biennial Conference of the Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition (26-30 Jul 2009, Kyoto, Japan)
Change blindness during an identification parade (2009-07-26)
Brace, Nicola; Pike, Graham; Turner, Jim and Briggs, Gemma
In : The 8th Biennial Conference of the Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition (26-30 Jul 2009, Kyoto, Japan)
Can composite construction contaminate witness memory? (2009-07-26)
Turner, Jim; Briggs, Gemma; Pike, Graham and Brace, Nicola
In : The 8th Biennial Conference of the Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition (26-30 Jul 2009, Kyoto, Japan)
Interference effects from feature and PCA compositing procedures: Does composite construction interfere with eyewitness identification? (2007-07)
Turner, Jim; Pike, Graham and Brace, Nicola
In : Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition conference 2007 (SARMAC 2007) (25-29 Jul 2007., Lewiston-Auburn, Maine, USA.)
Applying memory and cognition to facial compositing: Is eyewitness memory still the key problem? (2007-07)
Brace, Nicola; Pike, Graham and Turner, Jim
In : Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition conference 2007 (SARMAC 2007) (25-29 Jul 2007, Lewiston-Auburn, Maine, USA.)
Do PCA compositing systems make better use of witness cognition than traditional systems? (2005-01)
Brace, Nicola; Pike, Graham; Turner, Jim and Kynan, Sally
In : Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition conference 2005 (SARMAC 2005) (5-8 Jan 2005, Wellington, New Zealand)
Comparing two PCA compositing interfaces: Is it better to limit or encourage witness interaction? (2005-01)
Pike, Graham; Brace, Nicola; Kynan, Sally and Turner, Jim
In : Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition conference 2005 (SARMAC 2005) (5-8 Jan 2005, Wellington, New Zealand)
Do array-based composite construction systems interfere with witness recognition memory? (2005-01)
Turner, Jim; Pike, Graham; Kynan, Sally and Brace, Nicola
In : Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition conference 2005 (SARMAC 2005) (5-8 Jan 2005, Wellington, New Zealand)
The eyes have it: Feature saliency and facial composite construction (2001-06)
Turner, Jim; Pike, Graham; Brace, Nicola and Kemp, Richard
In : European Association of Psychology and Law conference 2001 (EAPL 2001) (Jun 2001, Lisbon, Portugal)
Applying perceptual research to E-FIT construction: A minimal face experiment (2000-04)
Turner, Jim; Pike, Graham; Kemp, Richard and Brace, Nicola
In : European Association of Psychology and Law conference 2000 (EAPL 2000) (Apr 2000, Limassol, Cyprus)
Applying perceptual research to E-FIT construction (1999-07)
Turner, Jim; Bennett, Peter; Pike, Graham; Brace, Nicola and Kemp, Richard
In : European Association of Psychology and Law conference 1999 (EAPL 1999) (Jul 1999, Dublin, Republic of Ireland)
The visual identification of suspects: procedures and practice (2002-03)
Pike, Graham and Brace, Nicola
A Publication of the Policing and Reducing Crime Unit, Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate.