My research focuses on the social and cognitive processes involved in the formation of political and religious beliefs, and how the role of social identity and the creation and transmission of collective memories between generations plays a role in this process. I am supervised by Professor Malcolm MacLeod, with funding through a University Studentship.

I hold an MA (Honours) in Psychology and Theological Studies from the University of St Andrews, and an MPhil in Social and Developmental Psychology from the University of Cambridge where I was supervised by Dr Nicholas Gibson and was a member of The Psychology and Religion Research Group. At St Andrews during my undergraduate studies, I worked with Dr Elke Geraerts on various aspects of cognitive and memory research with an emphasis on clinical applications. At Cambridge, my focus was specifically on the development of religious cognition in children, and how religious beliefs functioned as part of coping processes in response to crisis.

Further research interests include the affective and theoretical cognitive processes involved in religious belief, attachment processes in faith, the impact of psychopathology on memory, childhood socio-emotional development and adjustment, developmental formation of beliefs and memories, and the investigation and protection of the role of children in the legal process from a cognitive perspective.

Personal website
MacLeod Lab website