Kathy Pezdek

Kathy Pezdek is a professor in Claremont Graduate University’s Department of Psychology. Her extensive research has explored numerous aspects of applied cognitive psychology, primarily topics related to law and psychology that apply to both adults and children. These topics include eyewitness memory, the suggestibility of memory, lineup techniques, and autobiographical memory. Her teaching interests include applied cognitive psychology, law and psychology, memory and cognition, statistics, and research design and methodology.

Pezdek received her MA and PhD in Psychology from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Pezdek is an elected Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science (APS) and the Psychonomic Society, and she has served as the North American editor of Applied Cognitive Psychology. She has also served on the editorial boards for the Journal of Applied Psychology (2002–2009); Journal of Applied Research in Memory & Cognition (2011–present); Legal and Criminological Psychology (2005–present); Journal of Trauma & Dissociation (2014–present); Applied Cognitive Psychology (1993–2011); and Child Development (1984–1985, 1987–1991).

Pezdek is a cognitive psychologist specializing in the study of memory, specifically eyewitness memory. She has an impressive record of published research on this topic, regularly publishing with her graduate students. She frequently serves as an expert witness in the area of eyewitness memory and identification and has testified on this topic in federal, state, and superior court cases.