Faye Skelton

Dr. Faye Skelton is a Lecturer in Cognitive Psychology at Edinburgh Napier University's School of Applied Sciences, where she also serves as Programme Lead for the MSc Applied Criminology and Forensic Psychology. With a PhD in face recognition, her work bridges cognitive psychology and forensic applications, focusing on improving police procedures and understanding the psychology of evidence.

Dr. Skelton's research interests span forensic psychology and cognitive science, with particular focus on eyewitness memory, face recognition, and the psychology of evidence in legal contexts. She investigates ways to improve police facial composites ('E-FITs'), examining how to better recover information from memory, establish best practices for system use, and enhance recognition of final images. Her work also explores miscarriages of justice and the experiences of wrongfully convicted individuals, with current projects examining the narratives of those who have been wrongfully imprisoned.

Her recent publications reveal a strong trend toward understanding bias in forensic contexts, particularly the cross-race effect in eyewitness identification. She has developed tools like the Cross-Race Effect Inventory to improve postdiction of eyewitness accuracy and has examined how contextual factors influence the production of facial composites. Her work increasingly addresses broader societal issues like misinformation (through a Royal Society of Edinburgh Network Grant) and the impact of the pandemic on justice systems.

• Senior Fellow of Advance HE
• SET for Britain recognition (shortlisted from over 600 applications)

Dr. Skelton currently supervises six PhD students across interdisciplinary teams and has examined multiple PhDs externally. She leads several externally funded projects including a BA/Leverhulme grant exploring experiences of wrongful conviction, a Royal Society of Edinburgh Network Grant addressing fake news, and research on the impact of COVID-19 on the Scottish Justice Voluntary Sector. Her work extends beyond academia through public engagement at festivals and contributions to media like The Conversation and BBC podcasts.

She is actively involved with the Psychology Research Group and Centre for Mind and Creativity Research at Edinburgh Napier, collaborating with colleagues across Schools of Health and Social Care and Arts and Creative Industries. Her research aligns with university themes including AI and Technologies, Culture and Communities, and Health, demonstrating the interdisciplinary nature of her work in forensic psychology.