Research Interests
Neuroscience, Behaviour and Brain Health Brain Computer-Human Interaction Consumption and Everyday Life Criminal Law and Procedure Education Ethical Use of New Technology Experimental Psychology Forensic Psychology Memory Structures Psychological Methodology, Design and Analysis Psychology Psychology and Cognitive Sciences Decision Making Computational neuroscience (incl. mathematical neuroscience and theoretical neuroscience)Prof Carolyn Semmler
Professor
School of Psychology
College of Education, Behavioural and Social Sciences
Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD - email supervisor to discuss availability.
I lead the Applied Cognition and Experimental Psychology (ACEP) research group, focusing on the application of theories and models of cognition, judgement and decision-making to legal and medical contexts. We are interested in understanding human interaction with AI and the development of human-machine interfaces for defence and national security. Our work is driven by human rights and the value of reducing harm to humans through technology and innovation.We use experimental methods and modelling of cognitive processes to understand and improve human decision-making in important contexts, such as health, policing and national security. Technologies such as AI and social media have vastly changed human experience, we are working at the intersection between psychology and the many disciplinary areas that imagine, design and build new technology. ACEP is working to improve the decisions of people in areas of law, including police, eyewitnesses and jurors. In doing so, we hope to improve the use of technology in legal systems and limit any harm derived from misapplication. We are also active in areas of health and defence, where our focus is on methods to improve the decisions of health consumers, doctors and intelligence analysts.
I lead the Applied Cognition and Experimental Psychology (ACEP) group in the School of Psychology at the University of Adelaide. I am also a member of the Australian Institute for Machine Learning. We focus on application of models of cognition, judgement and decision-making to medical, legal and defence contexts. We are interested in understanding human interaction with machine learning systems using computational cognitive modelling and electro-physiological recordings to inform our understanding of human behaviour. We work to understand how technology can protect and enhance mental and physical health.
Medical Decision Making and Technology Research
We research the application of psychological theory to medical decision making, in particular to better understand and improve doctors' treatment decisions, clinical reasoning and use of AI systems. We have investigated methods for inducing 'healthy skepticism' in health consumers & improvement vaccination decision making among parents and healthcare workers. This work was carried out by Dr Brennan Ong as part of his PhD dissertation and vaccination decision making research was carried out in collaboration with Dr Alexis Wheeler. We have provided education regarding the impact of anger and other emotions on medical decision making. We also work with researchers in understanding the ethical use of AI in health settings and have work underway with Dr Lauren Oakden-Rayner, Dr Melissa McCradden and Lana Tikhomirov at the Australian Institute of Machine Learning.
Cognitive Performance and Memory Research
Identification and memory of other people and their intent, emotions and psychological states is mediated by technology. Our work looks at how this technology might change our decisions about whom we are communicating with and how they might affect us. We have an ARC Discovery funded project developing formal models of the eyewitness identification task (DP 160101048) in collaboration with recognition memory researchers John Dunn, Laura Mickes and John Wixted. This work will help to develop the identification procedures of the future. In the past we have worked with Neil Brewer, Gary Wells, Rod Lindsay and Amy Bradfield-Douglas on various research questions relevant to identification of people and protection of innocent people from wrongful prosecution.
We are interested in the use and misuse of automated face matching systems to identify individuals in security settings (see Heyer & Semmler, 2013; Stephens, Semmler & Sauer, 2017). Our work considers privacy, consent and bias in technology development. We are looking at the impact of technology on decisions regarding the identity of children and the estimation of their age. This work has implications for the processing of identity documents for refugee children and for the detection of trafficked and exploited children.
Juror Decision Making Research
Other work has focused on juror comprehension of judge's instructions and methods for improving comprehension (see Semmler, Brewer & Harvey, 2002). The impact of mood and emotion (in particular anger and sadness) on juror decision making (see Semmler & Brewer, 2001; Semmler & Hurst, 2016) and application of social persuasion theory to the courtroom. We have also looked at gender and stereotypes in perceptions of violence against women. We have also co-authored work applying principles of cognitive psychology to hearing and the perception of sound in legal disputes (see Alias, Best, Niall, Semmler & Woolford, 2010) and provide workshops to legal practitioners and expert witnesses on the impact of cognitive bias in the assessment of evidence for legal matters.
Food, Values and Environmental Decision Making Research
We have ongoing research into the psychology of meat consumption and the meat-animal connection being conducted with Prof. Anna Chur-Hansen and Dr Rachel Ankeny & Dr Heather Bray (Food Values Research Group) (see Dowsett, Semmler, Chur-Hansen, Bray & Ankeny, 2018; Semmler et al, 2022). Meat consumption has both environmental and ethical implications and we are interested in understanding the drivers of consumption choices. I am a member of the Environment Institute.
Leadership in Research
I am a member of the Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, and the Cognitive Science Society. I am a steering committee member of the EMCR Brain Science Network. I am also the vice President of the Psychology Foundation of Australia.
| Date | Position | Institution name |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 - ongoing | Professor | University of Adelaide |
| 2019 - 2023 | Associate Professor | University of Adelaide |
| 2011 - 2018 | Senior Lecturer | University of Adelaide |
| 2004 - 2008 | Adjunct Lecturer | Flinders University |
| Date | Type | Title | Institution Name | Country | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Recognition | Leoni Warne Memorial Award | Department of Defence | Australia | - |
| 2004 | Award | Maconochie Prize | Australian Psycholgical Society | Australia | - |
| Date | Institution name | Country | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 - 2004 | Flinders University | Australia | PhD |
| 1996 - 1999 | Flinders University | Australia | B. Psyc. (Hons) |
| Date | Title | Institution name | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Advancing Leaders Program | Leaders Institute of South Australia | Australia |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2025 | Hoang, G. B., Ransom, K. J., Stephens, R., Semmler, C., Fay, N., & Mitchell, L. (2025). A Hybrid Theory and Data-driven Approach to Persuasion Detection with Large Language Models. In Workshop Proceedings of the 19th International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media (ICWSM 2025) (pp. 1-12). Copenhagen, Denmark: Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence. DOI |
| 2025 | Khan, W., Grandison, A., Gooch, D., Lally, P., Lee, D., Perry, C., . . . Palmer, E. (2025). PROMOTING AUTHENTIC AUTHORSHIP AND ACADEMIC INTEGRITY IN THE AGE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. In EDULEARN Proceedings Vol. 1 (pp. 6178-6182). IATED. DOI |
| 2025 | Kincses, A., Prentice, S., Killcross, A., Magin, P., & Semmler, C. (2025). Inter-practice variability in registrar experience of Continuity of Care. In AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF PRIMARY HEALTH Vol. 31 (pp. 51 pages). CSIRO PUBLISHING. |
| 2025 | Khan, W., Semmler, C., Palmer, E., Grandison, A., Gooch, D., Lally, P., . . . Pope, C. (2025). COGNITIVE DETECTION OF AUTHENTIC STUDENT AUTHORSHIP WITH AI. In ICERI Proceedings Vol. 1 (pp. 8354-8361). IATED. DOI |
| 2018 | Heyer, R. L., Espina Navarro, S., Semmler, C., Aquilina, P., & MacLeod, V. (2018). How Can We Improve Detection of Fake Faces?. In International Symposium on the Forensic Sciences (ANZFSS2018). Perth, Western Australia. |
| 2017 | Semmler, C. A., Hendrickson, A., Ma-Wyatt, A., & Heyer, R. (2017). Using response time models to understand unfamiliar face matching expertise. In Australian Mathematical Psychology Conference. Brisbane Queensland. |
| 2017 | Heyer, R. L., Espina Navarro, S., Chong, C., & Semmler, C. (2017). How good are we at detecting and matching morphed faces?. In Biometrics Congress 2017. London, UK. |
| 2017 | Michalski, D., McLindin, B., Semmler, C., & Heyer, R. (2017). The impact of ageing on facial comparisons with images of children conducted by humans and automated systems. In International Conference of the Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition. |
| 2017 | Kaesler, M. P., Dunn, J., & Semmler, C. (2017). Using Measurement Models to Understand Eyewitness Identification. In G. Gunzelman, A. Howes, T. Tenbrik, & E. Davelaar (Eds.), Proceedings of the 39th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society: Computational Foundations of Cognition (CogSci 2017) (pp. 625-630). USA: Cognitive Science Society. Scopus1 |
| 2017 | Heyer, R. L., Lee, H., Calleja, J., Vu, L., Semmler, C., Hanton, K., & MacLeod, V. (2017). Challenging imagery: contrasting human facial image comparison and facial recognition algorithm performance. In International Conference of the Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition. Sydney. |
| 2017 | Semmler, C., Heyer, R. L., Hendrickson, D., & Ma-Wyatt, A. (2017). Modelling expertise in unfamiliar face matching. In Unfamiliar Facial Identification Group Conference. Sydney. |
| 2016 | Heyer, R. L., Calleja, J., & Semmler, C. (2016). Facial image comparison: the impact of image quality and image restoration techniques on performance. In International Symposium on the Forensic Sciences (ANZFSS’16). Auckland, New Zealand. |
| 2016 | Heyer, R. L., Lee, H., Vu, L., & Semmler, C. (2016). Facial image comparison: the impact of plastic surgery on performance. In International Symposium on the Forensic Sciences (ANZFSS’16). Auckland, New Zealand. |
| 2016 | Kaesler, M., Welsh, M., & Semmler, C. (2016). Predicting overprecision in range estimation. In A. Papafragou, D. Grodner, D. Mirman, & J. Trueswell (Eds.), Proceedings of the 38th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society. Austin, TX: Cognitive Science Society Vol. B (pp. 502-507). Online: Cognitive Science Society. Scopus4 |
| 2016 | Michalski, D., Heyer, R., & Semmler, C. A. (2016). Facial comparisons with images of children: Human and algorithm performance. In Biometrics 2016. London, United Kingdom. |
| 2016 | Michalski, D., McLindin, B., Semmler, C., & Heyer, R. L. (2016). Facial image comparisons of children: How does the age of children in images affect human and algorithm performance?. In International Symposium on the Forensic Sciences (ANZFSS’16). Auckland, New Zealand. |
| 2015 | Michalski, D., McLindin, B., Semmler, C., & Heyer, R. L. (2015). Is facial image comparison as effective for verifying children as it is adults in security applications?. In Florey International Postgraduate Research Conference. Adelaide. |
| 2014 | Michalski, D., McLindin, B., Heyer, R. L., & Semmler, C. (2014). Understanding how Age Affects Facial Matching Performance of Humans and Facial Recognition Systems: Requirements Collection from Whole of Government and Industry. In Defence Human Sciences Symposium,. Adelaide. |
| 2014 | Michalski, D., McLindin, B., Semmler, C., & Heyer, R. L. (2014). Examining the Performance of Human Operators and Automated Facial Recognition Systems for the Identification of Missing and Exploited Children. In International Symposium on the Forensic Sciences (ANZFSS’14). Adelaide. |
| 2014 | Forndran, A., Semmler, C., & Heyer, R. L. (2014). Reading between the lines? The role of forensic evidence reporting on juror understanding and decision making. In International Symposium on the Forensic Sciences (ANZFSS’14). Adelaide. |
| 2014 | Michalski, D., McLindin, B., Semmler, C., & Heyer, R. L. (2014). Empirically Examining the Impact of Age Related Variables on Facial Recognition Algorithms and Human Operators: A Methodological Primer. In 15th Biometrics Institute Asia Pacific Conference. Sydney. |
| 2013 | Heyer, R. L., Semmler, C., & McLindin, B. (2013). Do facial recognition system decision aids improve one-to-many face matching performance?. In 14th Biometrics Institute Asia Pacific Conference. Sydney. |
| 2013 | Semmler, C., Heyer, R. L., Ma-Wyatt, A., & MacLeod, V. (2013). Understanding expertise in unfamiliar face matching. In Australasian Experimental Psychology Conference. Adelaide. |
| 2012 | Heyer, R. L., Semmler, C., & McLindin, B. (2012). One-to-Many Face Matching Using an Automated Facial Recognition System: The Impact of Decisions Aids on Performance. In International Symposium on the Forensic Sciences (ANZFSS’12). Hobart. |
| 2012 | Semmler, C., Heyer, R. L., Ma-Wyatt, A., & MacLeod, V. (2012). Impact of Individual Differences and Eye Movements on Facial Comparison Performance. In International Symposium on the Forensic Sciences (ANZFSS’12). Hobart. |
| 2012 | Heyer, R. L., Semmler, C., & McLindin, B. (2012). Decision Aids: Helpful or a Hindrance for Users of One-to-Many Face Facial Recognition System?. In Defence Human Sciences Symposium. Melbourne. |
| 2011 | Heyer, R. L., Semmler, C., & McLindin, B. (2011). One-to-many face matching: the impact of candidate list size and individual differences on performance. In International Conference of the Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition. New York. |
| 2011 | Heyer, R. L., Semmler, C., MacLeod, V., Calic, D., Ma-Wyatt, A., McLindin, B., & Hopley, L. (2011). Towards an Understanding of Facial Identification Practitioners in Australia: the Human Operator Capability Project. In 12th Biometrics Institute Asia Pacific Conference. Sydney. |
| 2010 | Heyer, R. L., Semmler, C., & McLindin, B. (2010). Identification using an automated facial recognition system: towards an understanding of human operator decision making. In International Symposium on the Forensic Sciences (ANZFSS’10). Sydney. |
| 2010 | Semmler, C., Nahum, T., & Clark, Y. (2010). An examination of hope, self-esteem and positive and negative experiences among first year psychology students. In The Education Research Group of Adelaid (pp. The Changing Face of Education, 24-25 September, 2010). Adelaide, Australia: The University of Adelaide. |
| 2010 | Heyer, R. L., Calic, D., McLindin, B., MacLeod, V., Semmler, C., NIchols, G., & Nicholson, R. (2010). Update on Research in Biometrics at the DSTO: Focus on Facial Recognition. In nd Threats and Responses Conference, Safeguarding Australia 2010. Canberra. |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2023 | Hutchinson, M., Barratt, D. T., Holmes, J., Mustafa, S., Bajic, J. E., Kolarich, D., . . . Semmler, C. (2023). From blood markers to performance prediction: New insights for athletes and beyond. Poster session presented at the meeting of BRAIN BEHAVIOR AND IMMUNITY. CO, Boulder: ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE. DOI |
| 2021 | Semmler, C., Yiu, S. Y., Yau, D., Hanley, G., Meaney, K., Heyer, R., . . . Takarangi, M. (2021). Validating unobtrusive measures of psychological states to predict negative responses to distressing imagery for resilient human performance.. Poster session presented at the meeting of Defence Human Science Symposium. Adelaide. |
| 2020 | McCormick, K. M., Semmler, C., & Dunn, J. (2020). Is eyewitness memory continuous or ‘all-or-none’?. Poster session presented at the meeting of OSF Meetings: SARMAC 2019. Cape Cod, MA: OSF. |
| 2020 | Clothier, E. S., Michalski, D., Semmler, C., & Heyer, R. (2020). How age impacts human performance on a 1:8 face matching task with images of children. Poster session presented at the meeting of Unfamiliar Facial Identification Group. Sydney, Australia. |
| 2019 | McCormick, K., Semmler, C., & Dunn, J. C. (2019). Using the rank order task to estimate discriminability in eyewitness identification. Poster session presented at the meeting of Australasian Mathematical Psychology Conference. Melbourne, Australia. |
| 2019 | Kaesler, M. P., Dunn, J. C., Ransom, K., & Semmler, C. (2019). Discriminability and Suspect Position in the Sequential Lineup. Poster session presented at the meeting of Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition XIII. Cape Cod, Massachusetts. |
| 2018 | McCormick, K., Semmler, C., & Dunn, J. C. (2018). How model testing can facilitate improvements to the performance of diagnostic procedures. Poster session presented at the meeting of Florey Postgraduate Research Conference. National Wine Centre of Australia. |
| 2018 | McCormick, K., Semmler, C., & Dunn, J. (2018). Eyewitness Identification: a test of continous and discrete state accounts. Poster session presented at the meeting of Psychonomics International, Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Abstract book. Amsterdam, Netherlands. |
| 2018 | Kaesler, M., Dunn, J., & Semmler, C. (2018). Evaluating signal detection models for eyewitness identification. Poster session presented at the meeting of Australian Mathematical Psychology Conference 2018 (AMPC18): program. Perth, Western Australia. |
| 2016 | Michalski, D., McLindin, B., Semmler, C., & Heyer, R. L. (2016). The impact of extending the validity of children’s passports from 5 to 10 years. Poster session presented at the meeting of Florey International Postgraduate Research Conference. Adelaide. |
| 2014 | Michalski, D. J., McLindin, B., Heyer, R., & Semmler, C. (2014). Whole of government and industry requirements collection: Understanding how the ageing variable affects facial comparison performance of humans and automated algorithms. Poster session presented at the meeting of Florey International Postgraduate Conference. |
| 2014 | Ong, B., Semmler, C., & Mansfield, P. (2014). Cultivating healthy skepticism towards help-seeking advertisements: Dispelling the illusion of unique invulnerability. Poster session presented at the meeting of The 15th Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, 13-15 Feb 2014. Austin, Texas: Society of Personality and Social Psychology. |
| 2013 | Ong, B., Semmler, C., & Mansfield, P. (2013). Dispelling the illusion of unique invulnerability: Cultivating healthy scepticism towards disease awareness advertisements. Poster session presented at the meeting of Abstracts of the 40th Australasian Experimental Psychology Conference, 3-6 April, 2013. Adelaide, S.A.: AEP Conference. |
| 2012 | Woolford, D., Alais, D., Best, V., Semmler, C., & Niall, P. D. (2012). Hearing, the perception of sound and expert evidence in litigation. Poster session presented at the meeting of Australian Acoustical Society Conference 2012 Acoustics 2012 Acoustics Development and the Environment. |
| 2012 | Woolford, D., Alais, D., Best, V., Semmler, C., & Niall, P. D. (2012). Hearing, the perception of sound and expert evidence in litigation. Poster session presented at the meeting of Australian Acoustical Society Conference 2012 Acoustics 2012 Acoustics Development and the Environment. |
| 2009 | Semmler, C., & Ashenden, A. (2009). Testing a cognitive consistency account of the postidentification feedback effect. Poster session presented at the meeting of Biennial Conference of the Society of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition. Kyoto, Japan. |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2024 | Semmler, C., Palmer, L., McCradden, M., Oakden-Rayner, L., & Tikhomirov, L. (2024). Submission to Senate Select Committee on Adopting Artificial Intelligence (AI) - Submission 95 (95). |
| 2023 | Semmler, C., & Tikhomirov, L. (2023). Responsible AI means keeping humans in the loop. Australian Academy of Technological Science and Engineering. |
| 2017 | Heyer, R., MacLeod, V., Carter, L., Semmler, C. A., & Ma-Wyatt, A. (2017). Profiling the Facial Comparison Practitioner in Australia (DST-Group-DG-xxxx). |
| 2012 | Ma-Wyatt, A., Semmler, C., Heyer, R., & Macleod, V. (2012). Improving human operator performance for face biometric identification: Final report. |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2021 | Duckworth, T., Semmler, C., Onarheim, B., & Kerr, F. (2021). The neuropsychological correlates of creativity: A scoping review of the neuropsychological cognitive domains associated with creativity. OSF Registries. DOI |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2014 | Ong, B., Semmler, C., & Mansfield, P. R. (2014). Cultivating healthy skepticism towards help-seeking advertisements: Dispelling the illusion of unique invulnerability. DOI |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2018 | Semmler, C. A., & Kaesler, M. (2018). R Code for Eyewitness Data (Version 1.0) [Computer Software]. Online: Open Science Framework. DOI |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2025 | Tikhomirov, L., Semmler, C., Prizant, N., Bhasin, S., Kenyon, G., Van Der Vegt, A., . . . McCradden, M. (2025). Opening the ‘black box’ of the silent phase evaluation for artificial intelligence: a scoping review and critical analysis. DOI |
| 2025 | Tikhomirov, L., Semmler, C., Prizant, N., Bhasin, S., Kenyon, G., Van Der Vegt, A., . . . McCradden, M. (2025). Opening the ‘black box’ of the silent phase evaluation for artificial intelligence: a scoping review and critical analysis. DOI |
| 2024 | Tikhomirov, L., Smith, L., Oakden-Rayner, L., Bird, A., Palmer, L., & Semmler, C. (2024). Large-Scale Evaluation of the Influence of AI-use on Radiologist Performance using Signal Detection Theory. DOI |
| 2024 | Tikhomirov, L., Smith, L., Oakden-Rayner, L., Bird, A., Palmer, L., & Semmler, C. (2024). Greater disease detection, less AI rejection: Large-scale evaluation of the influence of AI-use on radiologist performance using signal detection theory. DOI |
| 2023 | Tikhomirov, L., Semmler, C., & Searston, R. (2023). Medical AI for Radiology: The Lost Cognitive Perspective. DOI Europe PMC1 |
| 2023 | McCormick, K. M., & Semmler, C. (2023). Letting go of the Grail: Falsifying the theory of ‘true’ eyewitness identifications. DOI |
| 2020 | Semmler, C. (2020). Profiling the Facial Comparison Practitioner in Australia. DOI |
Mitchell, L., Stephens, R., Thomas, E., Humphries, M., Legrand, T., Dmello, J., Ransom, K., Semmler, C., 2024-2025. Understanding and countering online influence: narratives, networks, and connections to offline activities. $400, 000. Defence Innovation Partnership Activator Fund.
Semmler, C. & Baranoff, J. 2023-2025. Examining the psychometric integrity and utility of the Personalized Psychological Flexibility Inventory in a sample of Australian Athletes categorised in the performance pathway. $160,000. Australian Sports Commission.
Takarangi, M., Nixon, R.G., Semmler, C. (Partner Investigator) & Moeck, E. 2023-2026. The cost of keeping gruesome images from the world. $305,304. Australian Research Council Discovery Grants.
Semmler, C. 2022-2024. Cognitive Performance – Influence of fibre types on Cognitive Performance under stress – Preregistered Randomised Control Trial.$103,631. Australian Wool Innovation.
Semmler, C. 2021-2022. Cognitive Performance – Influence of fibre types on Cognitive Performance under stress - Rapid Pilot. $77, 592. Australian Wool Innovation.
Hutchinson, M. Barry, S., Semmler, C., Mustafa, S., Barratt, D., & Humphries, M. 2023-2026. iKNOW: Combined CBRN alert and information systems through harnessing the power of psychoneuroimmunology. $3,000,000. DST Group: CBRN Star Shot.
Semmler, C. & Mitchell, L. 2022-2023. Breaking the code: A new model to understand conversational trajectories of influence. $94,640. Digi+FAME, University of Adelaide.
Semmler, C. 2019-2021. Child Identification Using Face. $208,789. DST Group
Hutchinson, M., Barratt, D., Holms, L. Bajic, J., Kolaric, D., MaWyatt, A., Semmler, C., Goldys, E., Packer, N. 2020. Biomarkers of physical and psychological performance. $400,000. NGTF.
Semmler, C. (Chief Investigator), Pincombe, B., Darvishi, S., Gordon, N., Banks, S., Takarangi, M., Nixon, R., Booth, D., Heyer, R., Yie, S., Yau, D. 2019. Human-Machine interfaces for detecting, monitoring and managing psychological stress. $150,000. Defence Innovation Partnerships, South Australian Government.
Semmler, C. Human Aspects of Video Analytics Under ARCHIi. 2017. $101,000. DST Group.
Semmler, C., Hendrickson, A. Heyer, R., van den Hengel, A., & Dick, A. Understanding Human-Technology Interactions to Aid in the Use of Unconstrained Imagery for Identification and Surveillance. 2016 - 2017. $19,500. Interdisciplinary Research Fund, University of Adelaide.
Semmler, C. (Chief Investigator), Dunn, J., Mickes, L., & Wixted,J. A formal signal detection model of eyewitness identification. 2016 - 2019. $176,000. Australian Research Council Discovery Projects.
Heyer, R., Semmler, C. & MaWyatt, A. Improving human operator capability for face biometric identification and recognition. 2010-2011, $70,000. Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet Research Support for National Security.
Semmler, C. (Chief Investigator) Brewer, N., & Douglass, A.B. The distortion of eyewitness identification testimony. 2010-2017, $230,000, Australian Research Council Discovery Projects.
Douglass, A.B., Brewer, N., & Semmler, C.(Partner Investigator) The dynamic interaction between investigator and eyewitness: Effects of memory reports and interviewer behavior. 2009-2011, $200,000. National Science Foundation (USA).
Brewer, N., Young, R.L., Weber, N., Ma-Wyatt, A., Semmler, C., (Partner Investigator) & McKinnon, R. A multi-function eyetracker facility. 2008, $120,000. Australian Research Council – Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities Grant.
Semmler, C. (Chief Investigator) The effects of postidentification feedback on eyewitness confidence.2007, $15,000. Faculty of Health Sciences Research Grant.
Semmler, C. (PI) Improving witness memory for faces through rehearsal strategy. 2005, $11,500, Flinders Research Grants Scheme.
Co-Facilitator (2015-2016): Small Group Discovery Experience Community of Practice
Teaching Responsibilities:
Program Director: B.Psyc Sci (Hons) 2016-2018. Grad. Dip. Psyc. (Adv) 2020 - 2022;
Course Coordinator: Foundations of Perception and Cognition; Big Picture Psychology: Global Challenges, Psychological Perspectives; Human Behaviour & Criminal Justice: Applying Psychology; Human Factors; Contemporary Issues in Psychology 1
Course Contributor:
Psychol 1004: Research Methods in Psychology (Statistics and Ethics)
Psychol 2006: Foundations of Perception and Cognition (Decision Making)
Psychol 2008: Big Picture Psychology: Global Challenges, Psychological Perspectives (Climate Change and Cognition)
Psychol 3023: Perception and Cognition (Applied Cognition)
Psychol 4201/4301: Research Methods and Statistics (Bootstrapping and Resampling Methods)
Psychol 7130: Evidence Based Practice (Statistical Guide for Ethical Practitioners)
| Date | Role | Research Topic | Program | Degree Type | Student Load | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Principal Supervisor | The project studies how human-like Al features influence perceptions of machine consciousness and human behaviors. It develops experimental tools, a mind perception measure, and publishes methods, datasets, and findings to advance understandings of human-Al interaction. | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Mr Oliver Craig Lack |
| 2025 | Co-Supervisor | Quantifying Online Persuadability: Analysis, Metrics Development, and Application in Digital Discourse. | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Mr Gia Bao Hoang |
| 2025 | Principal Supervisor | The project studies how human-like Al features influence perceptions of machine consciousness and human behaviors. It develops experimental tools, a mind perception measure, and publishes methods, datasets, and findings to advance understandings o | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Mr Oliver Craig Lack |
| 2025 | Co-Supervisor | Quantifying Online Persuadability: Analysis, Metrics Development, and Application in Digital Discourse. | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Mr Gia Bao Hoang |
| 2024 | Co-Supervisor | Reasoning from consensus: exploring perceptions of the value of consensus quality information in online reasoning. | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Mr Joseph Higginson |
| 2024 | Co-Supervisor | Exploring the Impact of Artificial Light for Plant Growth on Human Mood, Emotion and Task Performance | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Ms Tika Ardina Hanjani |
| 2024 | Principal Supervisor | Developing a clinician-informed model for predicting cognitive trajectories in individuals with schizophrenia using machine learning methods. | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Miss Shamini Thirugnana Sambandam |
| 2024 | Co-Supervisor | Exploring the Impact of Artificial Light for Plant Growth on Human Mood, Emotion and Task Performance | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Ms Tika Ardina Hanjani |
| 2024 | Co-Supervisor | Reasoning from consensus: exploring perceptions of the value of consensus quality information in online reasoning. | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Mr Joseph Higginson |
| 2024 | Principal Supervisor | Investigating Human-AI Interactions: An Empirical Foundation to Understand and Measure Human Perceptions of Machine Consciousness | - | Master | Full Time | Mr Oliver Craig Lack |
| 2024 | Principal Supervisor | Developing a clinician-informed model for predicting cognitive trajectories in individuals with schizophrenia using machine learning methods. | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Miss Shamini Thirugnana Sambandam |
| 2023 | Principal Supervisor | The Cost of Keeping Gruesome Images from the World: Content Moderation and Psychological Harm | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Miss Ishi Jamdagni |
| 2023 | Principal Supervisor | The Cost of Keeping Gruesome Images from the World: Content Moderation and Psychological Harm | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Miss Ishi Jamdagni |
| 2022 | Principal Supervisor | Understanding Bias Caused by User Interaction with AI in High-Risk Decision Making | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Miss Lana Tikhomirov |
| 2022 | Co-Supervisor | Sharing Misinformation: The Socio-Psychological Mechanisms of Spread | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Miss Emily Brooke Mullins |
| 2022 | Co-Supervisor | Sharing Misinformation: The Socio-Psychological Mechanisms of Spread | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Miss Emily Brooke Mullins |
| 2022 | Principal Supervisor | Understanding Bias Caused by User Interaction with AI in High-Risk Decision Making | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Miss Lana Tikhomirov |
| 2020 | Principal Supervisor | Prevention of burnout in high risk populations: The effectiveness of mind-body interventions. | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Part Time | Peter Chee Chu |
| 2020 | Principal Supervisor | Prevention of burnout in high risk populations: The effectiveness of mind-body interventions. | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Peter Chee Chu |
| 2019 | Principal Supervisor | The effects of creativity on neuroplasticity and cognition in adults with post-traumatic stress disorder | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Miss Tanya Jane Duckworth |
| 2019 | Principal Supervisor | The effects of creativity on neuroplasticity and cognition in adults with post-traumatic stress disorder | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Miss Tanya Jane Duckworth |
| 2018 | Principal Supervisor | Cognitive Psychology and Epistemological Crisis | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Part Time | Dr Joseph Smith |
| 2018 | Principal Supervisor | Cognitive Psychology and Epistemological Crisis | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Dr Joseph Smith |
| Date | Role | Research Topic | Program | Degree Type | Student Load | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 - 2024 | Principal Supervisor | The Affordance of Gaming-Inspired Visualisations in Battle Management Systems | Master of Philosophy (Medical Science) | Master | Part Time | Mr Simon Benjamin Wildermuth |
| 2020 - 2021 | Co-Supervisor | What helps team learning? Egalitarianism, hardship, and leadership in Australian Army teams |
Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Part Time | Ms Christina Frances Stothard |
| 2018 - 2022 | Principal Supervisor | Developing a Strong(er) Theory of Eyewitness Memory: The Selection, Verification, and Application of Mathematical Models of Identification Decisions | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Part Time | Mrs Kym Michelle McCormick |
| 2017 - 2019 | Principal Supervisor | WHAT LIES BEHIND THE DATA? HOW SAMPLING ASSUMPTIONS SHAPE AND ARE SHAPED BY INDUCTIVE INFERENCE | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Part Time | Mr Keith James Ransom |
| 2017 - 2017 | Principal Supervisor | Using Comparison Judgements to Study Representations | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Mr Steven William Langsford |
| 2016 - 2021 | Principal Supervisor | Applying Signal Detection Models to Investigate the Effect of Sequential Item Presentation on the Police Lineup Task | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Dr Matthew Philip Kaesler |
| 2014 - 2019 | Co-Supervisor | Does it matter why people forgive? How a victim's reasons for forgiving change the outcomes of forgiveness | Doctor of Philosophy with Master of Psychology (Organisational and Human Factors) | Doctorate | Full Time | Jordan Brian Gabriels |
| 2013 - 2018 | Principal Supervisor | Forensic Science and Juror Decision Making: Can Jurors Be Taught to Recognise Bias? | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Mr Alexandre Benjamin Forndran |
| 2013 - 2017 | Principal Supervisor | The Impact of Age-Related Variables on Facial Comparisons with Images of Children: Algorithm and Practitioner Performance | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Dr Dana Jaclyn Michalski |
| 2013 - 2018 | Principal Supervisor | Considering Forensic Science: Juror Decision Making and Unvalidated Identification Evidence | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Miss Charlotte Rachel Scobie |
| 2011 - 2015 | Principal Supervisor | A Psychological Approach to Understanding and Resisting the Influence of Advertising from the Pharmaceutical Industry | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Dr Brennan Zehao Ong |
| 2011 - 2017 | Principal Supervisor | Narrative Recall in an Investigative Interview: Insight into Witness Metacognition | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Part Time | Ms Elizabeth Leonora Fontaine |
| 2010 - 2015 | Principal Supervisor | Differential Effects of Confirming Post-Identification Feedback on Eyewitness Testimony-Relevant Judgments | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Ms Adella Bhaskara |
| 2008 - 2010 | Co-Supervisor | Decision Making in Civil Disputes: The Effect of Role and Frame | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Miss Victoria Gilliland |
| 2008 - 2013 | Principal Supervisor | Understanding One-to-Many Unfamiliar Face Matching in the Operational Context: The Impact of Candidate List Size, Expertise, and Decision Aids on the Performance of Facial Recognition System Users | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Dr Rebecca Louise Heyer |
| 2007 - 2009 | Co-Supervisor | Item Noise versus Context Noise: Using the List Length Effect to Investigate the Source of Interference in Recognition Memory | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Dr Angela Kinnell |
| 2007 - 2011 | Co-Supervisor | The Development of an Implicit Association Test for Measuring Forgiveness | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Mr Jeremy Goldring |
| Date | Role | Research Topic | Location | Program | Supervision Type | Student Load | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 - 2024 | Principal Supervisor | Momentary Variations in Psychological Flexibility: Assessing Response to Daily Stressors in Elite Athlete Populations | University of Adelaide | B.Psyc.(Hons) | Honours | Full Time | Caleb Farnsworth |
| 2024 - 2024 | Principal Supervisor | Love Pigs, but Eat Bacon? The Effects of Gender and Meat Type on Cognitive Dissonance in Meat Eaters | University of Adelaide | B.Psych. (Hons) | Honours | Full Time | Huey Lee |
| 2024 - 2024 | Principal Supervisor | Towards understanding anthropomorphism: How effectance motivation and personality factors contribute to the creating a perceived relationship between a human user and Generative Artificial Intelligence (G-AI) model | University of Adelaide | B. Psych. Sci. (Hons) | Honours | Part Time | Joshua Niles |
| 2024 - 2024 | Principal Supervisor | Does Psychological Flexibility and Regular Physical Activity Reduce Burnout in Psychology Honours Students? | University of Adelaide | B. Psyc. Sci (Hons) | Honours | Full Time | Sarah Gill |
| 2024 - 2024 | Principal Supervisor | Adaptive Athletic Goal Pursuit: Evaluating goal centrality, sports confidence and perceived performance as correlates of psychological flexibility in competitive athletes | University of Adelaide | B. Psyc. Sci. (Hons) | Honours | Full Time | Pricilla Vokolos |
| 2022 - 2022 | Principal Supervisor | Understanding the Social and Moral Psychological Dimensions of Content Moderation | University of Adelaide | B. Psyc. Sci (Hons) | Honours | Full Time | Jeniece van Heer |
| 2022 - 2022 | Principal Supervisor | The Relationships between Motivations, Goals, and Psychological Flexibility among Individual and Team Sport Australian Athletes | University of Adelaide | B.Psyc. Sci. (Hons) | Honours | Full Time | Jacinta Fisher |
| 2021 - 2021 | Principal Supervisor | Psychological Flexibility: understanding how athletes regulate emotion and cope with stress while pursuing meaningful goals | University of Adelaide | B. Psych. Sci. (Hons) | Honours | Part Time | Thomas Rutherford |
| 2020 - 2020 | Principal Supervisor | Effects Of Gender And Culture On Jury Perception of Provocation Defense in Intimate Partner Violence | University of Adelaide | B. Psyc. Sci (Hons) | Honours | Full Time | Blai Roberts |
| 2020 - 2020 | Principal Supervisor | An Experimental Test of the Effects of Goal Types on Creative Performance | University of Adelaide | B.Psyc. Sci (Hons) | Honours | Full Time | Simon Pietsch |
| 2020 - 2020 | Principal Supervisor | The impact of social media posts as pretrial publicity on mock juror interpretations of evidence | University of Adelaide | B. Psych. Sci. (Hons) | Honours | Part Time | Stacey Mosopho |
| 2019 - 2019 | Principal Supervisor | Pretrial Publicity and Juror Perception of Defendant Culpability: Social Media Biasing the right to a Fair Trial | University of Adelaide | B. Psyc. Sci (Hons) | Honours | Full Time | Andrew Huckstepp |
| 2019 - 2019 | Principal Supervisor | he Impact of Age on Human Face Matching Performance with Images of Children | University of Adelaide | B.Psyc (Hons) | Honours | Full Time | Eden Clothier |
| 2019 - 2019 | Principal Supervisor | Individual differences and related emotion-detection abilities in cross-race context | University of Adelaide | B. Psyc. (Hons) | Honours | Full Time | Hanwen Zhang |
| 2019 - 2019 | Principal Supervisor | Investigating the Relationship of Self-reported Emotions and Expression of Emotions in both Free and Suppressed Conditions | University of Adelaide | B. Psyc. Sci. (Hons) | Honours | Full Time | Natasha Jovic |
| 2019 - 2019 | Principal Supervisor | Human Performance in Emotion Recognition and Face Memory | University of Adelaide | B. Psyc. Sci. (Hons) | Honours | Full Time | Vincent Barbaro |
| 2018 - 2018 | Principal Supervisor | Meat-Eating, Cognitive Dissonance and Individual Differences | The University of Adelaide | B.Psyc. Sci. (Hons) | Honours | Full Time | Stephanie Di Stasio |
| 2016 - 2016 | Principal Supervisor | No Jab, No Pay Policy: Attitudes and Behaviours | The University of Adelaide | Bachelor of Psychological Science (Hons) | Honours | Full Time | Sha-Nin Cheong |
| 2016 - 2016 | Principal Supervisor | The Meat Paradox: Cognitive Dissonance Theory, Gender and the Impact of Animal Awareness | The University of Adelaide | Bachelor of Psychological Science (Hons) | Honours | Full Time | Elisha Dowsett |
| 2016 - 2016 | Principal Supervisor | Attributions of Blame in Interpersonal Violence: An Application to the Criminal Law Provocation Defence | The University of Adelaide | Bachelor of Psychological Science (Hons) | Honours | Full Time | Marilyn Korbelis |
| 2016 - 2016 | Principal Supervisor | The Impact of Exposure Duration and Target Prevalence on the Confidence-Accuracy Relationship in Unfamiliar Face Matching | The University of Adelaide | Bachelor of Psychological Science (Hons) | Honours | Full Time | Sandra Putek |
| 2016 - 2016 | Co-Supervisor | The Impact of Plastic Surgery on Human Face Matching Performance | The University of Adelaide | Bachelor of Psychological Sciences (Hons) | Honours | Full Time | Linna Vu |
| 2016 - 2016 | Co-Supervisor | Distracted Driving Behaviour and Speeding in Young Adult Drivers: Perceptions of Parent and Peer Influence | The University of Adelaide | Bachelor of Psychological Science (Hons) | Honours | Full Time | Grace Lushington |
| 2016 - 2016 | Co-Supervisor | Human Identification at a Distance: The Impact of Image Quality and Image Restoration Techniques on Human Face Matching Performance | The University of Adelaide | Bachelor of Psychological Science (Hons) | Honours | Full Time | Joseph Calleja |
| 2015 - 2015 | Principal Supervisor | Individual Differences in Facial Identification: Investigating Experience, Training and Selection Amongst Australian National Security Personnel | The University of Adelaide | Master of Psychology (Organisational and Human Factors) | Master | Full Time | Amelia Pervis |
| 2015 - 2015 | Principal Supervisor | Intentional or Incidental: The Influence of Encoding Conditions on Eyewitness Identification and Recall | The University of Adelaide | Bachelor of Psychology (Hons) | Honours | Full Time | Isabelle Pickett |
| 2015 - 2015 | Principal Supervisor | Can the Navon Task Improve Unfamiliar Face Matching Performance? | The University of Adelaide | Bachelor of Psychological Sciences (Hons) | Honours | Full Time | Miriam Broadhurst |
| 2015 - 2015 | Principal Supervisor | Individual Differences in Overprecision | The University of Adelaide | Bachelor of Psychology (Hons) | Honours | Full Time | Matthew Kaesler |
| 2014 - 2014 | Principal Supervisor | Hypothesis Revision in a Face Matching Task: Effects on Confidence-Accuracy Calibration | The University of Adelaide | Bachelor of Psychology (Hons) | Honours | Full Time | Hayley Prior |
| 2014 - 2014 | Principal Supervisor | Post-Identification Feedback: The Role of Specific Feebdack in Distorting Participants' Judgments About Distance | The University of Adelaide | Bachelor of Psychology (Hons) | Honours | Full Time | Luisa Cercone |
| 2014 - 2014 | Principal Supervisor | The Impact of Hedges on Juror Ability to Assess the Accuracy of Witness Testimony | The University of Adelaide | Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) | Honours | Full Time | Matthew Fantasia |
| 2013 - 2014 | Principal Supervisor | Outcome Feedback in a Face Matching Task: Effects on Confidence and Accuracy | The University of Adelaide | Bachelor of Health Sciences (Honours) | Honours | Full Time | Lauren Bateman |
| 2011 - 2011 | Principal Supervisor | Cognitive Dissonance and the Post-Identification Feedback Effect: Testing the Self-Standards Model Using Priming and Disconfirming Feedback | The University of Adelaide | Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) | Honours | Full Time | Charlotte Scobie |
| 2011 - 2011 | Principal Supervisor | Methadone and Eyewitness Memory | The University of Adelaide | Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) | Honours | Full Time | David O'Shaughnessy |
| 2011 - 2011 | Co-Supervisor | Probability Judgements in Civil Disputes: The Effect of Multiple Cues on Perceived Chance of Winning in Court | The University of Adelaide | Bachelor of Health Sciences (Honours) | Honours | Full Time | Sarah Hibbard |
| 2010 - 2010 | Principal Supervisor | The Role of Cognitive Dissonance in the Post-Identification Feedback Effect: The Impact of Consequences and Feedback on Eyewitness Testimony | The University of Adelaide | Bachelor of Health Sciences (Honours) | Honours | Full Time | Vanessa Zeleny |
| 2010 - 2010 | Principal Supervisor | Operational Job Experiences and Trainee Police Officer Wellbeing: Identifying Pathways to Promote More Resilient Police Officers | The University of Adelaide | Master of Psychology (Organisational and Human Factors) | Master | Full Time | Connie Migliore |
| 2009 - 2009 | Principal Supervisor | The Effects of State Anger in Juror Processing of Trial Information | The University of Adelaide | Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) | Honours | Full Time | Jessie Hurst |
| 2008 - 2008 | Principal Supervisor | Choosing as a Moderator Variable for the Post-Identification Feedback Effect | The University of Adelaide | Bachelor of Psychology (Hons) | Honours | Full Time | Anna Ashenden |
| 2008 - 2008 | Principal Supervisor | Confidence Malleability in a Word Recognition Task: The Role of Metacognitive Influences | University of Adelaide | Bachelor of Psychology (Hons) | Honours | Full Time | Andrew Ceniuch |
| 2008 - 2008 | Principal Supervisor | Misinformation effect on Eyeywitness Identification Decisions from a Sequential Lineup | The University of Adelaide | Bachelor of Health Sciences (Honours) | Honours | Full Time | Sze Mei Hung |
| Date | Role | Committee | Institution | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 - ongoing | Member | EMCR Brain Science Network | Australian Academy of Science | Australia |
| Date | Role | Membership | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 - ongoing | Member | American Psychological Association | United States |
| 2020 - ongoing | Member | Psychological Science Accelerator | United States |
| 2016 - ongoing | Member | Cognitive Science Society | United States |
| 2001 - ongoing | Member | Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition | United States |
| Date | Institution | Department | Organisation Type | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 - 2015 | Government of South Australia | South Australian Employment Tribunal Continuing Education | Instructional and training | Australia |
| 2008 - 2008 | Department of Education and Training | SACE | Instructional and training | Australia |
| Date | Role | Editorial Board Name | Institution | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 - 2024 | Editor | Applied Cognitive Psychology | John Wiley & Sons | United Kingdom |
| 2018 - ongoing | Consulting Editor | Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications | The Psychonomic Society | United States |
| Date | Office Name | Institution | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 - ongoing | Vice President | Psychology Foundation | Australia |
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