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After completing my PhD at the University of Sheffield in the U.K., I spent 5 years working with Dr. Michael Lamb at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in Bethesda, Maryland.
I joined the faculty at Wilfrid Laurier University in 2001 and was promoted to professor in 2009. While at Laurier, my research has been funded through grants awarded from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC); the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC); the Canadian Foundation for Innovation; the Ontario Innovation Trust; the Ministry of Enterprise, Opportunity and Innovation; the Australian Research Council and the Department of Justice.
I run the Child Memory Lab and enjoy working with graduate and undergraduate students, families in the community, doctors, nurses, social workers, lawyers, teachers and other professionals who work with children. I am the liaison for the Family Development Research Centre at Emmanuel at Brighton Daycare, and founded the BrainWorx summer camp. I am regularly consulted by judges, attorneys, police services and social work agencies regarding proper interviewing practices with children.
My research has forensic and educational applications. Forensic: I am interested in issues regarding children in the legal system such as memories of sexual abuse, interviews of alleged child victims and witnesses, and children’s experiences in the court system. Educational: I am interested in how children learn information from a variety of sources (e.g., the internet, peers, parents) and how knowledge develops over time.
- Premier’s Research Excellence Award.
- Wayman Mullins Award for most downloaded article. Society for Police and Criminal Psychology.
- Fogarty International Award, National Institutes of Health.
- Associate Editor, Journal of Criminology.
- Editorial Board, Psychology, Public Policy, and Law.
The Child Memory Lab is always interested in hearing from students looking for any of the following:
- Prospective MA or PhD students (in Developmental Psychology).
- Prospective undergraduate Honours Thesis students.
- Prospective graduate comprehensive students.
- Undergraduate Research Assistants (including NSERC USRA applicants).
- Student Volunteers (undergraduate or senior high school).
Excellent work ethic, reliability and responsibility are heavily considered when reviewing prospective students. If you have questions about work in the lab, feel free to contact me for more information.
Book Chapters
- Roberts, K.P., Drohan-Jennings, D., Brubacher, S.P. (2013). “The developmental aspects of the young child in child maltreatment cases”. In A. Giardino & R. Alexander (Eds.). Child maltreatment: A clinical guide and reference (4th Ed.). GW Medical Publishing, Inc. St. Louis, MO.
- Roberts, K.P., Brubacher, S.P., Price, H.L., & Powell, M.B. (2011). “Practice narratives”. (pp129-145). In Lamb, M.E., La Rooy, D., Katz, C., & Malloy, L. (2011). Children’s testimony: A Handbook of psychological research and forensic practice. Wiley-Blackwell.
- Evans, A.D., & Roberts, K.P. (2009). “Children in an information society: The relations between source monitoring, mental-state understanding and knowledge acquisition in young children”. (pp235-252). M. R. Kelley (Ed.) Applied Memory. Hauppage, NY: Nova Science Publishers.
- Roberts, K.P., & Evans, A.D. (2008). “Protecting alleged victims of child abuse in adult-based judicial systems”. In T. O’Neill & D. Zinga (Eds.). Children’s Rights: Theory, Policy, and Practice. (pp.195-215). University of Toronto Press: Toronto, Ontario.
Peer-reviewed Journal Articles
- Brubacher, S.P., Malloy, L.C., Lamb, M.E., & Roberts, K.P. (in press). “How do interviewers and children discuss individual occurrences of alleged repeated abuse in forensic interviews?” Applied Cognitive Psychology.
- Brubacher, S.P., Roberts, K.P., & Obhi, S. (in press). “Gaze, goals and growing up: Effects on imitative grasping.” British Journal of Developmental Psychology.
- Brubacher, S.P., Roberts, K.P., & Powell, M.B. (2012). “Retrieval of episodic versus generic information: Does the order of recall affect the amount and accuracy of details reported by children about repeated events?” Developmental Psychology, 48, 111-122.
- Schneider, L., Price, H.L., Roberts, K.P., & Hedrick, A. (2011). “Children’s episodic and generic reports of alleged abuse.” Applied Cognitive Psychology, 25, 862-870.
- Brubacher, S., Roberts, K.P., & Powell, M.B. (2011). “The Effects of practicing episodic versus scripted recall on children's subsequent narratives of a repeated event.” Psychology, Public Policy, & Law, 17, 286-314.
- Rischke, A., Roberts, K.P., & Price, H.L. (2011). “Using spaced learning principles to translate knowledge into behavior: Evidence from investigative interviews of alleged child abuse victims.” Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, 26, 58-67.
- Drohan-Jennings, D. Roberts, K.P., & Powell, M.B. (2010). “Mental context reinstatement increases resistance to misleading suggestions”. Psychiatry, Psychology, & Law, 17, 594-606.
- Roberts, K.P., & Lamb, M.E. (2010). “Reality-monitoring characteristics in confirmed and doubtful allegations of abuse.” Applied Cognitive Psychology, 24, 1049-1079.
- Price, H.L. & Roberts, K.P. (2007). “A practical guide to interviewing child witnesses”. Canadian Journal of Police and Security Services, 5, 152-160.
- Roberts, K.P., & Powell, M.B. (2007). “The roles of prior experience and the timing of misinformation on children’s event memories”. Child Development, 78, 1137-1152.
- Roberts, K.P., & Powell, M.B. (2006). “The consistency of false suggestions moderates children’s reports of a single instance of a repeated event: Predicting increases and decreases in suggestibility”. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 94, 68-89.
- PS275 Child Development
- PS375 Research in Developmental Psychology
- PS475 Seminar in Developmental Psychology
- PS490 Directed Studies
- PS499 Honours Thesis in Psychology
- PS675 Research Methods in Developmental Psychology
- PS875 Advanced Research Methods in Cognitive Development