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Amy Leach
PhD

Professor

Associate Dean, Research, Innovation and Graduate Studies

Forensic Psychology

Faculty of Social Science and Humanities

Contact information

2 Simcoe Street Downtown Oshawa
2000 Simcoe Street North
Oshawa, ON L1G 0C5

amy.leach@ontariotechu.ca
thelielab.com

Background

Dr. Amy-May Leach received her Master of Arts in Developmental Psychology degree in 2002 and her PhD in Social Psychology in 2006, both from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. She also has the unique experience of having worked as a Canada Border Services Agency Officer for four years. Thus, she has direct experience with the factors that affect forensic interviewing and decision-making.

Education

  • MA, Developmental Psychology Queen's University
  • PhD, Social Psychology Queen's University

Courses taught

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Introductory Psychology
  • Social Psychology

Research and expertise

  • lie detection
  • confessions and interrogations
  • eyewitness memory
  • wrongful convictions
  • detecting lies in adults
  • false confessions
  • eyewitness identifications
  • stigma of wrongful conviction

Master’s students

Claudia McArthur (2023 to present). Interpreter presence, language proficiency, and rapport development in multilingual interviews.

Chelsea Blake (2021 to 2023). Cognitive load and deception detection.

Katrina Villeneuve (2020 to 2022). Thin slicing and deception detection.

Ryan Lahay (2019 to 2021). Establishing the construct validity of scales intended to assess cognitive load and arousal during deception.

Elizabeth Solodukhin (2013 to 2015). Lying in a non-native language: Effects on emotionality and cognitive load.

Renee Snellings (2011 to 2013). The effect of language proficiency on second-language lie detection.

Cayla S. Da Silva (2009 to 2011). Detecting deception in second-language speakers.

PhD students

Katrina Villeneuve (2022-present). Examining the apologies in investigative interviews.

Lyndsay Woolridge (2016 to present). The role of accentedness, fluency, and grammar in the detection of non-native speakers’ deception.

Elizabeth Elliott (2015 to 2022). Underlying components of lie detection decisions.

2018: SSHRC, Insight Grant. Leach, A.M., Dufraimont, L., (Collaborator) & Gazaille, M. (Collaborator) Levelling the playing field: Examining the effect of language proficiency and interpreter presence on witnesses’ testimony.

2016: SSHRC, Insight Development Grant, Cutler, B. L., Leach, A.-M., (Collaborator) & Marion, S. (Collaborator) Development and validation of the Coercion Assessment Instrument for Witness and Suspect Interviews.

2011: SSHRC, Insight Development Grant. Leach, A.-M., & Ammar, N. (Collaborator). Behind the veil: Detecting the deception of concealed witnesses.

2011: SSHRC, Standard Research Grant. Leach, A.-M.Language proficiency and deception detection.

2010: American Psychology-Law Society, Grant-in-Aid. Leach, A.-M. Detecting the deception of second-language speakers.

2010: Office of Research Services/SSHRC, Internal Grant. The effect of observation on deception.

2008: Office of Research Services/SSHRC, Internal Grant.Leach, A.-M. The effects of second-language interviews on lie detection strategies.

Involvement

  • Selected publications

    Lahay, R., Leach, A.-M., Cutler, B. L., Woolridge, L. W., & Elliott, E. (2025). (MIS)measuring cognitive load and arousal in deception: A multitrait–multimethod analysis. Legal and Criminological Psychology, 30(1), 127–142. 

    Elliott, E., & Leach, A.-M. (2024). False impressions? The effect of language proficiency on cues, perceptions, and lie detection. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science / Revue canadienne des sciences du comportement, 56(1), 31–40.

    Woolridge, L. R., Leach, A.-M., Blake, C., & Elliott, E. (2024). Do accents speak louder than words? Perceptions of linguistic speech characteristics on deception detection. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 43(2), 195-223.

    Volk, A. A., Leach, A.-M., Connolly, J. A., Lawford, H. L., & Bukowski, W. M. (2023). Demystifying SSHRC psychology insight grants: Reviewers’ perspectives. Canadian Psychology / Psychologie canadienne, 64(4), 290–298.

    Kaplan, J., Cutler, B. L., Leach, A.-M., & Eastwood, J. (2023). Development of the Interview and Interrogation Assessment Instrument. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 29(1), 46–61. Download pdf here

    Leach, A.-M., Woolridge, L. R., Cutler, B. L., Neuschatz, J. S., & Jenkins, B. D. (2022). Covid-19 and the courtroom: How social and cognitive psychological processes might affect trials during a pandemic. Psychology, Crime & Law, 8, 731-762. 

  • Presentations

    Ferguson, B., Leach, A.-M. Villeneuve, K., & McArthur, C. (2025, February 7). Interpretation in suspect interviews. Paper presented at the Virtual Forensic Psychology Annual Conference.

    Villeneuve, K. C., Leach, A.-M., Ewanation, L., & Cutler, B. L. (2025, February 7). Revisiting apologies: Examining the presence of apologies and apology prompting in investigative interviews. Paper presented at the Virtual Forensic Psychology Annual Conference.

    McArthur, C., Leach, A.-M., Villeneuve, K. C., Blake, C., Gazaille, M., & Dufraimont, L. L. (2024, March 22). Interpreter mediation, language proficiency, and rapport development in multilingual interviews. Paper presented at the 2024 AP-LS Conference, Los Angeles, CA.

    Woolridge, L. R., Leach, A.-M., Blake, C., & Elliott, E. (2024, March 21). Perceptions of linguistic speech characteristics on deception detection. Paper presented at the 2024 AP-LS Conference, Los Angeles, CA.

    Villeneuve, K. C., Leach, A.-M., Ewanation, L., & Cutler, B. L. (2024, March 21). Revisiting apologies: Examining the prevalence of apologies in investigative interviews. Paper presented at the 2024 AP-LS Conference, Los Angeles, CA.

    Villeneuve, K. C., Leach, A.-M., Elliott, E., & Lahay, R. (2023, February). The impact of thin slicing on deception detection accuracy and confidence. Paper presented at the 2023 Canadian Forensic Psychology Virtual Conference.

    Villeneuve, K. C., Leach, A.-M., Elliott, E., & Lahay, R. (2023, March). The effect of exposure length on deception detection. Paper presented at the 2023 AP-LS Conference, Philadelphia, PA.

    Elliott, E., & Leach, A.-M. (2023, March). Lessons learned from post hoc deception detection. Paper presented at the 2023 APLS Conference, Philadelphia, PA.

    Blake, C. K., Leach, A-M., *Villeneuve, K. C. (2023, March). Dual-task interference and its influence on deception detection and memory. Poster presented at the 2023 AP-LS Conference, Philadelphia, PA.