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Ontario Tech acknowledges the lands and people of the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation.

We are thankful to be welcome on these lands in friendship. The lands we are situated on are covered by the Williams Treaties and are the traditional territory of the Mississaugas, a branch of the greater Anishinaabeg Nation, including Algonquin, Ojibway, Odawa and Pottawatomi. These lands remain home to many Indigenous nations and peoples.

We acknowledge this land out of respect for the Indigenous nations who have cared for Turtle Island, also called North America, from before the arrival of settler peoples until this day. Most importantly, we acknowledge that the history of these lands has been tainted by poor treatment and a lack of friendship with the First Nations who call them home.

This history is something we are all affected by because we are all treaty people in Canada. We all have a shared history to reflect on, and each of us is affected by this history in different ways. Our past defines our present, but if we move forward as friends and allies, then it does not have to define our future.

Learn more about Indigenous Education and Cultural Services

Brian Cutler
PhD

Professor

Forensic Psychology

Faculty of Social Science and Humanities

Contact information

brian.cutler@ontariotechu.ca

Background

Over the past 30+ years, Dr. Cutler has held faculty and academic administrative positions at Florida International University (1987 to 2002), the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (2002 to 2008), and Ontario Tech University (2008 to present).

As a university professor, Dr. Cutler has taught a variety of psychology and criminology courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels and has supervised undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students in research. Dr. Cutler also has taught continuing legal education workshops in his areas of expertise. For 19 years Dr. Cutler served in the roles of Department Chair, Associate Dean, and Interim Dean. In these capacities, he has held leadership roles in faculty and staff affairs, university planning, budget management, academic program development, and fundraising.

Since 1983, Dr. Cutler has conducted research on various forensic and social psychology topics. He has active research programs on eyewitness memory, interrogations, and police psychology, from social and cognitive psychological perspectives. Dr. Cutler has held research grants from the National Science Foundation of the United States and Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

Dr. Cutler’s publications include Editor or Author of The APA Handbook of Forensic Psychology, the Encyclopedia of Psychology and Law, Reform of Eyewitness Identification Procedures, Conviction of the Innocent: Lessons from Psychological Research, and five other books. He is also an author of more than 25 book chapters and 65 peer-reviewed articles in psychology, law, and interdisciplinary journals, and 25 articles in professional newsletters. Dr. Cutler has given more than 100 professional conferences at universities.

Dr. Cutler has had active collaborations with psychology, criminology, law, sociology, and computer science researchers from universities in the U.S., Canada, England, Germany, and Australia and the National Center for State Courts in the U.S. Some of his works have been translated into German, Japanese, and Korean.

Dr. Cutler is active in professional associations as well. He served as President of the American Psychology-Law Society (Division 41 of the American Psychological Association) and Editor-in-Chief of the peer-reviewed journal Law and Human Behavior. He served as Division 41 Council Representative for the American Psychological Association and is an advisor to APA’s Amicus Brief program. He is a Distinguished Member of the American Psychology-Law Society and Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science.

Curriculum vitae

Education

  • PhD, Social Psychology University of Wisconsin 1987

Courses taught

  • Introductory Psychology
  • Forensic Psychology
  • Research Methods
  • Social Psychology

Research and expertise

Research background and interests:

  • eyewitness memory
  • interrogation and confessions
  • wrongful conviction

Research supervision areas: 

  • false accusations
  • false confessions
  • mistaken eyewitness identification

Involvement

  • Recent publications

    Marion, S., Kaplan, J., and Cutler, B. L. (2019). Expert testimony. In N. Brewer & A. Douglass (Eds.), Psychological Sciences and the Law (pp. 318-337). New York, Guilford Publications.

    Kaplan, J., Cutler, B. L., Leach, A. M., Eastwood, J., and Marion, S. (2019). Evaluating coercion in suspect interviews and interrogations. In B. H. Bornstein & M. K. Miller (Eds)., Advances in Psychology and Law, Volume 4 (pp. 1-40). New York: Springer.

    Cutler, B. L., & Leo, R. A. (2016). Analyzing videotaped interrogations and confessions. The Champion, December.

    Leo, R. A., & Cutler, B. L. (2016). False confessions in the 21st century. The Champion, May.

    Loney, D. M., & Cutler, B. L. (2016). Coercive interrogation of eyewitnesses can produce false accusations. Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, 31, 29-36.

    Cutler, B. L., Findley, K. A., & Moore, T. E. (2014). Interrogations and false confessions: A psychological perspective. Canadian Criminal Law Review, 18, 153-170.

    Cutler, B. L., Loney, D., & Findley, K. A. (2014). Expert testimony on interrogations and false confessions. University of Missouri Kansas City Law Review, 82, 589-622.

    Cutler, B. L., & Zapf, P. A. (Editors). (2014). The APA Handbook of Forensic Psychology. Washington DC: American Psychological Association Press.

    Moore, T. E., Cutler, B. L., & Shulman, D. (2014). Shaping eyewitness and alibi testimony with coercive interview practices. The Champion, October, p. 34-42.

    Smith, A. M., Lindsay, R. C. L., & Cutler, B. L. (2014). Eyewitness psychology in the context of international criminal law. In I. Bantekas and E. Mylonaki (Eds.), Criminological approaches to international criminal law (pp. 159-191). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.