Dr Zsofia Szojka BA, PhD

• Lecturer in Criminology
• Module Lead for Introduction to Psychology and Criminological Contexts (Level 4)
• Module Lead for Social and Investigative Forensic Psychology (Level 6)
• Module Co-lead for Criminal Investigative Psychology (Level 7)

• 2022: Center for the Changing Family Faculty Fellowship
• 2016: American Psychology – Law Society Undergraduate Paper Award
• 2013: University of Cambridge Otakar Vocadlo Studentship

• Member of the American Psychology – Law Society
• Member of the International Investigative Interviewing Research Group

Zsofia’s research focuses on the intersections among Developmental Psychology, Cognitive Psychology and Law, in particular on the ways in which research on children’s linguistic and cognitive development can inform practice and policy in child maltreatment investigations. As a PhD student at Royal Holloway, University of London and a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Southern California, she examined children’s memory and communication using a variety of research methodologies, most notably, field research analysing samples of police interviews and court transcripts from the United Kingdom and LA County, and analogue experiments involving children recruited from schools in England. Her current research interests involve children’s understanding of the implied meaning of questions and answers in legal settings, children’s ability to describe their body parts and touch experienced on their body, and the reasons why children recant sexual abuse allegations.

Key funded projects

Zsofia’s project examining children’s knowledge of the names, functions and properties of their body parts in the context of child sexual abuse investigations has been awarded $10,000 from the Center for the Changing Family in 2022. The first study from the project examined 113 court trials with 5- to 10-year-old victims of child sexual abuse showed that attorneys elicited more child-generated information about sexual body part knowledge and sexual touch when they used wh-questions rather than option-posing questions, and that questions about the function of body parts were particularly effective in increasing the specificity of children’s body part descriptions (Szojka et al., 2023b). A follow-up study examining vagueness and specificity in children’s descriptions of their body parts in best practice forensic interviews about child sexual abuse is currently underway.

• Szojka, Z.A, Yashraj, S. & Lyon, T.D. (in press). Automated question type coding of forensic interviews and trial testimony in child sexual abuse cases. Law and Human Behavior.
• Szojka, Z. A., & Lyon, T. D. (2024). Children's elaborated responses to yes-no questions in forensic interviews about sexual abuse. Child Maltreatment, 29(4), 637–647.
• Szojka, Z. A., Moussavi, N., Burditt, C., & Lyon, T. D. (2023). Attorneys’ questions and children’s responses referring to the nature of sexual touch in child sexual abuse trials. Child Maltreatment, 28(3), 438–449.
• Szojka, Z. A., Henderson, H. M., Hur, J., Siepmann, H., & Lyon, T. D. (2023). Elaborations and denials in children’s responses to yes–no any/some questions in forensic interviews. Child Maltreatment, 28(3), 407–416.
• Szojka, Z. A., Nicol, A., Frenguelli, N., La Rooy, D., Henderson, H. (2021) The impact of multiple interviews on the accuracy and narrative coherence of children’s memories. Psychology, Crime & Law,
• Szojka, Z. A., Nicol, A., & La Rooy, D. (2020). Narrative coherence in multiple forensic interviews with child witnesses alleging physical and sexual abuse. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 34, 943– 960.
• Szojka, Z. A., Andrews, S. J., Lamb, M. E., Stolzenberg, S. N., & Lyon, T. D. (2017). Challenging the credibility of alleged victims of child sexual abuse in Scottish courts. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 23(2), 200–210.

• Szojka, Z. A., Yashraj, S. & Lyon, T.D. (2024, March). Automated question type coding of forensic interviews and trial testimony in child sexual abuse cases. Presented at the American Psychology-Law Society Annual Conference, Los Angeles, United States.
• Szojka, Z. A., Wylie, B. E., Nogalska, A., Reay, A., Graham, M., Kwan, M., & Lyon, T. D. (2023, September). Recanting children’s descriptions of familial pressures to recant child sexual abuse. Presented at the International Investigative Interviewing Research Group Virtual Conference.
• Szojka, Z.A., & Lyon, T. D. (2023, March). Children’s elaborated responses to yes-no questions in forensic interviews. Presented at the American Psychology-Law Society Annual Conference, Philadelphia, United States.
• Szojka, Z. A., Moussavi, N., Burditt, C., & Lyon, T. D. (2022, June). Attorneys’ questions and children’s responses referring to the nature of genital touch in child sexual abuse trials. Presented at the International Investigative Interviewing Research Group Annual Conference, Winchester, United Kingdom.
• Szojka, Z. A., Henderson, H. M., Hur, J., Siepmann, H., & Lyon, T. D. (2022, March). Elaborations and denials in children’s responses to yes/no any/some questions in forensic interviews. Presented at the American Psychology-Law Society Annual Conference, Denver, United States.
• Szojka, Z. A., La Rooy, D. (2020, March). Promoting narrative coherence: The impact of multiple interviews and questioning strategy on causal-temporal connections in children’s testimony. Presented at the American Psychology-Law Society Annual Conference, New Orleans, United States.
• Szojka, Z. A., La Rooy, D. (2019, June). The effect of multiple interviews on the narrative coherence of forensic interviews with children alleging sexual and physical abuse. Presented at the International Investigative Interviewing Research Group Annual Conference, Stavern, Norway.
• Szojka, Z. A., Andrews, S. J., Lamb, M. E., Stolzenberg, S. N., & Lyon, T. D. (2016, March). Presented at the American Psychology-Law Society Annual Conference, Atlanta, United States.