Dr. Laura Melnyk Gribble is the Associate Academic Dean (Interim) and an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology. She has served as Chair of the Department of Psychology (2023-26, 2017-19), Associate Academic Dean (2019-22), and Acting Vice-Principal and Academic Dean (Summer 2020).
Dr. Melnyk Gribble teaches courses in forensic psychology, psychology and law, and developmental psychology. Her teaching has been recognized with the King's University College Award of Excellence in Teaching and the Western University Award of Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching.
Education
- Ph.D., Psychology, McGill University
- B.A. (Hons.), Psychology, McMaster University
Teaching
- Psychology and Law
- Forensic Psychology
- Developmental Psychology
Research
- Interviewing techniques to facilitate children's memory
- Forensic interviewing
- Face recognition / line-up accuracy
- Criminal responsibility
- Juror decision-making
Selected Publications
Hobin, G., & Melnyk, L. (2026). Canadians’ perceptions and attitudes regarding the Not Criminally Responsible on Account of Mental Disorder defence. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 58(1), 35-44. https://doi.org/10.1037/cbs0000446
London, K., Bruck, M., Poole, D. A., & Melnyk, L. (2011). The development of metasuggestibility in children. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 25 (1), 146-155.
Bruck, M., & Melnyk, L. (2011). Individual differences in children’s suggestibility: A review and synthesis. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 25 (S1), S202-S252. (Our 2004 article was chosen to appear in the Applied Cognitive Psychology 25th anniversary special issue.)
London, K., Bruck, M., & Melnyk, L. (2009). Post-event information affects children’s autobiographical memory after one year. Law & Human Behavior, 33, 344-355.
Blanchette, I., Richards, A., Melnyk, L., & Lavda, A. (2007). Reasoning about emotional issues following shocking terrorist attacks: A tale of three cities. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 13, 47-56.
Melnyk, L., Crossman, A. M., & Scullin, M. H. (2007). The suggestibility of children’s memory. In M. P. Toglia, J. D. Read, D. F. Ross, & R. C. L. Lindsay (Eds.), Handbook of eyewitness psychology, Vol. 1.: Memory for events (p. 401-427). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Crossman, A. M., Scullin, M. H., & Melnyk, L. (2004). Individual and developmental differences in suggestibility. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 18 (8), 941-945.
Bruck, M., & Melnyk, L. (2004). Individual differences in children’s suggestibility: A review and synthesis. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 18, 947-996.
Melnyk, L., & Bruck, M. (2004). Timing moderates the effects of repeated suggestive interviewing on children’s eyewitness memory. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 18, 613-631.
Bruck, M., Melnyk, L., & Ceci, S. J. (2000). Draw it again Sam: The effect of drawing on children’s suggestibility and source monitoring ability. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 77, 169-196.
Selected conference presentations (last 10 years)
Melnyk, L., & Acres, V. (2026, July). Preschool children’s limited persons descriptions are not due to memory factors. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the International Investigative Interviewing Research Group, Leuven, Belgium.
Melnyk, L., Ellis, W., & Hutchinson, L. (2026, July). Disconnecting from social media and connecting with parents: Adolescents’ social self-efficacy and social media use. Poster presented at the meeting of the Self-Determination Theory Conference, Geneva, Switzerland.
Ellis, W., Hutchinson, L., & Melnyk, L. (2026, July). Talking, connecting, and scrolling: A dyadic investigation of parent and adolescent problematic social media use. Poster presented at the meeting of the Self-Determination Theory Conference, Geneva.
Hutchinson, L., Ellis, W., & Melnyk, L. (2026, July). Goals at home, goals online: Parents’ influence on teens’ academic and social media motives. Poster presented at the meeting of the Self-Determination Theory Conference, Geneva.
Melnyk, L., & Hobin, G. (2025, June). Canadians’ Understanding of the Not Criminally Responsible on Account of Mental Disorder defence. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Canadian Psychological Association, St. John’s, NL.
Hunter, H., & Melnyk Gribble, L. (2024, March). Are perceptions of defendant testimony influenced by legal attitudes and legal expertise? Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychology-Law Society, Los Angeles, CA.
Murphy, J., & Melnyk Gribble, L. (2024, March). Do defendant testimony decisions influence jury verdicts? Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychology-Law Society, Los Angeles, CA.
Melnyk Gribble, L. (2019, June). Assessing the reliability of abuse allegations in a recent Canadian case. Paper presented at the International Investigative Interviewing Research Group, Stavern, Norway.
Melnyk Gribble, L., & Skikavich, N. (2019, June). A “head to head” comparison of modified lineup procedures for child witnesses. Paper presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, Cape Cod, MA.
Melnyk Gribble, L., & Skikavich, N. (2018, July). Comparing lineup procedures to facilitate children’s face recognition. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour, and Cognitive Science, St. John’s, NL.
Melnyk Gribble, L., & Skikavich, N. (2018, March). Developmental changes in children’s accuracy on lineup tasks: Comparing the elimination and wildcard lineup procedures. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychology-Law Society, Memphis, TN.
Melnyk Gribble, L., & Romanchych, E. L. (2017, April). Face encoding deficits underlie preschool children’s high false identification rates in lineups. Poster presented at biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Austin, TX.
Melnyk Gribble, L., & Skikavich, N. (2017, March). Comparing the wildcard and elimination lineup procedures with child eyewitnesses. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychology-Law Society, Seattle, WA.
Melnyk Gribble, L. (2016, June). Parental bias a source of interviewer bias: A case study. Paper presented at the International Investigative Interviewing Research Group, Buckinghamshire, London, UK.
Wilson, C.A., & Melnyk Gribble, L. (2016, May). Removal of glasses impairs face recognition, but only for certain types of glasses. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Psychological Science, Chicago, IL.
Melnyk Gribble, L., & Wilson, C.A. (2016, March). Eyes on the disguise: How does changing the type of eyeglasses influence face recognition? Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychology-Law Society, Atlanta, GA.
Melnyk Gribble, L., & Rempel, C. (2016, March). Preschool children’s suggestibility is consistent 1-week and 4-months following post-event misinformation. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychology-Law Society, Atlanta, GA.