Dr Clea Wright | University of Chester

Senior Lecturer

Clea’s main teaching and supervision areas are in Investigative and Forensic Psychology. Her research interests lie primarily in real world deceptive behaviour, and in various aspects of investigative interviewing, and her work is particularly focused on collaboration with both academic and practitioner colleagues, to produce theoretically-informed, evidence-based research that has a strongly applied focus.

Clea’s research, whilst stemming from investigative and forensic psychology, incorporates elements of social psychology, cognitive psychology, and social cognition. Examples of research areas include investigating deceptive behaviour in real life high stakes situations, police accuracy in detecting real world deception, individual differences that affect the ability to detect deception, interviewer tactics in police interviews with homicide suspects.

Clea is Deputy Programme Leader for the BSc Forensic Psychology, module leader for Forensic and Criminal Psychology, and is the Forensic and Investigative Psychology Research Group Leader.

Clea contributes to teaching on undergraduate modules Forensic and Criminal Psychology (PS4019), Real World Applications in Forensic Psychology (PS5001), Forensic Psychology: Detection, Detention, Treatment and Trial (PS5002) and Applications in Forensic Psychology: Specialist Approaches (PS6009) . She also supervises undergraduate and Masters level dissertations, and is currently supervising four PhD projects.

Clea’s research interests lie primarily in real world deceptive behaviour, and investigative interviewing. Previous research has included the development of methodological approaches to generate previously unidentified cues to deception, developing multiple-cue approaches to detecting deception in specific contexts, investigating the predictive value of consensus judgements of deception, identifying cues used by accurate deception detectors and strategies that they use to make credibility judgements, identifying individual characteristics that affect deception detection ability, and developing methodological approaches that address issues of ecological validity and contextual focus. Current projects include collaborations with a UK police service, investigating high stakes deception in a specific investigative context, and aspects of effective investigative interviewing.

Wright, C. (2021). Detecting Deception. In K. Corteen, R. Steele, N. Cross, M. McManus (Eds.), Forensic Psychology, Crime and Policing: Key Issue and Practical Debates. In press.

Stewart, S. L. K., Wright, C., & Atherton, C. (2018). Deception detection and truth detection are dependent on different cognitive and emotional traits: An investigation of emotional intelligence, theory of mind, and attention. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.

Wright, C. & Wheatcroft, J. M. (2017). Police officer’s beliefs about, and use of, cues to deception. Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling. Published online 26 March 2017. DOI: 10.1002/jip.1478

Wright Whelan, C., Wagstaff, G. F. & Wheatcroft, J. M. (2014). High Stakes Lies: Police and non-police Accuracy in Detecting Deception. Psychology, Crime and Law. Manuscript published online 21stJuly 2014. DOI: 10.1080/1068316X.2014.935777

Wright Whelan, C., Wagstaff, G. F. & Wheatcroft, J. M. (2013). High Stakes Lies: Verbal and Nonverbal Cues to Deception in Public Appeals for Help with Missing or Murdered Relatives. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law. Manuscript published online 23rd September 2013. DOI:10.1080/13218719.2013.839931

Wright Whelan, C., Wagstaff, G. F. & Wheatcroft, J. M. (2014). Subjective cues to deception/honesty in a high stakes situation: An exploratory approach. The Journal of Psychology: Interdisciplinary and Applied. Manuscript published online 7th May 2014. DOI: 10.1080/00223980.2014.911140

Conference Presentations

Miller, K., Mattison, M., Wright, C., Bramwell, R., & Dando, C. (2021). Question Types in Police Interviews with Homicide Suspects. Presented at IIIRGVIRTUAL2021, September 2021, online international conference of the International Investigative Interviewing Research Group.

Miller, K., Mattison, M., Wright, C., Bramwell, R., & Dando, C. (2021). Question Types in Police Interviews with Homicide Suspects. Presented at V-EAPL, August 2021, online international conference of the European Association of Psychology and Law.

Miller, K., Mattison, M., Wright, C., Bramwell, R. & Dando, C. (2019). Question types in police interviews with homicide suspects. Presentation at the British Psychology Society Forensic Division Conference, UK

Parker, L., Mattison, M. & Wright, C. (2019). Police caution comprehension in appropriate adults and the implications for the vulnerable suspect. Presentation at the British Psychology Society Forensic Division Conference, UK

Chandler, D., Bramwell, R., Wright, C., Mattison, M. & Shannon, K. (2018). Spotting the signs of potential child sexual abuse through perpetrator behaviour. Presentation at the International Family Violence and Child Victimization Research Conference, USA.

Wright, C., Wagstaff, G. F. & Wheatcroft, J. M. (2016). Police Officers’ beliefs about behaviours related to deception in a high stakes context. Presentation at the International Investigative Interviewing Research Group annual conference, London, United Kingdom.

Wright Whelan, C., Wagstaff, G. F. & Wheatcroft, J. M. (2014). Police officers’ and laypersons’ accuracy in detecting high stakes deception. Presentation at the International Investigative Interviewing Research Group annual conference, Lausanne, Switzerland.

Wright Whelan, C., Wagstaff, G. F. & Wheatcroft, J. M. (2012). High stakes lies: Identifying and using cues to deception and honesty in appeals for missing and murdered relatives. Paper presented at the International Investigative Interviewing Research Group annual conference 2012 in Toronto. Prize awarded for Best Student Presentation.

Clea is a chartered psychologist and a fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Her PhD, for which she won an ESRC Studentship, was awarded by the University of Liverpool. Her doctoral research was an investigation of real world deceptive behaviour in a high stakes context.

Clea holds an MSc in Research Methods in Psychology from the University of Liverpool, for which she was awarded a distinction, and the School of Psychology Prize for high academic achievement.