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Emily Pica

Emily Pica

Associate Professor

Psychological Science and Counseling

 

  • Ph.D. in Forensic Psychology (2016) – Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario Canada

  • M.S. in Applied Research (2012) – The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

  • B.S. in Psychology with concentrations in Lifespan Psychology and Counseling Psychology (2009) – Mansfield University, Pennsylvania

When I’m not working, you can find me outside hiking with my dog or curled up reading a good book. I am an avid pit bull advocate and advocate for those whose voices are not heard. I also am the liaison between Austin Peay State University and the Montgomery County Juvenile Court where we have a partnership for the 20/10 mentoring program. Students are paired with juvenile offenders in a mentorship capacity. Additionally, I also am the liaison between Austin Peay State University and the Montgomery County Veteran's Treatment Court where I oversee graduate assistants who are placed at the treatment court.

My current research interests involve investigating ways in which we can improve eyewitness identification accuracy as it is one of the leading causes of wrongful convictions. Additionally, I examine which factors may be more (or less) influential in jurors’ decision making. More recently, I have furthered my passion for the wrongfully convicted and how they are perceived post-exoneration as well as the unique experiences they face upon release from prison. If you are interested in working in my lab, please send me an email! While I have my own research interests, I also am motivated to help students pursue their own passions, and I have supervised student research that examines the perceptions of mass shooters (students took home first place for undergraduate research poster at a conference), perceptions of psychedelic assisted therapy in veterans and active military members, alcohol dependency in rats along side Dr. Hock, and other various topics.