# Lindsay C. Malloy

Lindsay C. Malloy is an associate professor of forensic psychology at Ontario Tech University. Malloy's research has focused on the negative experiences that children can face and how they can affect their abilities to recall memories. Specifically, Malloy's research is used for implications in the legal system regarding children and their rights in interviews, interrogations, and more.

## Education and career

Malloy has a double undergraduate degree from Central Michigan University, where she received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Management and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology. She graduated from Central Michigan University with both degrees in 2002. Malloy proceeded to receive her Master of Arts in Social Ecology from the University of California, Irvine in 2004, along with her PhD in Developmental Psychology from the same institution in 2008. Malloy's dissertation was focused on children's views of the consequences of disclosing negative events, and she looked at maltreated and non-maltreated children. Also, Jodi Quas was Malloy's doctoral dissertation research mentor. Malloy then completed postdoctoral work with Michael Lamb at the University of Cambridge from 2008-2010 in applied developmental psychology. She worked with Florida International University for seven years as an assistant and associate professor, and she now works at Ontario Tech University as an associate professor.

## Research

Malloy's research interests lie in developmental psychology, observing the behavior and patterns of children through adolescence, as well as any possible traumatic experiences they have encountered. Within the legal realm, she has looked at how children are impacted during interrogations and eyewitness testimony. Malloy's research has even been included in a couple of Supreme Court amicus briefs. In addition, a lot of Malloy's research could be of interest to policymakers, some are more willing than others to listen to the conclusions of her work, but Malloy recounts that it can be hard to make policy changes when in academia: the number of articles produced is of high value in academic work, developing policy relationships can take time, and often policy work must be done in one's own free time. Malloy has had the opportunity to publish in several journals in her career thus far: Law and Human Behavior, Child Development, and Developmental Psychology. She has also edited a book with her postdoctoral advisor, Michael Lamb, called Children's Testimony: A Handbook of Psychological Research and Forensic Practice. This book was written for anyone who wants a better grasp of the limitations of children providing reliable testimony.
Within Malloy's area of interest, she has published numerous articles regarding children in the legal field, and several of them have been cited multiple times. One such research study looked at the recantation of statements made by children regarding sexual abuse. Malloy, and her colleagues, revealed that renounced sexual abuse statements were less likely to occur when the child was removed from the home right after the initial disclosure and when they were separated from their siblings just as fast. This research study further emphasized the importance of ensuring children understand that they are believed and can trust an adult to come forward with this information.
Malloy also has quite a few articles that cover the topic of interviewing children in the legal field. Specifically, Malloy and her colleagues looked at How/Why prompts in investigative interviews with preschool children, and they found that the majority of responses provided by the children were uninformative and that they did not add anything to the investigation. They concluded that these types of prompts may be too open to interpretation for children and that they don't understand the questions, giving way to the idea that there are better forms of questions to ask children. Malloy and colleagues also researched if children ask clarification questions when being interviewed, and their data suggest that children rarely do, which could suggest that children don't even know what they don't understand. Another research article on interviewing children revealed that physical disengagement and stress increased as interviews continued, which demonstrated the children's discomfort with the long and tiring process. They also revealed that children who did not disclose abuse were the most physically disengaged, than children who did disclose suspected abuse. Overall, Malloy's research articles set out to shed light on the interview techniques used on children in the legal field and to show legal professionals how different methods can be used for better outcomes.

## Grants

Malloy has received several grants to further her research throughout her career, and they are all of varying origins and amounts. Malloy's largest grant, with a value of $170,909, came from the U.S. National Science Foundation from 2013-2016-- the name of the grant is "Children's Recantation of Adult Wrongdoing: In the Field and In the Lab". She received this grant during her time at Florida International University, she worked with Allison P. Mugno on this research study, and it was eventually published in the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology in May 2016.
Another grant that Malloy received was from the U.S. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development during the years 2014-2017, and the title of this grant is "Episodic Memory and Suggestibility in Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder". She received $138,888 from the institution, once again, during her time at Florida International University. Her research focused on children's ability to provide accurate accounts of situations when they are diagnosed with ADHD. Malloy emphasizes that the importance of this research lies in the fact that children with ADHD are high risk for difficult family environments and child maltreatment than typically-developing peers.

## Awards

Malloy has received several awards during her career thus far. Such awards include the Division 37 Diane J. Willis Early Career Award, which Malloy was awarded in 2013. The Division 37 award honors Dr. Willis, who had a career advocating for better policies surrounding children and their clinical rights. Malloy received this award because she has dedicated her career to researching children's well-being and advocating for them through better policies.
Malloy also received the Saleem Shah Award for Early Career Excellence in Psychology and Law, which comes from the American Psychology-Law Society and the American Academy of Forensic Psychology. Saleem aimed to get offenders struggling with mental illnesses fair treatment within the system, and Malloy received this award in 2014 for her early achievements in research for juvenile inmates and defendants.

## Media appearances

Malloy appeared in a TED Talk in November 2016 where she discussed the topic of teens confessing to crimes that they did not commit, and she referred to several real cases she has looked into. Malloy discussed the issues behind the U.S. legally allowing teens to be questioned the same way adults do in the legal system. One example of an interview technique that is allowed in the U.S. but banned in other countries is lying to suspects. Malloy emphasized how harmful these interrogation techniques can be to children who don't understand the situation or to individuals who have an intellectual disability.
In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Malloy teamed up with a fellow psychologist, scholar, and mom Amanda Zelechoski to create a website for parents struggling with their kids; specifically in the pandemic, but also in general. They have made a podcast, a blog, and social media platforms to share their struggles with parenting and their research findings surrounding the well-being of children during the COVID-19 pandemic. Malloy, in a YouTube video, suggested that parents not avoid talking about the COVID-19 pandemic with their child, encourage open-ended questions, and limit the child's media exposure to pandemic topics.
Malloy was also a speaker at the World Police Summit. She spoke on March 8th and 9th in 2023 about the investigative techniques used for interviewing children and the revelation of child maltreatment, which makes up a good majority of Malloy's research. The World Police Summit is held in Dubai and is intended for researchers and law enforcement of numerous countries to come together to share their findings and methods.