Meredith Allison
Professor of Psychology
Department: Psychology
Email: mallison5@elon.edu
Phone number: (336) 278-5123
Professional Expertise
Brief Biography
Meredith Allison joined the psychology department in 2006. Her research focuses on psychology and law. She teaches social psychology, psychology and law, criminal behavior, introduction to psychology, and senior seminar. She is the coordinator of the Criminal Justice Studies minor (click here to go to the CJS webpage) and is the former Director of Elon's Undergraduate Research program (click here to go to the UR page) She received her B.A. degree in Psychology from Queen’s University, and her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Psychology from the University of Victoria. Click here to access her research page.
Links
News & Notes
Education
Ph.D. University of Victoria, Canada
M. A. University of Victoria, Canada
B. A. H. Queen's University, Canada
Employment History
2018-present Professor of Psychology
2012-2018 Associate Professor of Psychology (tenured)
2006-2012 Assistant Professor of Psychology
Courses Taught
Senior Seminar
Social Psychology
Psychology and Law
Criminal Behavior
Introduction to Psychology
Leadership Positions
Coordinator of the Criminal Justice Studies program (2025-2028)
Director of Elon's Undergraduate Research Program (2017-2022)
Associate Director of the Undergraduate Research Program (2015-2017)
Coordinator of the Criminal Justice Studies program (2013-2017)
Editor-in-Chief of PURM (Perspectives on Undergraduate Research and Mentoring) (2015-2017)
Chair, American Psychology-Law Society (AP-LS) Best Undergraduate Paper Award Committee (2015-2018)
Councilor, Undergraduate Research Programs Division, Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) (2017-2023)
Research
Meredith Allison is interested in the interface of psychology and the law, with a particular interest in the ways in which social psychology can inform legal issues. She has conducted several studies on perceptions of alibis, eyewitnesses' memories for events, people's perceptions of eyewitness accuracy and confidence, and stereotypes of older adult witnesses, offenders, and victims. She has also collaborated with colleagues in the criminal justice area on studies of people's knowledge of laws and accompanying punishments. Finally, she is interested in interpersonal communication and has studied the use of gestures in dialogues. Click here to access her research page.
Meredith Allison also mentors students in undergraduate research. For example, Cecily Basquin '16 conducted research on eyewitnesses who were English language learners. Erin Martin '16 studied Canadian and American perceptions of sex offender registries. Several recent students, including Amanda Benjamin '17, Ashlynn Hawes '20, Courtney Kollar '21, Sophie Solan '22, Jeppe Overgaard Jordoson '23, and Grace Caluri '24 studied the believability of alibis. Meredith Allison is particularly interested in mentoring historically marginalized students.
Publications
* indicates Elon student
Allison, M., *Caluri, G., *Jordoson, J., & *Solan, S. (2024). Judicial instructions on alibis: Impact on mock jury decision-making. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 32(4), 594-615. https://doi.org/10.1080/13218719.2024.2362145
Allison, M., Jung, S., & Culhane, S.E. (2023). The effect of alibi consistency, presence of physical evidence, and timing of disclosure on mock juror perceptions. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 31(4), 659-670. https://doi.org/10.1080/13218719.2023.2206869
Allison, M. & *Kollar, C. (2023). Alibi believability: Corroborator certainty, cooperativeness, and relationship with the defendant. Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling, 20(3) 228-242. http://doi.org/10.1002/jip.1618
Allison, M. & Hawes, A.* (2023). Assessing alibi believability: The alibi story, presence of physical evidence, and timing of disclosure. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law,30(2), 211-223. https://doi.org/10.1080/13218719.2021.2006096
Allison, M. (2022). Alibi believability. In M. Kienzle and J. Behl. (Eds.). Alibis and Corroborators: Psychological, Criminological, and Legal Perspectives. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-95663-9
Allison, M., Gerwing, J., & *Gadaire, C. (2022). When the eyewitness to a crime is an English language learner: Identifying and resolving troubles in understanding in interviews. Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling, 19(3), 185-203. https://doi.org/10.1002/jip.1588
Jung, S., Allison, M., Toop, C., & *Martin, E. (2020). Sex offender registries: Exploring the attitudes and knowledge of political decision-makers. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 27(3), 478-492. https://doi.org/10.1080/13218719.2020.1733698
Allison, M., Jung, S., & *Benjamin, A. C. (2020). Alibi believability: Corroborative evidence and contextual factors. Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 38(4), 337-354. https://doi.org/10.1002/bsl.2473
Svennevig, J., Gerwing, J., Jensen, B. U., & Allison, M. (2019). Pre-empting understanding problems in L1/L2 conversations: Evidence of effectiveness from simulated emergency calls. Applied Linguistics, 40(2), 205-227. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amx021
Jung, S., Allison, M., & *Martin, E. (2018). Perspectives of Americans and Canadians on the use and function of sex offender registries. International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice, 52, 106-117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlcj.2017.10.003
Allison, M., & Miller, P. (2018). Resource review: Insights for academic developers from three international Undergraduate Research Program resources. International Journal for Academic Development, 23(1), 65-68. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360144X.2018.1415027
Allison, M., *Basquin, C., & Gerwing, J. (2017). Assessing the accuracy of English-as-a-Second-Language eyewitness testimonies and contemporaneous officer notes using two methods. Applied Psychology in Criminal Justice, 13(1), 1-17.
Jung, S., Ahn-Redding, H., Allison, M. (2014). Crimes and punishment: Understanding of the Criminal Code. Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice, 54(3), 341-366. https://doi.org/10.3138/cjccj.2013.E17
Allison, M., Overman, A. A., *Braun, M., *Campbell, M., & Price, J. R. (2014). Recognition and recall of vehicles and manufacturer symbols: Implications for eyewitness vehicle identifications. Applied Psychology in Criminal Justice, 10(2), 83-97.
Allison, M. & Brimacombe, C. A. E. (2014). A credible crime report? Communication and perceived credibility of elderly eyewitnesses. In M. P. Toglia, D. F. Ross, J. Pozzulo, & E. Pica (Eds.). The Elderly Eyewitness in Court. New York, NY: Routledge, Taylor & Francis (pp. 289-307).
Allison, M., Jung, S., *Sweeney, L., & Culhane, S. E. (2014). The impact of illegal alibi activities, corroborator involvement, and corroborator certainty on mock juror perceptions. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 21(2), 191-204. https://doi.org/10.1080/13218719.2013.803275
Allison, M., *Sweeney, L., & Jung, S. (2013). A comparison of Canadian and American offender stereotypes. North American Journal of Psychology, 15(3), 589-608.
Ahn-Redding, H., Allison, M.,*Semon, M., & Jung, S. (2013). What do students really know about criminal justice? International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice, 41(4), 405-420. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlcj.2013.08.003
Jung, S., Allison, M., Bohn, L. (2013). Legal decision-making on crimes involving an alibi. Applied Psychology in Criminal Justice, 9(1), 45-58.
Overman, A. A., *Wiseman, K. D., Allison, M., & Stephens, J.D.W. (2013). Age differences and schema effects in memory for crime information. Experimental Aging Research, 39(2), 215-234. https://doi.org/10.1080/0361073X.2013.761914
Allison, M., *Mathews, K.R., & *Michael, S.W. (2012). Alibi believability: The impact of salacious alibi activities. Social Behavior and Personality: An International Journal, 40(4), 605-612. https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.2012.40.4.605
Gerwing, J. & Allison, M. (2011). The flexible semantic integration of gestures and words: Comparing face-to-face and telephone dialogues. Gesture, 11(3), 308-329. https://doi.org/10.1075/gest.11.3.03ger
Allison, M., *Michael, S.W., *Mathews, K.R., & Overman, A.A. (2011). Brief report: The narrative qualities and perceptions of generated alibis. North American Journal of Psychology 13(3), 359-366.
MacLean, C., Brimacombe, C. A. E., Allison, M., Dahl, L., & Kadlec, H. (2011). Post-identification feedback effects: Investigators and evaluators. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 25(5), 739-752. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.1745
Bavelas, J. B., Gerwing, J., Allison, M., & Sutton, C. (2011). Dyadic evidence for grounding with abstract deictic gestures. In Integrating Gestures: The Interdisciplinary nature of Gesture. G. Stam & M. Ishino (eds.). Philadelphia: Benjamins (pp. 49-60).
Allison, M., & Brimacombe, C. A. E. (2010). Alibi believability: The effect of prior convictions and judicial instructions. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 40(5), 1054-1084. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2010.00610.x
Gerwing, J.,& Allison, M. (2009). The relationship between verbal and gestural contributions in conversation: A comparison of three methods. Gesture, 9(3), 312-336. https://doi.org/10.1075/gest.9.3.03ger
Allison, M., & Lindsay, R. C. L. (2006). Age-related expectations of child witness credibility. Modern Psychological Studies, 11(2), 37-48.
Allison, M., Brimacombe, C. A. E., Hunter, M. A., & Kadlec, H. (2006). Young and older adult eyewitnesses’ use of narrative features in testimony. Discourse Processes, 41(3), 289-314. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326950dp4103_3
Brimacombe, C. A. E., Jung, S., Garrioch, L., & Allison, M. (2003). Perceptions of older adult eyewitnesses: Will you believe me when I’m 64? Law and Human Behavior, 27(5), 507-522. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1025486006769
Professional Activities
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
AP-LS: Member of the American Psychology-Law Society, Division 41 of the APA
Chair, Undergrad Paper Award Committee (2015-2018)
SARMAC: Member of the Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition
Psi Chi: Member of the Psychology Honor Society
CUR: Council on Undergraduate Research
Councilor, URPD Division (2017-2022)
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Editorial Board Member, Behavioral Sciences & the Law. Manuscript reviewer for peer-reviewed journals (e.g., Applied Social Psychology; Criminal Justice and Behavior; Applied Cognitive Psychology; Law and Human Behavior; Psychology, Crime, and Law). Grant reviewer for the National Science Foundation. Abstract reviewer for the American Psychology-Law Society's annual conference.