I am a Chartered Cognitive Psychologist and Lecturer in Psychology. My primary research interests focus on face recognition and deception. More broadly, my work spans applied memory research across forensic and clinical settings.
In 2015, I earned a PhD in Cognitive Psychology from the University of Portsmouth with a thesis on ‘The Effect of Deception on Fixation-Based Measures of Memory.’
In 2016, I joined the University of Stirling as a Research and Teaching Fellow during which time I secured a grant on ‘Identifying Novel Markers of Concealed Face Recognition' (PI, ESRC, £389k). From 2018 to 2022, I led this grant, developing innovative approaches to detecting concealed face recognition. In this work, I employed a multi-method approach to identify objective evidence of face recognition in individuals who denied recognising someone they knew, advancing our understanding of how the brain processes and recognises faces.
In 2021, I was appointed as a Lecturer in Psychology. I am currently working on the following projects: 'Public Perceptions on the Use of Technology in the Criminal Justice System' (PI, £4k), 'Neurodiverse Markers of Concealed Face Recognition', and 'Cultural and Cognitive Factors for Optimal Human-Avatar Interactions' (PI, 40k).
I am an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA) and have been repeatedly nominated for Research and Teaching Awards including leadership, EDI and most inspiring woman.
2017. Recognising and Advancing Teaching Excellence (RATE) Awards - Most Inspiring Tutor
2020. Research Culture Awards - Best Early Career Researcher
2022. Research Culture Awards - Outstanding Early Career Researcher ‘Highly Commended’
2022. Research Culture Awards - Outstanding Research Leadership
2023. Inspirational Women Awards
2023. Research Culture Awards - Outstanding Activity dedicated to Enhancing Research Culture for leadership of the 'Cognition in Complex Environments' Research Group
2023. Research Culture Awards - Outstanding Mentor ‘Highly Commended’
2023. Research Culture Awards - Outstanding Research Leadership
2024. Recognising and Advancing Teaching Excellence (RATE) Awards - Outstanding Academic Mentorship
2024. Recognising and Advancing Teaching Excellence (RATE) Awards - Teacher of the Year (Natural Sciences)
2024. Research Culture Awards - Outstanding Mentor
2024. Research Culture Awards - Outstanding Research Activity dedicated to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
2024. Research Culture Awards - Outstanding Research Leadership "Highly Commended"
2024. Research Culture Awards - Wall of Fame Award for multiple nominations over multiple years
I am a chartered cognitive psychologist that specialises in face recognition and deception. I investigate attentional orienting effects and their potential for detecting memory in the absence of accurate recognition (i.e., concealed recognition, prosopagnosia, amnesia). I have a special interest in face recognition, and I pioneer novel approaches for the detection of concealed recognition (e.g., lying about recognising someone or something you know). I’m also exploring the potential for novel neurocomputing technologies to model interactions between brain signals relating to memory and deception.
My research interests span: visual attention, visual perception, recognition memory (faces, objects, scenes), associative memory, episodic memory, deception, memory confidence, metacognition, metacognitive strategies, cognitive neuroscience, neurocomputing, human learning and developmental psychology.
I Co-Lead the Cognition in Complex Environments Research Group in Stirling (CORGiS). I am also a member of the Stirling Vision and Image Processing Group (SVIP). I am a chartered member of the British Psychological Society (BPS) where I am registered with the cognitive psychology, defense and security psychology and psycholobiology sections.
Identifying novel markers of concealed face recognition
PI: Dr Ailsa Millen
Funded by: Economic and Social Research Council
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Article
Millen AE, Hope L & Hillstrom AP (2020) Eye spy a liar: Assessing the utility of eye fixations and confidence judgments for detecting concealed recognition of people, places and objects. Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications, 5, Art. No.: 38. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41235-020-00227-4
Article
Many Labs 5: Registered Replication Report of Crosby, Monin & Richardson (2008)
Rabagliati H, Corley M, Dering B, Hancock PJB, King J, Levitan CA, Loy J & Millen AE (2020) Many Labs 5: Registered Replication Report of Crosby, Monin & Richardson (2008). Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science, 3 (3), pp. 353-365. https://doi.org/10.1177/2515245919870737
Article
Many Labs 5: Testing Pre-Data-Collection Peer Review as an Intervention to Increase Replicability
Ebersole CR, Mathur MB, Baranski E, Bart-Plange D, Buttrick NR, Chartier CR, Corker KS, Corley M, Hartshorne JK, IJzerman H, Lazarevic LB, Rabagliati H, Dering B, Hancock PJB & Millen A (2020) Many Labs 5: Testing Pre-Data-Collection Peer Review as an Intervention to Increase Replicability. Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science, 3 (3), pp. 309-331. https://doi.org/10.1177/2515245920958687
Article
A multilab registered replication of the attentional SNARC effect.
Colling LJ, Szűcs D, De Marco D, Cipora K, Ulrich R, Nuerk H, Soltanlou M, Bryce D, Chen S, Schroeder PA, Henare DT, Chrystall CK, Hancock PJB, Millen AE & Langton SR (2020) A multilab registered replication of the attentional SNARC effect. [Registered Replication Report on Fischer, Castel, Dodd, and Pratt (2003).]. Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science, 3 (2), pp. 143-162. https://doi.org/10.1177/2515245920903079
Article
Eye see through you! Eye tracking unmasks concealed face recognition despite countermeasures
Millen A & Hancock P (2019) Eye see through you! Eye tracking unmasks concealed face recognition despite countermeasures. Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications, 4, Art. No.: 23. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41235-019-0169-0
Article
Tracking the truth: the effect of face familiarity on eye fixations during deception
Millen AE, Hope L, Hillstrom AP & Vrij A (2017) Tracking the truth: the effect of face familiarity on eye fixations during deception. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 70 (5), pp. 930-943. https://doi.org/10.1080/17470218.2016.1172093
Article
Are Two Interviews Better Than One? Eyewitness Memory across Repeated Cognitive Interviews
Odinot G, Memon A, La Rooy D & Millen A (2013) Are Two Interviews Better Than One? Eyewitness Memory across Repeated Cognitive Interviews. PLoS ONE, 8 (10), Art. No.: e76305. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0076305
Article
Neither infants nor toddlers catch yawns from their mothers
Millen AE & Anderson J (2011) Neither infants nor toddlers catch yawns from their mothers. Biology Letters, 7 (3), pp. 440-442. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2010.0966
Article
Human Cumulative Culture in the Laboratory: Effects of (Micro) Population Size
Caldwell CA & Millen AE (2010) Human Cumulative Culture in the Laboratory: Effects of (Micro) Population Size. Learning and Behavior, 38 (3), pp. 310-318. https://doi.org/10.3758/LB.38.3.310
Article
Caldwell CA & Millen AE (2010) Conservatism in Laboratory Microsocieties: Unpredictable Payoffs Accentuate Group-Specific Traditions. Evolution and Human Behavior, 31 (2), pp. 123-130. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/10905138; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2009.08.002
Article
Social learning mechanisms and cumulative cultural evolution: is imitation necessary?
Caldwell CA & Millen AE (2009) Social learning mechanisms and cumulative cultural evolution: is imitation necessary?. Psychological Science, 20 (12), pp. 1478-1483. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2009.02469.x
Article
Studying cumulative cultural evolution in the laboratory
Caldwell CA & Millen AE (2008) Studying cumulative cultural evolution in the laboratory. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 363 (1509), pp. 3529-3539. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2008.0133
Article
Experimental models for testing hypotheses about cumulative cultural evolution
Caldwell CA & Millen AE (2008) Experimental models for testing hypotheses about cumulative cultural evolution. Evolution and Human Behavior, 29 (3), pp. 165-171. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/10905138; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2007.12.001
Cognitive Psychology Statistics for Individual Differences in Psychology Individual Differences Online Teaching Student-led electives (module creator and facilitator) Undergraduate project supervision (Single and Joint Honours) Masters project supervision Masters research placement supervision MSc Research Methods
