Francesco Pompedda
PhD in Psychology, Licensed Psychologist, CPsychol, FHEA
francesco.pompedda@utu.fi Office: 495 ORCID identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9253-0049 |
Training in Investigative Interviews of Children; Investigative Psychology; HCI; Deep Learning Algorithms; VR; Serious Gaming;
I am a Senior Researcher at the INVEST Research Flagship Center of the University of Turku, Finland.
Before joining the University of Turku, I was Academic Coourse Leader for the BSc Forensic Psychology and Senior Lecturer at the University of Gloucestershire (UK), Visiting Researcher at the Gothenburg University (Sweden), and I recevied my PhD from Åbo Akademi (Finland) in 2018. I am a Licensed Psychologist (state exam).
I am a psychologist specialised in forensic psychology. I like facts (data) over words. My research interests are in the area of investigative interviews of children, and I have developed a simulator for investigative interviews of children that employs avatars and response algorithms.
I am involved in several projects in relation to the utlisation of video games for training purpouses (serious gaming) both in a forensic context (Investigative interviews of children) and clinical (Rorschach), Human-Computer Interaction, Cognitive and Social mechanisms that influence training and learning, and legal/forensic psychological topics.I am also involved in other projectes related to the implementation of Principles on Effective Interviewing for Investigations. I have conducted research with the Police and extensive experince in training police offcers and other professionals on investigative interviews, including consultacy for the United Nations.
- Emotional engagement and perceived empathy in live vs. automated psychological interviews (2025)
- PLoS ONE
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Evaluating firearm examiner testimony using large language models: a comparison of standard and knowledge-enhanced AI systems (2025)
- Journal of Psychology and AI
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Experience and Long‐Term Training Effects in Simulated Child Sexual Abuse Interviews (2025)
- Applied Cognitive Psychology
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Large language models (LLMs) as jurors: Assessing the potential of LLMs in legal contexts. (2025)
- Law and Human Behavior
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - White paper on forensic child interviewing: research-based recommendations by the European Association of Psychology and Law (2024)
- Psychology, Crime and Law
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Associations between emotions and psychophysiological states and confirmation bias in question formulation in ongoing simulated investigative interviews of child sexual abuse (2023)
- Frontiers in Psychology
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - A Mega-Analysis of the Effects of Feedback on the Quality of Simulated Child Sexual Abuse Interviews with Avatars (2022)
- Journal of police and criminal psychology
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Avatars with child sexual abuse (vs. no abuse) scenarios elicit different emotional reactions (2022)
- Psychology, Crime and Law
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Avatars with child sexual abuse (vs. no abuse) scenarios elicit different emotional reactions (2022)
- Psychology, Crime and Law
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Confirmation bias in simulated CSA interviews: How abuse assumption influences interviewing and decision-making processes? (2022)
- Legal and Criminological Psychology
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal)



