About Alicia
Alicia Nortje is a psychological researcher turned data scientist. She has pivoted from her postgraduate academic path to a rewarding career in an unrelated industry, yet she maintains a strong interest in psychology.
Her goal is to deliver research findings using everyday language and to encourage readers to question their thinking, beliefs, ideas, and behavior in an attempt to better understand why we do, think, and feel the way we do.
A Message from Alicia
I’m a good example of not sticking to one path in life. There’s a lot of joy that can be found in the world.
Qualifications
- 2012–2018: PhD in Psychology, specialization in Eyewitness Memory and Face Recognition, University of Cape Town, South Africa
- 2008–2011: Master’s in Research Psychology with coursework in Clinical Neuropsychology, University of Cape Town, South Africa
- 2007: Honors in Psychology, University of Cape Town, South Africa
- 2004–2006: BA in Psychological Counseling, University of South Africa, South Africa
Work Experience
- October 2023–present: Data Professional, unrelated industry
- April 2021–June 2023: Data Scientist, unrelated marketing company
- 2014–2018: South African Representative, European Association of Psychology and Law, Student Society (EAPL-S)
- 2014–2016: Communications Secretary, Division 10 (Psychology and Law), International Association of Applied Psychology (IAAP)
- Research assistant and collaborator on multiple international projects (postgraduate studies)
- Workshop Facilitator: programming experiments in E-Prime and programming in R
Publications
- Tredoux, C. G., Fitzgerald, R. J., Allan, A., & Nortje, A. (2024). Identification parades in South Africa — Time for a change? South African Law Journal, 141(1), 84–111.
- Scott, K., Tredoux, C., & Nortje, A. (2023). Evaluating the utility of facial identification information: Accuracy versus precision. South African Journal of Science, 119(3–4), 1–9.
- Tredoux, C., Megreya, A. M., Nortje, A., & Kempen, K. (2023). Changes in the own group bias across immediate and delayed recognition tasks. South African Journal of Science, 119(3–4), 1–7.
- Tredoux, C., & Nortje, A. (2023). What’s in a face? Introducing the special section on Face Science. South African Journal of Science, 119(3–4), 1–2.
- Wittwer, T., Tredoux, C. G., Py, J., Nortje, A., Kempen, K., & Launay, C. (2022). Automatic recognition, elimination strategy and familiarity feeling: Cognitive processes predict accuracy from lineup identifications. Consciousness and Cognition, 98, Article 103266. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2021.103266
- Nortje, A., Tredoux, C., & Vredeveldt, A. (2020). Eyewitness identification of multiple perpetrators. South African Journal of Criminal Justice, 33(2), 348–381.
- Sporer, S. L., Tredoux, C. G., Vredeveldt, A., Kempen, K., & Nortje, A. (2020). Does exposure to facial composites damage eyewitness memory? A comprehensive review. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 34(5), 1166–1179. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.3705
- Tredoux, C. G., Sporer, S. L., Vredeveldt, A., Kempen, K., & Nortje, A. (2020). Does constructing a facial composite affect eyewitness memory? A research synthesis and meta-analysis. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 17, 713–741. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-020-09432-z
- Nortje, A., & Tredoux, C. G. (2019). How good are we at detecting deception? A review of current techniques and theories. South African Journal of Psychology, 49(4), 491–504. https://doi.org/10.1177/0081246318822953
- Nortje, A. (2018). The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker: Investigating facial recognition for multiple-perpetrator crimes [Doctoral dissertation, University of Cape Town]. https://open.uct.ac.za/items/2a0f3761-2759-4a38-ad02-49caa85b674c
- Nortje, A. (2017). Unit 11: Who cares? Writing up and disseminating your findings. In Applied research (pp. 285–316). EDGE Learning Media.
- Nortje, A., Tredoux, C. G., & Vredeveldt, A. (2017). How many faces can we remember? Why this matters when assessing eyewitnesses. In M. Bindemann & A. Megreya (Eds.), Face processing: Systems, disorders and cultural disorders. Nova Science Publishers.
- Vredeveldt, A., Tredoux, C. G., Nortje, A., Kempen, K., & Puljevic, C. (2015). A field evaluation of the eye-closure interview with witnesses of serious crimes. Law and Human Behavior, 39(2), 189–197. https://doi.org/10.1037/lhb0000113
- Vredeveldt, A., Tredoux, C. G., Kempen, K., & Nortje, A. (2015). Eye remember what happened: Eye-closure improves recall of events but not face recognition. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 29(2), 169–180. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.3092
- Nortje, A., & Tredoux, C. (2012). Red, green, blue, red, argh! A missing shift in processing: The Stroop task does not affect facial recognition. South African Journal of Psychology, 42(3), 423–433. https://doi.org/10.1177/008124631204200314
