Annelies Vredeveldt Makes History as the First Woman in the Netherlands to Become a Professor of Legal Psychology

Prof. Annelies Vredeveldt '07 has spent her career unraveling the complexities of human memory—how we recall events, how our minds can deceive us, and what that means for the justice system. Now, she has made history as the first woman appointed as a professor of legal psychology in the Netherlands.

Her journey began at University College Utrecht, where an inspiring course on psychology in the courtroom ignited a passion that took her across the globe—from research in New Zealand and New York to police collaborations in South Africa. Today, as a professor of Legal Psychology at the Department of Criminology at Vrije Universiteit (VU) Amsterdam and Director of the Amsterdam Laboratory for Legal Psychology (ALLP), she works at the intersection of psychology and law, shaping the way we understand eyewitness testimony.

In this interview, Prof. Vredeveldt reflects on the experiences that shaped her, the power of interdisciplinary research, and why bridging the gap between science and legal practice is more critical than ever.

A Journey in Legal Psychology

Could you share a bit about your journey from UCU to your current role as a professor and expert in legal psychology?
At UCU, I first encountered the discipline of legal psychology in Prof. Willem Albert Wagenaar’s course Psychology in the Courtroom. During his classes, he would just talk for hours about his experiences as an expert witness, no PowerPoint needed. And the students would just hang on his every word. It was fascinating and inspiring. I decided to do my Bachelor’s research project with him, conducting my first eyewitness experiment already in 2006. After his course, I decided I wanted to follow in his footsteps: to teach at university, conduct legal psychological research, and serve as an expert witness in court cases.

And that’s exactly what I did. I went on to do a Master’s in Psychology and Law at Maastricht University, with a six-month research internship in New Zealand, then went on to do a PhD at the University of York, with a four-month internship in New York, and then a postdoc at the University of Cape Town, before coming back to the Netherlands to take up an Assistant Professor position at the Faculty of Law at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, where I have worked for over 11 years now.

The Power of Eyewitness Memory

What initially sparked your interest in eyewitness memory and its cross-cultural implications?
My interest in eyewitness memory was sparked by Wagenaar’s fascinating stories, including his experience as an expert witness in the Demjanjuk trial. The interest in its cross-cultural implications started when I was living in Cape Town. There, I collaborated with the South African police to video-record and analyze over 100 real police interviews with witnesses and victims.

When I started analyzing the videos, I came across so many interesting cultural differences and cross-cultural communication issues that I decided to apply for funding to look into that further. That was the starting point for my ERC Starting Grant (from the European Research Council) on eyewitness memory in cross-cultural contexts, which involved a team of two postdocs, two PhD students, and two research assistants working on these questions for six years.

Teaching, Research, and the Courtroom

What has been one of the most rewarding aspects of your work—whether in research, teaching, or advising on criminal cases?
It is difficult to choose just one aspect. What I love about my work is that it is so varied. One day, I find a really novel and exciting research finding; that’s rewarding. Another day, a student in my class tells me they finally get something or asks me a really good question; that’s rewarding. Yet another day, I see that a judge has taken over arguments from my expert witness report in their judgment; that’s rewarding. It’s exactly as I had envisaged when I saw Prof. Wagenaar talk about his work: all of these aspects of my work are extremely rewarding, and I am grateful that I get to do this job.

Bridging Science and Law

What role has interdisciplinary collaboration played in your research and career development?
I see interdisciplinary collaboration as absolutely essential in my line of work. In my view, the only way to do good legal psychological research is to get inspiration from legal practice. I have been serving as an expert witness in all kinds of cases for over a decade now, and it has provided so much inspiration for my research. I collaborate a lot with legal scholar Linda Kesteloo, who completed her PhD with me last year – she investigated how legal psychological insights can concretely be applied by judges.

I also regularly give training to judges, prosecutors, and investigative interviewers, where I always learn a lot from hearing about their experiences and the challenges they run into in their everyday work. The seed of interdisciplinarity was laid at UCU, of course, and it has brought me a lot over the course of my career.

Advice for Future Legal Psychologists

As someone shaping the field of legal psychology, what advice would you give to students or young professionals interested in this area?
My advice relates to the previous question. Too often, I see legal psychologists who are just reading the legal psychological literature and doing experiments in the lab, with research questions far removed from legal practice. Vice versa, I often see legal professionals who think they can just decide on legal psychological questions based on common knowledge, discounting or not even being aware of decades of legal psychological research that could provide relevant insights.

I would advise students to avoid getting stuck in their own silo, to look beyond their own discipline, to find literature from different domains, and most importantly, to talk to the people working with eyewitnesses, suspects, and victims every day. They are the best placed to tell you what question would be relevant to investigate, and they can inspire you to come up with ground-breaking ideas.

Interview by Kim Donaldson