Dr. Victoria Talwar

Title: 
Professor | Faculty of Education Interim Dean
Academic title(s): 

 Canada Research Chair Tier II (2017-22)| James McGill Professor

Dr. Victoria Talwar
Contact Information
Email address: 
victoria.talwar [at] mcgill.ca
Phone: 
514-398-3438
Address: 

Education Building
3700 rue McTavish
Montréal, Quebec H3A 1Y2
Canada

Group: 
Interim Dean
Department: 
Educational and Counselling Psychology (ECP)
Professional activities: 
Area(s): 
Developmental Psychology & Inclusive Education
Educational Technology & Teaching Innovation
Mental Health, Intervention & Psychopathology
Areas of expertise: 
  • Child Development
  • Cognition
  • Technology in Education
  • Development of lying in children
  • Theory of mind
  • Child witness testimony
Biography: 

Dr. Talwar joined McGill’s Faculty of Education in 2004 and is currently a Full Professor in the Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, where she has served as Department Chair since 2020. She is also an Associate Member of both the Institute for Human Development and Well-Being (IHDW) and the Department of Psychology.

Dr. Talwar is a James McGill Professor and held the Tier II Canada Research Chair in Forensic Developmental Psychology from 2012-2022. She is an accomplished scholar widely recognized for her work in developmental psychology and law. Dr. Talwar’s innovative interdisciplinary research on children’s verbal deception, moral development and child witness competency issues has informed current debates about children’s social-cognitive development and has contributed to legal reform in Canada. Her teaching and supervision have been recognized through several awards including the Northeastern Association of Graduate Schools Teaching (Doctoral level) Award and McGill University’s David Thomson Award for Graduate Supervision and Teaching. Prof. Talwar holds a PhD in Developmental Psychology from Queen's University, and a Master’s degree in Psychology from the University of St. Andrews.

Degree(s): 
  • Ph.D., Queen's University
  • M.A., University of St. Andrews
Prizes and Awards: 
Canada Research Chair (Tiers I & II)
James McGill Professor
Awards, honours, and fellowships: 

2018 Northeastern Association of Graduate Schools (NAGS) Graduate Teaching Award (Doctoral-level)

  • 2017 Member, College of the Royal Society of Canada
  • 2017 David Thomson Award for Graduate Supervision and Teaching, McGill University
  • 2016 Fellow, Association for Psychological Science
  • 2015 Fellow, Developmental Psychology (Division 7), American Psychological Association
Selected publications: 
  • Mugno, A., Malloy, L.C., Waschbusch, D.A., Pelham, W.E., & Talwar, V. (2019). An experimental investigation of antisocial lie-telling among children with disruptive behavior disorders and typically-developing children. Child Development, 90, 774-789.
  • Shouhoudi-Mojdehi, A., Leduc, K., Shouhoudi, A., & Talwar, V. (2019). Examining cross-cultural differences in youth’s moral perceptions of cyberbullying. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, & Social Networking22, 243-248.
  • Talwar, V., Lavoie, J., Crossman, A. (2019). Carving Pinocchio: Longitudinal examination of children’s lying for different goals. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology181, 34-55.
  • Leduc, K., Conway, L., Gomez-Garibello, C., & Talwar, V. (2018). The influence of participant role, gender, and age in elementary and high-school children’s moral justifications of cyberbullying behaviors. Computers in Human Behavior83, 215-220
  • Yachison, S., Okoshken, J., & Talwar, V. (2018). Students’ reactions to a peer’s cheating behavior. Journal of Educational Psychology110, 747-763
  • Conway, L., Gomez-Garibello, C., Shariff, S., & Talwar, V. (2016). Face-to-face and online: An investigation of children’s and adolescents’ bullying behavior through the lens of moral emotions and judgments. Journal of School Violence, 15, 503-522
Program: 
  • M.A. Human Development
  • M.A. School/Applied Psychology
  • Ph.D. Human Development
  • Ph.D. School/Applied Psychology
Graduate supervision: 

Accepting Masters and Ph.D. students for 2023-24

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