After earning a PhD in Cognitive Psychology from York University in 2017, I began working with Prof. Judith Andersen at the University of Toronto Mississauga. We develop, deliver, and test evidence-based training interventions that promote police wellness and performance by modulating their autonomic responses to stress using biofeedback.
I also have active collaborations with the Police University College of Finland and members of the Canadian Institute for Public Safety Research and Treatment, investigating topics ranging from situational awareness to coping and post-traumatic stress injuries in public safety personnel.
My research in learning informs my own pedagogical approaches as an instructor in health science research to medical students at the Mississauga Academy of Medicine, and as a trainer in professional deescalation skills to a variety of industries with Step Training Inc.
About Me
Education
Doctor of Philosophy | 2017
Department of Psychology | York University
Master of Arts + Neuroscience Graduate Diploma | 2012
Department of Psychology | York University
Honours Bachelor of Science | 2008
Department of Psychology | University of Toronto
Recent + Selected Publications
Huhta, J.-M., Di Nota, P.M., Hietanen, T. & Ropo, E. (2023). Deriving expert knowledge of situational awareness in policing: A mixed-methods study. The Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology.
Huhta, J.-M., Di Nota, P.M., Ropo, E., & Surakka, V. (2022). Experience-dependent effects to situational awareness in police officers: An eye tracking study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health,19, 1547.
Di Nota, P.M., Stoliker, B., Vaughan, A., Andersen, J.P., & Anderson, G.S. (2020). Stress and memory: A systematic state-of-the-art review with evidence-gathering recommendations for police. Policing: An International Journal, 44(1), 1-17.
Di Nota, P.M. & Huhta, J.-M. (2019). Complex motor learning and police training: Applied, cognitive, and clinical perspectives. Frontiers in Psychology, 10(1797), 1-20.
Di Nota, P.M., Andersen, J.P., Huhta, J.-M., & Gustafsberg, H. (2021). Evidence-based instruction of police use of force: Practical methods and pedagogical principles. In Arble, E. & Arnetz, B. (Eds.), Interventions, Training, and Technologies for Improved Police Well-Being and Performance (pp. 72-101). IGI Global.
Wagner, S., Di Nota, P.M., Groll, D., Lentz, L., Shields, R., Carleton, R.N., Cramm, H., Wei Lin, B. & Anderson, G.S. (2023). Mental health risk factors related to Covid-19 among public safety professionals. Psychiatry International, 4(1), 1-11.
Chan, J., Di Nota, P.M., Planche, K., Borthakur, D. & Andersen, J.P. (2022). Associations between police lethal force errors, measures of diurnal and reactive cortisol, and mental health. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 142, 105789.
Special Interests
Board Member, The Haven
A mental health treatment centre that provides occupation-specific support to first responders & uniform personnel
Teaching + Training
Subject Matter Expert
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Mass Casualty Commission (2022)
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Ontario Coroner's Inquest into the Death of Sammy Yatim (2023)
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Toronto Police Service & OHRC Roundtable on Anti-Black Racism (2022)
Feature Article
International perspectives on evidence-based police education (2022), a chapter in the requisite textbook for the Police University College of Finland entrance exam
