[1] Don Read received a bachelor's degree with honours in Psychology from University of British Columbia in 1964.
He then completed his Master of Science in Experimental Psychology at Kansas State University in 1966 writing his thesis on extraserial cues in verbal learning.
The topic for his Ph.D. dissertation was positive and negative information in human learning.
Read is on the Governing Board of the Society of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition (SARMAC).
[1] In the early stages of his career as a scientist Read's research was mostly in the area of verbal learning.
[14][15][16] In the 1990s the debate about the reality of repressed memories was a point of interest for many cognitive psychologists, Read included.
In 1994 he published a paper together with Stephen Lindsay called "Psychotherapy and memories of childhood sexual abuse: A cognitive perspective".
[17] This paper was published in the journal Applied Cognitive Psychology and has been cited over 240 times by other researchers and reviewers.
[22][23][24] More recently Read has published more articles in the forensic field, mostly about the reliability of eyewitness testimonies and identifications.
Delayed prosecutions of historic child sexual abuse: Analyses of 2064 Canadian criminal complaints.
(2006) Prediction of verdicts in archival cases of historical child sexual abuse.
Lindsay, D. S., Hagen, L., Read, J. D., Wade, K. A., & Garry, M. (2004) True photographs and false memories.
The amnestic consequences of summer camps and high school graduations: Effects of memory retrieval upon reported amnesia.
From a passing thought to a false memory in 2 minutes: Confusing real and illusory events.
Recollections of a robbery: Effects of alcohol and arousal upon recall and person identification.
), (2007) Handbook of eyewitness psychology: Volume II: Memory for people.