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2018-02-19 - A chat about confession evidence
2018-02-26 - Alibis

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We find the defendant....

"We find the defendant...innocent!  [whisper]  I mean, not guilty!" If you’ve ever heard the jury foreman give a jury’s decision, you’ll notice that they never say the defendant is “innocent.” Instead, they’ll conclude that the defendant is “not guilty.” Although the terms may sound interchangeable, “not guilty” and “innocent” actually mean two different things. “Not guilty” is a legal conclusion, whereas “innocent” means the person didn’t commit the crime. For example, think of O.J. Simpson. In a court of law, he was found “not guilty” of killing his ex-wife – but if you ask the majority of Americans , they’ll tell you he’s not innocent. Here, we’re going to talk a bit about the distinction between the two conclusions – and why it matters to psychology and law researchers*. When we say that “not guilty” is a legal decision, we mean that it’s a decision based on criteria described by laws – namely in the U.S., if the prosecutor can convince the jury of the defendant’s...
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Thinking about the law like a psychological scientist

Before psychological scientists design studies and collect data, we need something to study. That is, we need questions to answer. For researchers like us, specialists in psychology and law*, these questions are usually related to the legal system. But where specifically do we get our ideas? In some cases, they are the result of applying our scientific knowledge and training to a topic; in others, we see an event or case and want to know more about it. Kitty Genovese's murder inspired a program of social psychology research One place we get our ideas is from real-life events, like criminal cases. Sometimes these are cases  that are reported widely by the media; sometimes they are cases we encounter in the course of our work. Cases that seem to defy common sense make us ask questions about how they could have happened. A prominent example of a crime inspiring research is the infamous murder of Catherine “Kitty” Genovese. Kitty was murdered in 1964 in Queens, New York in a b...
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Doing psychological research with police: A chat with Lorraine Hope

Will and Timothy are joined by guest Dr. Lorraine Hope, for a chat about doing research with the police. In this chat format, we gather regular authors and guests in Slack and have a moderated conversation, guided by prompts and questions selected in advance. Participants get to respond to each other's points, make comments, and ask each other questions in real-time. The transcript has been lightly edited. Will Crozier &#x1F419 Welcome to another ExE chat! Today we’re happy to be joined by Dr. Lorraine Hope to talk about her research. Lorraine is a psychology professor at University of Portsmouth in the UK, and does quite a wide range of psych law research. Most relevant to our chat today, she’s done work with police officers in the UK – both improving their practices, as well as conducting research. So really taking some of the research we talk about on this blog, and applying it to real world situations to see if it works. Lorraine, thanks for joining us...
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