This unique volume salutes the work of pioneering forensic psychologist Lawrence S. Wrightsman, Jr., by presenting current theorizing and research findings on issues that define the field of psychology and law. Ongoing topics in witness behaviors, suspect identification, and juror decision making illustrate how psychology and law complement and also conflict at various stages in legal processes. The book also sheds light on evolving areas such as DNA exonerations, professional trial consulting, and jury selection strategies, and the distinct challenges and opportunities these issues present. Noted contributors to the book include Wrightsman himself, who offers salient observations on the field that he continues to inspire. Featured among the topics: The credibility of witnesses. Psychological science on eyewitness identification and the U.S. Supreme Court. False confessions, from colonial Salem to today. Identifying juror bias: toward a new generation of jury selection research. Law and social science: how interdisciplinary is interdisciplinary enough? Race and its place in the American legal system. With its diverse mix of perspectives and methodologies, The Witness Stand and Lawrence S. Wrightsman, Jr. will interest forensic researchers in academic and applied settings, as well as individuals working in the legal system, such as attorneys, judges and law enforcement personnel.

This Research Handbook presents a kaleidoscopic view of law and psychology as a multidisciplinary field of study and explores major themes at the intersection of these two scholarly traditions. Adopting an expansive approach, it examines important topics including theories of justice, morality, and legitimacy; social norms; system justification theory; and the role of emotion within law.

A History of Psychology: The Emergence of Science and Applications, Sixth Edition, traces the history of psychology from antiquity through the early 21st century, giving students a thorough look into psychology’s origins and key developments in basic and applied psychology. This new edition includes extensive coverage of the proliferation of applied fields since the mid-twentieth century and stronger emphases on the biological basis of psychology, new statistical techniques and qualitative methodologies, and emerging therapies. Other areas of emphasis include the globalization of psychology, the growth of interest in health psychology, the resurgence of interest in motivation, and the importance of ecopsychology and environmental psychology. Substantially revised and updated throughout, this book retains and improves its strengths from prior editions, including its strong scholarly foundation and scholarship from groups too often omitted from psychological history, including women, people of color, and scholars from outside the United States. This book also aims to engage and inspire students to recognize the power of history in their own lives and studies, to connect history to the present and the future, and to think critically and historically. For additional resources, consult the Companion Website at www.routledge.com/cw/woody where instructors will find lecture slides and outlines; testbanks; and how-to sources for teaching History and Systems of Psychology courses; and students will find review a timeline; review questions; complete glossary; and annotated links to relevant resources.

Although the jury is often referred to as one of the bulwarks of the American justice system, it regularly comes under attack. Recent changes to trial procedures, such as reducing jury size, allowing non-unanimous verdicts, and rewriting jury instructions in plain English, were designed to promote greater efficiency and adherence to the law. Other changes, such as capping damages and replacing jurors with judges as arbiters in complex trials, seem designed to restrict the role of laypeople in trial outcomes. Whether these innovations are implemented to facilitate the administration of justice or due to the belief that juries have excessive power and make irrational decisions, they raise a host of questions about their effects on juries' judgments and about justice. Policymakers sometimes make incorrect assumptions about jury behavior, with the result that some reform efforts have had surprising and unintended consequences. The Jury Under Fire reviews a number of controversial beliefs about juries as well as the implications of these views for jury reform. It reviews up-to-date research on both criminal and civil juries that uses a variety of research methodologies: simulations, archival analyses, field studies, and juror interviews. Each chapter focuses on a mistaken assumption or myth about jurors or juries, critiques these myths, and then uses social science research findings to suggest appropriate reforms. Chapters discuss the experience of serving as a juror; jury selection and jury size; and the impact of evidence from eyewitnesses, experts, confessions, and juvenile offenders. The book also covers the process of deciding damages and punishment and the role of emotions in jurors' decision making, and it compares jurors' and judges' decisions. Finally, it reviews a broad range of efforts to reform the jury, including the most promising reforms that have a solid backing in research. Featuring highly visible trials to illustrate key points, The Jury Under Fire will interest researchers in psychology and the law, practicing attorneys, and policymakers, as well as students and trainees in these areas.

The latest entry in this noteworthy series continues its focus on psychological issues relating to legal and judicial matters, with sound recommendations for situational and system-wide improvement. Salient concerns are described both in areas where their existence is frequently acknowledged (juror impartiality, the juvenile justice system) and where they are rarely considered (Miranda warnings, forensic mental health experts). Authors describe differences between professional and lay concepts of justice principles--and the resulting disconnect between community sentiment and the law. Throughout these chapters, psychological nuances and their legal implications are made clear as they relate to lawyers, jurors, suspects, and victims. Included among the topics: · From the headlines to the jury room: an examination of the impact of pretrial publicity on jurors and juries. · Victim impact statements in capital sentencing: 25 years post-Payne. · Psychology and the Fourth Amendment. · Examining the presenting characteristics, short-term effects, and long-term outcomes associated with system-involved youths. · Indigenous youth crime: an international perspective. · An empirical analysis of law-psychology journals: who’s publishing and on what? As with the others in the series, this third volume of Advances in Psychology and Law will interest researchers in legal psychology and related disciplines (e.g., criminal justice) as well as practicing attorneys, trial consultants, and clinical psychologists.

The Routledge International Handbook of Legal and Investigative Psychology explores contemporary topics in psychological science, applying them to investigative and legal procedures. Written by recognized scholars from around the globe, this book brings together current research, emerging trends, and cutting-edge debates in a single comprehensive and authoritative volume. Drawing from both research and practice, this handbook highlights many important issues such as: how to investigate and prosecute rape; the value of emotional affect in homicide investigations; and factors affecting jurors’ and suspects’ decision making. By considering current research, the authors inform both legal and investigative professionals of findings that are of direct relevance to them, and the steps that can be taken to improve efficiency. This collection will inform investigative and legal professionals, advanced psychology students, academics, researchers, and policy makers. It will also be of great interest to researchers from other disciplines, including criminology, policing, and law.

A guide to the science behind the art of teaching. Not every teaching method touted as "brain-friendly" is supported by research findings—and misconceptions about the brain have the capacity to harm rather than help. In her new book, Tracey Tokuhama-Espinosa untangles scientific fact from pedagogical fiction, debunking dozens of widely held beliefs about the brain that have made their way into the education literature. In ten central chapters on topics ranging from brain structure to classroom environments, the text traces the origins of common neuromyths—from categorizing individuals as "right-brained" or "left-brained" to prevailing beliefs about multitasking or the effects of video games—and corrects the record with the most current state of knowledge. Rather than offering pat strategies, Tokuhama-Espinosa challenges teachers curious about the brain to become learning scientists, and supplies the tools needed to evaluate research and put it to use in the classroom.