Biographical Sketch
I am Professor of Psychology at the
University of Colorado-Colorado Springs. I received a BA in psychology from Stanford University, an MA
in experimental psychology from the University of Colorado-Boulder, and a Ph.D.
in psychology and law from the University of Washington. From 1994-1995, I served as Fellow in Law and Psychology at
Harvard Law School.
My research is in psychology and law and focuses generally on behavioral assumptions in the law, and specifically on the behavior of various decision makers including juries, judges, attorneys, and witnesses. I have done considerable work on the decision making processes of jurors and juries including their comprehension and use of jury instructions, liability determinations, assessments of damage awards, judgments in death penalty cases, and use of expert testimony. I have also written about the factors that influence the reliability of eyewitnesses to accidents and crimes. Recent research projects concern decision making in guardianship cases and an empirical assessment of how people judge responsibility in third party liability cases.
My research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, American
Bar Association, National Institute of Justice, American Psychology-Law Society, Society for the Psychological Study of Social
Issues, and University of Colorado Committee on Research and Creative Works.
I have received both college-wide and campus-wide awards for excellence
in research.
I am co-author of a
widely-used textbook in
psychology and law, Psychology and the
legal system, published by Wadsworth (2002).
I have also co-authored a scholarly book entitled Determining
damages: The psychology of jury
awards, published by the American Psychological Association (2003), and an
annotated bibliography on the adversary system published by Rothman and Company
Law Books (1990).
I am President of the American Psychology-Law Society (Division 41 of the American Psychological Association) and serve on the editorial boards of Law and Human Behavior and Psychology, Public Policy and Law.