Application of Psychological Research – Court Settings

To prepare for this Discussion:

• Review this week’s DVD program, “Application of Psychological Research – Court Settings.”Think about how psychological research can guide the practice of forensic psychology relative to various issues presented in court settings.
• Review the article, “The Effects of Pretrial Publicity on Juror Verdicts: A Meta-Analytic Review.” Pay particular attention to the studies reviewed in this meta-analysis and think about how a forensic psychology professional working in a court setting might use this information.
• Review the article, “On the ‘ General Acceptance’ of Eyewitness Testimony Research: A New Survey of Experts.” Focus on how experts in the field of psychology evaluated eye witness testimony in a court setting. Consider how the results reported from the questionnaire given to the expert psychologists might be used or applied by professionals working in a court setting.
• Using the Walden Library, identify a psychological research study that could be used in a court setting by a forensic psychologist or forensic psychology professional.
• Review the methods and results sections of this research study and think about how this study might be used by forensic psychologists or forensic psychology professionals working in a court setting.

Post by Day 4 a brief description of the research study you selected. Then, explain the parts of this study that you believe might be important for a forensic psychology professional working in a court setting. Finally, explain how a forensic psychology professional might use the results of the study in a court setting.

Learning Resources

This page contains the Learning Resources for this week. Be sure to scroll down the page to see all of this week’s assigned Learning Resources. To access select media resources, please use the media player below.

Readings

• Article: Steblay, N. M., Besirevic, J., Fulero, S. M., & Jimenez-Lorente, B. (1999). The effects of pretrial publicity on juror verdicts: A meta-analytic review. Law and Human Behavior, 23(2), 219–235.Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.
• Article: Kassin, S., Tubb, V. A., Hosch, H., & Memon, A. (2001). On the “ general acceptance” of eyewitness testimony research: A new survey of the experts. American Psychologist, 56(5), 205–216. Retrieved from http://web.williams.edu/Psychology/Faculty/Kassin/files/kassin_tubb_hosch_memon_2001.pdf
• Article: MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Adolescent Development and Juvenile Justice. (n.d.). Issue brief 1: Adolescent legal competence in court. Retrieved October 1, 2009, from http://www.adjj.org/downloads/9805issue_brief_1.pdf

Media

• Video: Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Understanding forensic psychology research: Application of psychological research – Court settings. Baltimore: Author.

“