Psychology and Law Research Group

The Psychology and Law Research Group is a group of people who come to do research on issues in psychology that pertain to law. Members of the lab may come from the Clinical, Social, or Cognitive Developmental graduate program, or may be directly admitted to the Psychology and Law graduate program. We have varied interests and have been known to pick up new research topics based on something we read. Psychology and Law applies to real world phenomenon. So we may study perceptions of police shootings based on an increased public interest in police shootings. Or we may do basic research in memory by using an eyewitness memory paradigm. Our research can be basic or applied. But we all agree, "Psychology and Law" is an amazingly interesting field of psychology.

Lab Members:

Kayla Burd, PhD

Email: kburd@uwyo.edu

Research Interests:

Social cognitive processes in legal decision making
- Eyewitnesses
- Police officers
- Jurors
Extra legal biases on perceptions, memory, reasoning, and decision making
Police investigations and shooting decisions

Social Cognition and Law Lab

Narina Nunez, PhD

Email: narina@uwyo.edu

Research Interests:

Jury decision making
Effect of emotion on decision making
Judicial legitimacy
Victim Impact Statements
Lay understanding of forensic evidence

Legal Decision-Masking Lab

Kimberly Schweitzer, PhD

Email: kschweit@uwyo.edu

Research Interests

Jury decision making
The role of negative emotions at trial
Importance and weighing of evidence
Setencing at capital trials

Legal Psychology Lab

Karlee Provenza, MS

Email: kprovenz@uwyo.edu

Research Interests:

Juror decision making
Perceptions of police legitimacy and use of force
Judicial legitimacy
Scale development
Science Communication
Political psychology
Legal decision making of coerced confessions

Samuel Choi, MS

Email: schoi6@uwyo.edu

Research Interests:

The influence of emotions on jury-decision making
Impact of body-worn cameras on police and civilian behavior
Psychology of teaching and learning in the classroom

Alex Bitter, MS

Email: abitter@uwyo.edu

Research Interests:

Jury motivation and midsets
Stereotype congruency
Jury morality

Nick Michalski

Email: nmichal1@uwyo.edu

Research Interests:

Psychology and Law
Jury decision making
Juror interpretation of various evidence types
Emotions
Stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination

Haley Sturges

Email: hsturges@uwyo.edu

Research Interests:

Jury decision making, specifically in relation to:
- Child victims
- Vulnerable adults as victims and defendants
- Sexual abuse or sexual assault crimes
The impact of disgust on juror emotions and decision making
Influence of judicial behavior and perceptions of judicial legitimacy on juror behavior