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Research has shown that jurors in many types of cases frequently fail to understand the jury instructions they receive. However,...

Death qualification is a unique form of jury selection that is used only in capital cases. Potential jurors are screened...

The Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits cruel and unusual punishment, which, according to the U.S. Supreme Court decision...

To date, very few instruments have been developed for the purpose of assisting evaluators in the assessment of competency for...

Capital mitigation consists of evidence that is presented in a death penalty trial to obtain a sentence other than death....

The question of how individuals with severe mental disabilities should be sentenced when they are convicted of capital (death penalty)...

If a defendant is found guilty of a capital crime, the triers of fact are called on to weigh the...

Aggravating factors are elements of the crime or the defendant’s prior criminal record that not only make the defendant eligible...

The validity indicator profile (VIP) is a measure of response validity that is intended to be administered concurrently within a...

The issue of malingering is becoming increasingly important in the field of forensic psychology, particularly in cases involving traumatic brain...

The Structured Interview of Reported Symptoms (SIRS) is a fully structured interview that is designed to assess feigned mental disorders...

The Rogers Criminal Responsibility Assessment Scales (R-CRAS) is a structured decision model for quantifying relevant psychological variables that are salient...

The study of public opinion about the courts is closely tied to concerns that date back to the Constitutional Convention....

The Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (PICTS) is an 80-item self-report inventory designed to measure eight thinking styles presumed...

The relationship between race and the decision making of juries is complex and controversial. Media and public discussions of the...

A strength of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) is its multiple indicators regarding an examinee’s approach to the test....

Scientific jury selection (SJS) is the use of a survey to decide which jurors to favor in a trial. Prior...

The original Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and its successor have been recognized as the most widely used and researched...

Research examining juror decisions in sexual harassment has generally found a relationship between juror gender and liability decisions, in that...

The Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III (MCMI-III) is a 175-item self-report inventory designed to assess personality characteristic and psychopathology. It has...

Statistical information is increasingly likely to be presented in court. It may appear in civil cases (e.g., percentages of men...

The Miller Forensic Assessment of Symptoms Test (M-FAST) is a screening measure for the detection of feigned, or malingered, mental...

In the context of the courtroom, “stealing thunder” refers to revealing damaging information first so as to diffuse its impact....

To obtain a criminal conviction, the prosecution must establish the presence of two elements at the time of the crime—namely,...

To better explain how jurors make decisions in trial, psychologists have proposed a variety of decision-making models. Some research has...

The Malingering Probability Scale (MPS) was developed in the mid-1990s as a self-report instrument to estimate the probability of malingering,...

As society becomes increasingly more diverse culturally and linguistically, translated testimony will become a more frequent component of the American...

Perseveration, a cognitive phenomenon with implications across various domains of psychology, serves as a fascinating subject of inquiry in the...

The MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool for Treatment (MacCAT-T) is an instrument designed to assess decision-making capacity. Designed as part of...

The U.S. Supreme Court conducts appellate review hearings of lower-court decisions, relying on written briefs and oral arguments by counsel...

This article on preschoolers offers a comprehensive exploration of the developmental milestones, learning and education, challenges, and considerations related to...

The MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool for Clinical Research (MacCAT-CR) provides a semi-structured assessment format for evaluating abilities related to the...

Most states allow victims and/or victims’ survivors to speak during the sentencing phase of trials as to the pain they...

Puberty, a transformative period of biological, psychological, and social development, marks the transition from childhood to adolescence. This article delves...

Mental health professionals often conduct evaluations to assist courts in determining whether a criminal defendant is competent to participate in...

Voir dire is a legal proceeding during which attorneys and/or judges question prospective jurors (called venirepersons) to determine their fitness...

The Sensorimotor Stage of Development, a pivotal component of Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, represents the initial phase in...

The M’Naghten Standard is a legal test to guide juries and courts in their determination of whether a defendant should...

The term witness preparation refers to any type of advice or training given to someone who is going to give...

This article on stages of moral development delves into the foundational theories and contemporary perspectives surrounding the evolution of moral...

The Interdisciplinary Fitness Interview (IFI) is a semi-structured assessment device designed to help examiners explore systematically the domain of psycholegal...

The emergence of forensic DNA analysis in the late 1980s has enhanced the criminal justice system’s ability to find the...

In this article, we delve into the stages of psychosocial development as proposed by Erik Erikson, a pivotal figure in...

The Insanity Defense Reform Act (IDRA), passed by Congress in 1984, imposed a uniform standard for legal insanity that applies...

This article delves into the multifaceted world of human development theories, exploring the intellectual legacies of prominent theorists who have...

The Hopkins Competency Assessment Test (HCAT) was developed as a brief screening measure for assessing a patient’s capacity to provide...

Comorbidity, the concurrent presence of two or more distinct medical or psychiatric conditions within an individual, is a complex and...